N.J. Man Named Top Officer of Superior Court : Administration: John A. Clarke held a similar post in Essex County for four years. Runner-up for L.A. position was Sheila Gonzalez, top executive in Ventura County system.

A New Jersey court administrator, John A. Clarke, has been selected to become the administrator of the Los Angeles Superior Court.

Clarke has been trial court administrator of the Essex County Superior Court since 1990. That court has 102 judges and a $40-million annual budget.

Clarke and Sheila Gonzalez, Ventura County’s top court executive, were the finalists out of 49 applicants for the job of executive officer and clerk of the Los Angeles Superior Court, court officials said.

Gonzalez is credited with saving Ventura County hundreds of thousands of dollars in recent years by streamlining court operations, at the same time making the system more efficient by implementing state-of-the-art technology.

“I think that it’s probably our gain and Los Angeles’ loss,” said Diana Hancock, president of the Ventura County Trial Lawyers Assn. “I think she’s done an outstanding job. . . . I would certainly not think it was a reflection on her abilities at all.”

Gonzalez started her court career in 1968 as a filing clerk in Glendale Municipal Court. She became administrator of the Glendale court in 1980.

She is on the board of directors for the National Center for State Courts and is president of the National Assn. for Court Management.

Gonzalez came to Ventura County in 1986 to run the Municipal Court. Impressed with her work there, the county’s Superior Court judges persuaded Gonzalez to oversee a consolidated Municipal and Superior court administration in 1989.