Atherton: City clerk fine-tunes her retirement plan Atherton: City clerk fine-tunes her retirement plan (June 09, 2004)

By Andrea Gemmet
Almanac Staff Writer

Sharon Barker has written up quite a few proclamations in her almost five years as the Atherton city clerk. Town officials decided to give her a break, however, and presented her with a plaque and bouquet of flowers in honor of her recent retirement, rather than having a formal proclamation read at last month's City Council meeting.

"We did not ask her to prepare her own proclamation," City Manager Jim Robinson said wryly.

A friendly, even-tempered presence in the town's administration office, Ms. Barker has been a familiar face during some of the town's more tumultuous years. Since she was hired in 1999, she has worked for two city managers and one controversial interim city manager, and the offices of the finance director, police chief, city attorney and public works director have all seen turnover.

"It was rough there for couple of years, but I'm glad I stuck with it," Ms. Barker said. "I'm leaving at a good time."

The best part of the job was getting to work with a lot of different people on a lot of different projects, she said. One of the benefits of being in a small town is that you don't have to just focus on a narrow range of subjects, she said.

"There's never a dull moment," Ms. Barker said.

In addition to her regular city clerk duties, Ms. Barker administered the town's branch post office and was in charge of claims, Mr. Robinson said. She proved a multifaceted employee, he said, noting her previous 21 years of experience as a treasurer and finance director in Willows and Orland, two small towns in Glenn County.

"She always has a very pleasant disposition, and she has an excellent reputation for working with the public," Mr. Robinson said.

Earlier this year, Ms. Barker received an award from City Clerk's Association of California for public relations, he said.

"I'm really going to miss Sharon a lot. She was so great to work with," said Town Arborist Kathy Hughes Anderson. "She's always in a good mood."

Atherton police Chief Bob Brennan said Ms. Barker was always a good audience for him at staff meetings, and he's enjoyed ribbing her about being her second choice when he interviewed for the town's top cop job.

"After I got to know him, I had to tell him because I knew he'd get a kick out of it," Ms. Barker said. "He's gotten a lot of mileage out of that (anecdote), he ought to thank me," she laughed.

As much as she's enjoyed working in Atherton, Ms. Barker said she won't miss the long, late-night City Council meetings that stretched past midnight.

"That's a killer," she said. "Those would knock me out for a day or two afterward."

Ms. Barker and her husband John, who worked for the city of San Carlos, both retired June 1, and plan to return to their home in the Sacramento Valley to be closer to their children and grandchildren, she said.

Now, instead of putting out the monthly City Council agenda, Ms. Barker has on her agenda road trips around the United States, Little League games and frequent fishing trips back in the Bay Area.

E-mail a friend a link to this story.