At its Tuesday, Jan. 25, meeting, the Riverbank City Council bid farewell to City Clerk Annabelle Aguilar, recognizing her 15 years of service to the community.
During the Presentations portion of the agenda, Mayor Richard O’Brien called Aguilar down from her spot on the dais to the podium where people address the council.
He presented her with an engraved trophy/clock, and when he noticed that it had stopped, he jokingly pointed out that it must have known her tenure with the city was coming to an end.
She also received a bouquet of flowers from members of the city staff.
O’Brien noted that Aguilar had notified the city of her intention to leave on Dec. 21, after working through the end of January.
The citation read, “Annabelle first began her tenure with the City on November 2, 2006 as an Administrative Intern in our Public Works Department. She quickly became a valuable member of the City of Riverbank team and in March of 2007 she was promoted to the Deputy City Clerk position. In 2012, Annabelle was once again promoted to the City Clerk/Elections Official position.
“During her time with the City, Annabelle initiated multiple municipal code updates, led the city in implementing by-district elections, and successfully organized and managed a Special Election in 2013 to fill a council vacancy.”
The mayor noted that for those reasons and more, her shoes will be hard to fill.
“Annabelle will be sorely missed and we wish her well in her future endeavors,” O’Brien said.
Following the presentation, Aguilar addressed the council, and the public, especially expressing her appreciation for the hard work of past and present city council members in helping her accomplish her work.
In a later agenda item, the council voted to hire a temporary person to fill in the position while a recruitment is conducted. The council agreed that a former clerk would be hired on an interim basis.
Officials said Kathy Teixeira, a retired City Clerk with extensive experience and a former Certified Municipal Clerk, has agreed to serve as Interim City Clerk in Riverbank on a part-time basis.
The following information was provided: “Mrs. Teixeira retired as City Clerk in Oakdale in 2019. After discussions regarding this interim appointment, Mrs. Teixeira demonstrated excellent knowledge and organizational skills with regards to all aspects of the City Clerk’s traditional duties.
“As Interim City Clerk, Mrs. Teixeira’s duties will include primary responsibilities for producing Council meeting agenda packets, attendance at City Council meetings, taking and producing City Council minutes, ensuring that proper and timely public noticing requirements are met, preparation of approved Resolutions and Ordinances, and assisting with other daily operations, such as public records requests.
“While the City Clerk position in Riverbank is appointed and supervised by the City Manager, state law, enacted as part of retirement system reforms, requires that the City Council make the appointment of CalPERS retirees to interim management positions such as the City Clerk. This PERS appointment process does not modify the municipal code, pursuant to which the Interim City Clerk reports to and is supervised by the City Manager.”
Teixeira was to begin work on Tuesday, Feb. 1, and work until June 30.
The open recruitment to fill the City Clerk position on a permanent basis is underway with initial notification of the opening on the City’s website.
According to the agenda report, the duration of Mrs. Teixeira’s interim appointment should provide sufficient time to complete the recruitment and selection process. State law does not allow an interim appointment of this type to be extended.
