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The City Council Monday named Sara Cox as Berkeley’s new city clerk. 

City Manager Phil Kamlarz recommended Cox, who has been serving as the city’s acting clerk since Sherry Kelly retired last December, after a nationwide search. 

“Sara has a good knowledge of Berkeley and understands the community value of being fair to everyone,” Kamlarz said. He added that Cox was one of seven finalists for the clerk job, out of nearly 40 applicants, which included clerks from other cities. 

“I’m extremely honored to have the opportunity to contribute to the community,” Cox said. 

Cox, who has a law degree and a master’s in library science, began working in Berkeley four years ago as deputy city clerk. Her appointment to the top post won’t be official until the council makes a formal vote at next week’s meeting. 

As city clerk Cox will be responsible for managing city documents, researching inquiries, recording City Council and commission happenings and managing elections—a particularly time-consuming chore in a city with numerous elected offices and a penchant for citizen-intiated ballot measures. 

Cox replaces Kelly, who won wide praise for working some of the longest hours in City Hall to dispense information to the public. 

“I know it’s going to be a challenge following in Sherry Kelly’s footsteps,” Cox said. Her top priorities, she said, would be overseeing an online history of council actions dating back to the beginning of the 20th century and automating the system for formulating current council agendas.  

Cox hoped the new council agenda system and some staff restructuring will ultimately keep her from putting in the same hours as Kelly. 

“I kept hoping maybe there was an easier way to do the job, but so far that hasn’t been the case,” she said. Budget cuts have trimmed the clerk’s office to 11 employees, from 15 when Cox arrived in 2001. 

After promoting Cox to the top post, several councilmembers were sympathetic about her workload. 

“It’s a really killer job,” said Councilmember Dona Spring. “We’ve got to figure out how to restructure it otherwise we’ll keep burning people out.”¢