Gilbert clerk resigns over Berman recall error

Gilbert Town Clerk Cathy Templeton has resigned, one month after an error she made doomed a recall attempt on Mayor Steve Berman.

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Her resignation letter was submitted late Wednesday afternoon, town spokesman Garin Groff said. This ends a 24-year career with the town where she began as a clerk typist, and then worked her way up from jobs as secretary, office assistant, management assistant and town manager's assistant.

Templeton, who was being paid $116,976 annually, had been the town clerk since November 1997, and was named Maricopa County Elections' outstanding clerk of the year for 2007.

Town Manager George Pettit said Friday afternoon that Deputy Town Clerk Pat Gilbertson has taken on the town clerk's duties, and Templeton's resignation letter will be officially accepted by the Town Council during an executive session set for 2 p.m. today.

In the same closed session the council will consult with town attorneys on possible legal ramifications of the clerk's most recent error.

Templeton's resignation letter refers to the fact that an attachment was left off a copy of a zoning ordinance provided to the group that gathered signatures to put it on the ballot. Citizens for Reasonable Growth turned in about 1,000 signatures June 24 to force a voter referendum on the council's recent rezoning of 65 acres at the southwest corner of Germann Road and Val Vista Drive.

This fact was one of several flaws alleged by a law firm representing the developer in a letter to Templeton, dated Tuesday.

"In good conscience, I cannot continue as Town Clerk as over 1,000 residents signed the petition in good faith," Templeton's resignation letter said. "This omission along with the recent error in calculating recall signature requirements is the reason I have decided to resign as Town Clerk."

On June 13, Templeton rejected petitions submitted in a recall attempt on Berman, after telling the group it needed to collect only half as many signatures as were actually required to put the recall on the ballot.

A phone message left at Templeton's Gilbert home Friday afternoon was not returned.

Vice Mayor Joan Krueger said she was not aware of any additional errors made by Templeton which might have contributed to her decision. "I think it was just these two in the last six months were too much for her to bear."

It's not yet clear whether the zoning referendum will affect the validity of the Roosevelt Square zoning petitions, which are being reviewed by the Maricopa County Elections Office.

Election office spokeswoman Yvonne Reed said the petition signatures are being verified, with the first check completed and the second check pending. She said it's not the county's responsibility to otherwise determine the legal viability of the petition. Once the second check is completed, "we will tell the town clerk, whoever that may be, so many signatures have been researched and so many have been verified."

When asked about Templeton's resignation, Pettit said, "I think disappointed is probably a better characterization of how I feel. There's been no individual since I've worked at the town, or my 30 years in public life, that I could trust more to do the right thing than Cathy Templeton."

Fred Phillis led the recall attempt against Berman which failed, at least in part, because of Templeton's calculation error, but he said Friday, "it didn't seem to me that prior error was sufficiently material to remove her from her job."

Krueger said that Phillis' perception of that previous error is a testament to the high regard Gilbert residents had for Templeton's integrity.

"I know of no case, there was absolutely no one who ever had any doubts about her integrity," she said.