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Frazier quits as county clerk
Elected official opts for early retirement The Del Norte County Board of Supervisors accepted County Clerk/Recorder Vicki Frazier’s resignation Tuesday after she opted out of the remainder of her elected term for early retirement.Frazier has held the post for 11 years, and she said she decided to leave her position due to health issues and to help save Del Norte taxpayers some money in what is expected to be a lean 2009-2010 budget year. “My kids have told me it’s time,” Frazier said Tuesday. “The county’s going to save a lot of money by bringing somebody else in.” Frazier, as a third term clerk/recorder, has a salary of more than $80,000 a year, according to the county’s pay schedule. Her replacement, whether appointed or elected, would start at a lower, “first-term” pay scale that would result in a nearly $15,000-a-year savings for the county. Initially, Frazier planned to finish out her term, which ends in 2010. But in April, the county estimated a General Fund shortfall of around $1.5 million. Officials then ordered 10 percent across-the-board cuts for all departments and started giving employees early retirement incentives to fill the gap, leaving a current $500,000 deficit. “When they offered that I thought why not,” Frazier said of the opportunity to take early retirement. “I wasn’t planning on running again anyway.” The Board of Supervisors still needs to figure out a way to replace Frazier, who in addition to being the clerk/recorder is the county’s registrar of voters, election official and public administrator. County Attorney Dohn Henion said there are several options the board can take to fill her position, including appointing someone to fill out her term, allowing Frazier’s assistant to be the acting clerk/recorder or even splitting up the office. “Everything’s on the table when money’s short,” Henion said. “It just hasn’t been decided yet.” Frazier’s resignation becomes effective July 9. |
