The Stockton City Council has officially appointed Katherine Roland as the permanent city clerk following months of serving in the position as interim.
“Congratulations to our new city clerk,” Vice Mayor Kimberly Warmsley said Tuesday night amid applause as the council officially passed the resolution to hire Roland.
The vice mayor, who ran the meeting in lieu of Mayor Kevin Lincoln’s absence, and the counsel approved Roland’s hiring and contract with a 6-0 roll call vote.
The city’s new city clerk received a five-year employment agreement, according to the meeting’s agenda documents, providing her an annual compensation package, including salary and benefits, of about $275,000.
Roland joined the city of Stockton as deputy city clerk in January 2015, specializing in record research, before becoming assistant city clerk in July 2019, according to her LinkedIn profile. She was appointed interim city clerk in May, taking over the helm from previous Eliza Garza when the former city clerk’s contract expired, The Record reported. Garza had served in the role from 2019 to 2024.
According to the city, the council retained an outside recruiter following Roland’s interim appointment to help conduct a nationwide search, with a focus on California, to eventually fill the position permanently. Following a months-long process, the council narrowed down the list of qualified candidates and conducted final interviews at the end of October, with Roland ultimately coming out on top.
The job of city clerk comes with duties such as serving as custodian of official city records and public documents. Roland is also responsible for the documentation, maintenance and dissemination of City Council and commission actions, including minutes, ordinances, resolutions and contracts. The clerk is also in charge of all city elections.
The city clerk is one of only four chartered positions directly appointed by and reports to the City Council, along with the city manager, city attorney and city auditor.