In another series of split votes, Poplar Bluff City Council members acted Monday to hire a new city clerk.
Current planning department secretary Nevada Young was approved for the job in a 5-1 vote, with council member at-large Steve Davis absent.
Prior to acting on Young, council members changed the residency requirements for the job in a 4-2 vote.
Both the city clerk and city manager were required to live within the city limits under the old ordinance.
The city manager is now the only current position required to live within the city limits. An assistant city manager would also be required to live in the city limits, but the city does not currently have this position.
Other employees must reside within Butler County, or in the case of Municipal Utilities employees, within a 12-mile radius of the highway 60 and 67 juncture.
Young will take over for longtime city clerk Pam Kearbey, who is retiring effective July 1.
Young will have a starting salary of $60,000, currently making about $34,000. The city will now advertise for Young’s position with the planning department.
Ward 4 council member Shane Cornman voted no on both matters, while newly elected Ward 1 representative Lisa Armes Parson was against the residency change.
His vote was not a reflection of Young, but of the process, said Cornman. From the beginning, he said, he did not like changing the residency requirement after applications had been taken.
“The applicant had no bearing on whether I said yes or no,” Cornman said after the meeting. “It made common sense to me that you wouldn’t do that after you got the applications in.”
During the meeting, Parson also said her vote only reflected the residency change and was not against Young.
“I think she’s a wonderful woman and will be a wonderful city clerk,” said Parson, who did not respond Monday evening to a request for additional information about her concerns on the residency matter.
Mayor Robert Smith, who previously voted against the residency change, said the new policy will bring the city in line with requirements for other heads of departments.
“The city clerk is a department head,” said Smith, adding, “Nevada has worked for the city for a long time and she works fairly closely with the clerk. I think she’ll be fairly easily and quickly trained.”
State law has previously required both the city manager and city clerk to live within the city limits. It has been more than a decade since the state mandate on that matter has changed, according to city attorney Mark Richardson.
Council member at-large Ron Black described the matter as a discrepancy that needed to be cleaned up.
Previous attempts in April to change the residency requirement ended in 3-3 votes, with Cornman, Smith and Ward 3 representative Barbara Horton against the matter.
Horton said after the meeting she was pleased both issues have been resolved.
The city clerk requirements now match those of other department heads, she said.
Davis has abstained from previous votes on these matters, citing a conflict of interest.