Taylor enters retirement after 28 years as Ventura city clerk

by Marianne Gasaway

Else Taylor, who is only the third city clerk in Ventura’s history, is now enjoying life as a retired Ventura resident.  Taylor officially stepped down from her position Tuesday, July 20, after 28 years of service to the community.

It’s been a career filled with change, challenge, progress and certainly a few laughs.

Taylor began working for the City of  Ventura after City Clerk Dick Bachman passed away in 1993.  Prior to Bachman, the only other City Clerk the community has known was Curt Christensen, who stepped down in 1960.

“Dick Bachman received the delivery of the first new computer for the City at 10 a.m. and he passed away the same day at 3 p.m.,” said Taylor.  “I don’t think many of our local residents were interested in the job opening and I didn’t know what it really involved.”

She recalls walking into a City Hall that had some smoke-stenched boxes strewn about and a new computer in a box.

“Nothing was in a file folder, only hastily dumped in a box.  Most of the important information that I needed to know was lost the day he died.  Tom Lincoln (former Clear Lake City Administrator) came over one day to assess the situation.  He shook his head and walked out.”

In her own way, Taylor made sense of the system and developed her own to help the commun-

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ity operate efficiently.  During her years she worked with six different mayors, including Bob Wolfram, who was there to greet her when she joined the city’s team.

Wolfram served multiple terms for nearly 30-years, including time on the City Council.  Other mayors during her tenure included Doug Merbach, George Simpson, Lynn Benson and Joe Schmidt and her husband, Tom Taylor.

In addition to community leadership, Taylor also witnessed a change in law enforcement.  The Clear Lake Police Department was contracted to serve Ventura when longtime Ventura Police Chief Dick Clapper retired.  She worked with former CLPD Chiefs Dan Jackson, Greg Peterson, Rex McChesney and now Pete Roth.

The new library building project was just finishing up in 1993 when Taylor joined the city and from there the community kept modernizing.  A major renovation to City Hall was completed in 1995 and a street project in 1998 paved the remaining gravel roads in town.

In 2012, another major street project for Main Street and West Lake Street, along with the recreational trail and decorative street light was competed.  Presently, the city has been working and preparing for the 2021 Water Treatment Plant project which is just getting underway.  The city has also approved the final engineering for the new section of recreational trail that will start at the McItnosh Woods State Park entrance and continue east to Venetian Village.  A TAP grant is in place for the trail and additional funds have been set aside, Taylor noted.

“A lot has been accomplished in the 28-years I’ve been working for the City of Ventura and I’m happy to have been a part of the progress,” said Taylor.

Robert Quintero has been appointed Interim City Clerk and is expected to officially become the fourth City Clerk in the coming weeks.  Quintero was hired in June 2016 as part-time deputy clerk / public works assistant.  Quintero said he has learned a lot from Taylor over the years.

“She has done a lot good for the City of Ventura,” he said.  “She is a great person and was always forward thinking when trying to find things to make Ventura a unique place to live.”

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