Costa Mesa hires city clerk

Costa Mesa named a new city clerk Tuesday, nine months following her predecessor’s decision to step down after missing an election deadline.

Brenda Green, who has served as interim city clerk since June, came out on top of an open recruitment process, according to the announcement.

“I’m very happy,” said Green, who explained she came to Costa Mesa after hearing about the interim position by word of mouth.

Green will earn $116,736 a year, according to the city’s announcement.

Former City Clerk Julie Folcik resigned in July. She was suspended with pay in March 2011, pending a personnel investigation.

City officials placed her on leave the day after a judge ruled that the City Council’s charter initiative, known as Measure V, could not be placed on a June primary ballot because the city clerk’s office missed a filing deadline.

The measure was pushed back to November’s general election ballot and ultimately defeated.

Although some suggested Folcik may have intentionally missed the March deadline because many city employees oppose the charter initiative, she told the Daily Pilot in July that it was an accident.

“It’s exactly what it was: It was a clerical error on my part,” she said. “I thought I could turn in the packet on Monday.”

The packet was actually due the previous Friday. Folcik told the Pilot her resignation was voluntary.

Costa Mesa’s city management tapped Green, who was Stanton’s city clerk for 11 years, to serve as interim city clerk in Folcik’s absence.

“She came in at a very difficult time, and at the same time she’s really grabbed a hold of the key issues and responsibilities,” City CEO Tom Hatch said.

Out of an initial 270 applicants, the city narrowed the field to 11 interviewees before settling on Green, Hatch said.

Costa Mesa plans in the near future to hire a deputy city clerk, a position that has been left open for months, Hatch added.

“The city conducted a full, open recruitment for this permanent position with Brenda surfacing as our preferred candidate,” Hatch said in a prepared statement. “The city is lucky to have found a candidate with such extensive experience in the city clerk’s field.”

— Staff writer Lauren Williams contributed to this report.

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