City Clerk Resigns For Rockville Job

City Clerk Doug Barber will be leaving Hyattsville . In so doing, he will be leaving behind a career in Hyattsville's city government which stretches back more than two decades.

Barber, who currently lives in Bowie, submitted his letter of resignation to city leaders on Monday. His resignation was also announced at the City Council's aborted meeting later that evening. 

"It's an opportunity with a larger city," said Barber in an interview on Tuesday afternoon. "In the field of clerk, you don't have a lot of opportunities to stay in the state of Maryland, for larger cities and stuff like that, unless someone retires or resigns. So when you find an opportunity, you take a look at it."

Barber is slated to start his new job on April 30, He was informed of his selection last week.

Mayor Marc Tartaro said that Rockville officials made Barber "an offer we couldn't beat." 

Barber's departure leaves Hyattsville now with five department-director level positions vacant or filled in an acting capacity. 

Barber, a 1990 graduate of Northwestern High School, first started working for the city in 1988 at the age of 15, helping out on a part time basis with the local parks. By 2002, after stints in the city's administrative offices and in the parks department, Barber became Hyattsville's city clerk. In that capacity, Barber was in charge of taking and maintaining the city's records, handing requests for municipal documents and overseeing the city's elections.

Barber beat out more than 100 candidates who also applied for the Rockville job,

This is not the first time Barber has sought the Rockville clerk's job. According to Rockville Mayor Phyllis Marcuccio, Barber applied in September 2010 for the job and was one of the top candidates, but Rockville officials hired another candidate, Glenda Evans, instead. 

Evans later resigned from the Rockville clerk position after roughly 15 months on the job. In an interview with The Montgomery Sentinel, Evans said she suffered racial discrimination at the job. 

"I am delighted that Mr. Barber is coming to Rockville to serve as our City Clerk,” Rockville Councilor Tom Moore said in an email. “By all accounts, he has done a fantastic job in Hyattsville. Mr. Barber has mastered the intricacies of municipal clerking, and I look forward to seeing how he can make our well-running Clerk's office even better-run."

Terms of Barber's contract were not immediately available. Rockville council members declined to discuss terms or how many candidates were interviewed, citing city policy of not discussing personnel matters.

Tartaro praised Barber for his work with the city over the years. 

"He is an extraordinary employee," said Tartaro. "Our ability to move the city forward, even with the thinness of the staff right now, was certainly in significant part to his controbution to the team effort of the administrative staff."