West Fork could split city clerk, treasurer duties
Posted on Thursday, July 17, 2008
Now that longtime City Clerk / Treasurer Paula Caudle has retired, the city of West Fork is looking at splitting up her duties.
Caudle served as the city clerk / treasurer for 35 years. She quit at the beginning of May to retire early.
City Business Manager Butch Bartholomew said the West Fork City Council looked at an ordinance on Tuesday that would create a position for city clerk and a position for city treasurer. The clerk position would be elected, and the treasurer position would be a full-time employee, he said.
"We'd like to get a qualified person, like an accountant, to be the treasurer," he said.
Bartholomew said the council appointed Kristie Drymon, who used to be the secretary for the city's Water Department, to take on the roles until a new city clerk is elected in November.
Historically, Bartholomew said, the roles had always been separate, but in 1990 they were consolidated because there was not enough personnel to fill both roles.
"(The council ) thought that going back to the way we used to do it was better," he said.
Bartholomew said another reason the city is looking to hire someone to be the treasurer, instead of leaving that role tied to the clerk's responsibilities, is to ensure that the city can hire a qualified person. It's often difficult for a small town to find someone with accounting experience who lives in the city and is willing to work for the pay the city offers its elected city clerk, he said. By separating the jobs, West Fork is free to considerably increase the pay for the treasurer and is not tied down by where the employee lives, he said.
The City Council will vote on the ordinance to separate the roles at its meeting set for 6: 30 p.m. Aug. 12.
West Fork is not the first town in Washington County to separate the treasurer and city clerk roles. On Dec. 6, Elkins turned its recorder / treasurer position into a supervising role, hired an office manager to take care of the city's administrative needs, and contracted an accounting firm to take care of the bulk of the city's budget needs. The decision came because the former recorder / treasurer, Norrita Fischer, resigned in October and the city was having issues finding someone to take the role that required the worker to be the primary person in charge of the city's budget and administrative duties for about $ 25, 000 a year.
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