Photograph by Kathy De La Torre
Cathleen Boyer leaves her job in the town clerk's office in Los Gatos to become Saratoga's city clerk.
New city clerk says she's a people person
By Kara Chalmers
Cathleen Boyer, who was a deputy town clerk for Los Gatos, is Saratoga's new city clerk, as of May 8.
She made the switch from a clerk office staff of four to just herself, a city staff of more than 200 to a staff of about 50. She is now the starter when she was formerly third string. But Boyer is jazzed about the challenge.
"I know I'm ready for it," she said. "I'm excited. It is going to be such a good opportunity for me."
The only thing she's not too enthused about is the location of her new office in Saratoga's City Hall. Unlike Los Gatos, where the city clerk and three deputy clerks are the first officials that residents meet when they walk through Town Hall's front door, in Saratoga, the City Clerk's office is in a back corner, behind the receptionist's desk.
"I'm a people person," Boyer said. "I love the residents."
Boyer, 30, said that during her stint in Los Gatos, she felt she was able to help citizens understand local government. It's the part of her job she likes the best.
"Whether it is telling them where to go to complain about their neighbor's barking dogs, or how to write a letter to the council, as the clerk, I think it's my job to help them understand," she said.
"She has a lot of good experience, lives close by and was an outstanding candidate," said interim city manager William Norton of Boyer.
Boyer replaced Susan Ramos, who had worked in Saratoga for just over a year. She resigned in February after accepting a position as administrative services manager in the Menlo Park city manager's office.
Boyer had been a deputy town clerk in Los Gatos since 1994. Before that, she was a medical assistant with the San Jose Medical Group. She had planned to attend nursing school at San Jose State University but took the local government route instead, because she saw it as offering better career opportunities.
In Los Gatos, the town clerk is elected, is required to live in the town and serves part time, while in Saratoga, the city clerk is appointed, works full time and is not required to live in Saratoga. Ramos was Saratoga's first official clerk, a position completely separate from the city manager's office. Previously, the city manager performed all the duties of the clerk.
Boyer sees the Saratoga position as a great career move since she said in Los Gatos there was no room for her advancement. That is the reason she is leaving a town and co-workers she has really grown to care about.
"I walk down the street and know 50 people here," she said.
It obviously won't take long for Boyer, who is friendly and outgoing, to make the same kinds of connections in Saratoga. She said she is looking forward to working with the city staff here, which by all the accounts she's heard, is great.
Boyer's duties will include organizing elections, publishing council agendas and taking minutes during meetings, maintaining city records and serving as a liaison to the public and the press. Boyer said her most pressing duty will be to prepare for the November election.
"There's really nothing new that I haven't done," she said noting that she served as the acting clerk in Los Gatos occasionally.
A San Jose native, Boyer lives on the border of Los Gatos. She has a 9-year-old daughter and two stepchildren, 14 and 16. She attended Archbishop Mitty High School and Yerba Buena High School, both in San Jose. She is presently taking classes in public administration at West Valley College and plans to transfer to San Jose State University for her bachelor's degree. Boyer's hobbies include "all sports," specifically water skiing, snow skiing, in-line skating.
Boyer also will complete a certification program in September that will make her a certified municipal clerk.
Her starting salary is $47,160, but it will increase by 4 percent in July, according to Norton. The salary's top range is $60,360. Boyer said she is making about $10,000 more in her new position than in Los Gatos.
Saratoga, California Since 1955
