Cloverdale again has elected city treasurer on its ballot

The Cloverdale City Council has continued the city’s tradition of electing a treasurer, moving during the council’s July 13 meeting to request the county include the part-time office on the Nov. 8 ballot .

The position operates in addition to the city finance department. According to state code, the treasurer is charged with keeping track of money coming into the city, as well as giving a monthly report of and accounting of all receipts, disbursements and fund balances.

The council, which approved the resolution to add the office 4-0, with Councilmember Marta Cruz absent, mistakenly failed to include the office in an earlier request to the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors. The city asked the county to OK the consolidation of Cloverdale’s municipal election with that of the Nov. 8 state election.

The treasurer works with the city finance manager, who maintains the city’s general ledger, issues city employee paychecks, issues purchase orders and checks to the city’s creditors, oversees the city budget and the issuance of business licenses, among other things.

The current treasurer is Michael Nixon, who was elected in 2018.

Assistant City Attorney Alex Mog said in most cities in the state, voters have eliminated the position of an elected city treasurer, and the duties are fulfilled by the finance director. Cloverdale’s finance director is Susie Holmes.

“That (electing a city treasurer) is a legacy of old town management, ” Cruz said in a text after the meeting. “We have a very well-paid financial manager and an outside auditor. There is no need for a treasurer. I have never seen him in ANY meeting. It (the position) should be eliminated.”

Neither the mayor nor the finance manager could immediately be reached for comment.

The Nov. 8 ballot will also include a measure to approve an ordinance prohibiting all fireworks in the city, as well as the election of candidates to three council seats held by incumbents Cruz, Joe Palla and Vice Mayor Gus Wolter.

Palla was appointed to the City Council to fill a vacancy for then-Mayor Jason Turner’s term, expiring December 2022.

You can reach Staff Writer Kathleen Coates at kathleen.coates@pressdemocrat.com or 707-521-5209.