Hollister plans to eliminate the elected city clerk position and
consolidate it with a full-time, appointed position
– a move prompted by current City Clerk Frank Felice’s plans to
retire from that job in November.
Hollister plans to eliminate the elected city clerk position and consolidate it with a full-time, appointed position – a move prompted by current City Clerk Frank Felice’s plans to retire from that job in November.
Most of Felice’s duties as the elected clerk–treasurer are clerical duties he performs at council meetings that take place twice a month. Felice hasn’t attended the meetings since being hospitalized for a stroke a few months ago.
It’s unclear whether the council would maintain the treasurer position, an issue officials planned to discuss behind closed doors in the coming weeks.
After serving Hollister for 28 years, Felice hopes to reach the 30-year mark, he said.
“I’ll get there but on the treasurer’s side,” said Felice, who recently spent three months in the hospital.
The City Council on Monday approved changing the clerk position in November from one that’s elected to a full-time appointed role, a job performed by the a deputy city clerk for more than eight years. The matter will go to the November ballot because residents must give final approval of the change.
Deputy City Clerk Geri Johnson oversees the clerk’s office at City Hall on a full-time basis. Her duties include keeping records of all council meetings, managing elections and updating the municipal code. The deputy city clerk position has been considered a department head since 2000.
Johnson said she hopes to retain the position when it changes in November. Throughout the state, the vast majority of clerks – 321 of 477 – are appointed. And many of the elected clerks serve full time, according to the staff report.
“The profession has changed so much now that the position should not just be an elected figurehead position,” Johnson said.
The move would save an estimated $900 a month in Felice’s salary and benefits for the clerk job, according to a city report.
Felice became clerk in 1976 and treasurer in 1983. He left the clerk role in 1986 and served as treasurer before the city combined the two positions into one in 1997, Felice said from his home Monday.
Kollin Kosmicki can be reached at 637-5566, ext. 331 or at
kk*******@fr***********.com.
