BEVERLY HILLS : Longtime City Clerk Ushijima Announces She Will Retire

City Clerk Jean M. Ushijima has announced she will retire this spring after nearly 25 years of city service.

Ushijima, who joined the Beverly Hills staff as a legal secretary, was appointed city clerk by the City Council in 1973. She manages a staff of three in the city’s clerk’s office, which conducts elections, records City Council meetings and decisions and manages public records.

Ushijima told the council Tuesday that she plans to retire May 31.

The city clerk, along with the city manager and city attorney, is appointed by the council. No replacement has been chosen, Mayor Maxwell Salter said.

Ushijima said she was proud to represent Beverly Hills at national meetings of city clerks.

Still, she said she looks forward to traveling and spending more time with her husband, a retired aerospace engineer. “We already have tickets for June 1 to New Zealand,” Ushijima said.

Salter said Ushijima’s decision was a surprise, but she’s been a “wonderfully efficient lady who has done an incredible job for the city.”

Ushijima received the Superior Achievement in Community Services award from the city in 1991. In addition to her work for Beverly Hills, Ushijima served as the regional director of the International Institute of Municipal Clerks for four years, and one year as president of the City Clerks Assn. of California. The state association named her City Clerk of the Year in 1988.

Ushijima was reappointed to the League of California Cities Administrative Services Committee in 1992 after having served on the committee from 1982 to 1986.

Ushijima graduated magna cum laude in 1981 from the University of San Francisco with a bachelor of science degree in human relations and organizational behavior. Originally from Chicago, she has resided in West Los Angeles for more than 30 years.