Three Apply to Fill County Clerk Term

The December retirement of Island County Clerk, Sharon Franzen, means the Board of Island County Commissioners must make an interim appointment to finish her term, which expires in 2010.

The Washington State Constitution requires the political party with which a vacating office holder is affiliated to submit names of three people to the Board of County Commissioners. Ms. Franzen is a Democrat. Commissioners will interview three applicants during a public meeting before appointing one by a majority vote. The interviews will be held at 6:00 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 2, in the Commissioners Hearing Room in Coupeville. Commissioners hope to have a successor in place immediately following the effective date of Ms. Franzen’s resignation on Dec. 15.

The three applicants are attorney Linda Moore, J.D., a financial and development services consultant; Patricia Terry, a registered nurse with a masters in public administration; and Island County Deputy Clerk Debra Van Pelt, who has served under County Clerk Franzen since 2005.

Ms. Franzen resigns from her elected office after serving island citizens for the past 29 years, seven of them in the elected position of County Clerk . "This past year has been one of personal challenges, as I have been called upon with more frequency to deal with family health-related issues," she said in a memo to the Board of County Commissioners. " . . This decision was not reached easily, but after much thought and soul searching."