|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
After a monthslong search, Mountain View City Council members are expected Tuesday to hire Heather Glaser to be the new city clerk. She begins the new job on April 19 with a starting salary of $175,000.
Glaser has a 15-year record working in municipal government, most recently serving four years as city clerk for the city of Malibu. In a statement last week, Glaser said she intends to be an effective liaison between Mountain View’s government and city residents.
“With my long-standing values of transparency and neutrality, I look forward to continuing the mission of the city clerk’s office as we connect the Mountain View community with its local government,” Glaser said.
As the new city clerk, Glaser will be responsible for managing the city’s extensive records, including public access to documents. She will also play a crucial role at City Council meetings, overseeing everything from public noticing to recording all council actions in the meeting minutes. The city clerk also executes city contracts and agreements, and oversees elections and campaign finance disclosure laws.
Glaser, a Southern California native, kicked off her career in the public sector in 2005 as a secretary for the Las Virgenes Municipal Water District. She later joined the city of Malibu in 2012, where she was a key player in the design and implementation of the city’s electronic agenda system.
“She has a strong background in using technology to advance efficiency for city staff and transparency for the public,” said Mountain View Mayor Ellen Kamei. “I welcome Heather’s commitment to public service in her pivotal role as city clerk.”
Glaser will replace former City Clerk Lisa Natusch, who resigned from her post in November after serving less than two years. Mountain View previously had little turnover for the position, with former City Clerk Angee Salvador serving 19 years — from 1999 to 2010 — before passing the torch to former City Clerk Lorrie Brewer, who served for eight years.
The city hired a firm to search for a new city clerk in October for $27,000, which was followed by a handful of closed-session meetings to interview applicants in January and February. Though Glaser’s starting salary of $175,000 is significantly higher than Natusch’s 2018 starting salary of $130,000, Natusch received significant pay raises since her initial hire. As of last year, her salary grew to $159,000.
Glaser will also be eligible for reimbursement for moving costs and a home loan through the city’s Mountain View Employee Homebuyer and Relocation Assistance Program, which will must be approved by the City Council.
And people wonder why the property tax in Mountain View is higher than the rest of the county.
Ok… I don’t know much about the responsibility of a city clerk. But 15 years experience on a role which entry level salary is only 25k, $175k before benefits and other compensation seems way too high for what’s worth. I am open to hear the other side of the argument.
Also, I used salary.com index. With 15 years experience, the average city clerk earns $62k. So how to explain the whooping 3times of salary difference?
Don’t we (City of Mountain View) have a salary range of position based on experience? Seems like no one is monitoring this. Again, open to any input.
This salary (with the extra benefit of public pension) is in line with similar experienced professionals Like Public School Principals. To me, it is more interesting how/if the employee housing programs stays solvent (or expense/income neutral).
@Jennifer – a “City Clerk” is responsible for making sure many of the legal records-keeping functions of the City work properly. Many of us Politicos use the Public Records Act to get obscure public documents / a “City Clerk” office runs that (or publicly posting beforehand – so you don’t need a ‘special ask’). Many of us expect the City Council to run their meetings in (strict) compliance with the Open&Public Brown Act. Things like very understandable Agendas (and Votes properly recorded). The City Clerks office (it is a management position) makes sure all that happens properly.
A CIty Clerk needs professional training – not all this (legalistic) stuff has to be done by a city lawyer (who gets paid much more). A City Clerk doing the job right, means the city lawyers and Council have less work, “cleaning up” things!