Cowley County administrator Leroy Alsup is confident the county made a good choice in hiring Carol Berning, a former Leoti city council member who was the subject of a recall vote Aug. 3.
Berning moved here in recent weeks and has started a job as Alsup’s assistant. The administrative assistant position has existed since the administrator’s job was created several years ago.
Alsup said Berning was interviewed by a three-person panel and that the recall issue was discussed prior to her hiring.
"It did not surprise us," Alsup said of the recall vote in Leoti. "It was not a factor for us. There wasn’t anything claimed in the recall petition that caused us concern."
Alsup did say that Berning "won’t be running for political office while she is here."
News reports show Leoti residents voted 135-120 to remove Berning from office. The vote, however, was mostly symbolic because the councilwoman had already submitted her resignation so that she could take the job here, according to a report in The Garden City Telegram.
One of the people circulating the recall petition was a former Leoti city employee, according to the Telegram. A reduction in employee benefits appears to be at the center of the recall efforts.
The recall petition alleged that employees had been mistreated and that the city was running inefficiently. Other members of the council were targeted for recall but the group only generated enough signatures to get Berning on the ballot.
Alsup said the county focused on, among other things, work Berning had done for the school district in Wichita County. She has experience in public- fund accounting and bookkeeping that made her a top candidate, he said.
"Being on the council was not her primary occupation," Alsup said. "We focused on the work she’d done, not the politics."
Alsup and two others interviewed candidates for the position. Berning was the top choice of all three on the panel.
Berning also got very good recommendations from her former employers, Alsup said. Part of her reasoning for moving to Cowley County was to be closer to family, which includes daughters attending college.
Alsup’s former assistant left the position to take a job that offered her more time with her family.
NewsCow has offered Berning a chance to comment, and if she does, we’ll let you know.
