A deputy clerk who was appointed to fill the shoes of Huntertown’s ill clerk-treasurer has quit after two days of employment.
Gerri Johnson was the clerk-treasurer of Churubusco but was defeated in the November election. Huntertown Clerk-Treasurer Dave Rudolph appointed Johnson as his deputy clerk at the end of the year.
Rudolph became seriously ill in September and has been unable to return to work.
During a hastily called meeting Dec. 29, the council created a deputy clerk position for 2012 with a pay of $19.25 an hour but restricted the deputy’s hours to 24 a week.
Johnson attended the council meeting Jan. 3, taking minutes and filling in for Rudolph. She asked council members if they would consider retaining the consultant they have been using during the last nine months to train Rudolph and fill in during his absence. The council was reluctant to extend the consultant’s contract at that time.
Council President Jim Fortman said he was not sure why Johnson quit but said that the town is using a backup plan it has had all along in order to keep invoices, payments and payroll flowing. That plan consists of having the consultant, Charlene Quednow, process claims, and Utility Clerk Rosemary Scheele stamp checks with Dave Rudolph’s signature.
Fortman said he does not know whether Rudolph plans to appoint another deputy clerk.
Council member Sue Gongwer said she “was and was not” surprised Johnson left so abruptly.
“I think she was looking for something more permanent even though she came into it knowing it was part time,” Gongwer said.
Indiana code allows the clerk-treasurer to appoint deputies as needed with the approval of the council. In late November, the council would not approve Rudolph’s first deputy appointment, Peggy Luchies, and she resigned before she officially started.
The town pays Quednow $45 an hour plus traveling time and expenses and paid her about $20,000 for services from May through October, Fortman said. Rudolph earns $55,700 annually as clerk-treasurer. A message left for Johnson was not returned.
