P.V. Estates : New City Clerk Stricken

City Councilwoman Barbara Culver resigned two months ago to become city clerk, but after 2 1/2 weeks in the $28,700-a-year job, Culver, 49, suffered a hemorrhage in her right eye and has not been able to work.

Culver, who served on the council for seven years before stepping down June 23, said she can see light but not objects through her injured eye and she has been unable to read. She does not know what caused the hemorrhage.

While Culver’s doctor approved a return to work next week on a part-time basis, the City Council has authorized City Manager Gordon Siebert to hire a temporary employee to help with clerk duties. He will use a League of California Cities pool of retired city employees available for work.

Culver said her malady was “a tremendous letdown, a tremendous disappointment” because she was enjoying the new job. She said it will be six months before her eye is healed.

Siebert said Culver was not a city employee long enough to qualify for medical benefits or sick leave. She has been on unpaid leave, Siebert said.

Councilwoman Ruth Gralow said the clerk’s job has not been held open as a special favor to Culver. “We are not a real hard council and would not have treated someone else any differently,” she said.