CANYON CITY — The Grant County Court on Jan. 3 unanimously approved a motion to allow retiring County Clerk Brenda Percy to continue to be paid on a part-time basis to help train incoming interim County Clerk Laurie Cates, who is also currently the county’s human resources director.

Percy and Cates will remain in their current roles until sometime in late February or early March, until Percy has finished administering and certifying the John Day mayoral recall election on Jan. 16, Cates said.

A date for Cates to be sworn in as interim county clerk has yet to be determined, but the court approval now allows Percy to remain in the courthouse when needed for an estimated 200 to 300 hours of work to help train Cates for the May primary election, with the possibility of approving additional funding if more training is needed for the November general election, Cates said.

“Elections have gotten really contentious, as you are aware, and I want the integrity of that office to be without question, as it has been, and that’s why we’re requesting that you approve payment of Brenda for $36 an hour for her time assisting in this,” Cates told the court during the Jan. 3 meeting, as Percy sat nearby.

“We’re not going to be frivolous with this,” she added. “This will be as needed, and we’re estimating 200 to 300 hours, probably, to get through the primary because of the amount of work that’s involved with that and that we can revisit that for the general election if needed.”

Cates said Percy would be paid out of the relief help fund, if approved, and added there was funding out of the relief help fund to do that. The relief help fund is a budgeted fund within the county’s general fund and is used for unanticipated employee costs such as hiring temporary or relief staff, Cates said.

“I really feel it’s very important that we have someone with her knowledge helping with this because this is a big one coming up,” Cates said. “This is a presidential election for next year.”

The three court members unanimously approved the request, with Judge Scott Myers opening the possibility of an extension if needed.

“As things progress … keep us posted, let us know how it’s going and how we can help,” Myers said.

With Cates expected to transition into the role of county clerk in the coming months, the court also deliberated on the future of the human resources director position.

Cates recommended that the position continue despite the strained county budget but with a reduced work week of 32 hours, down from 40. She also recommended a proportional salary reduction from the current $67,332 a year to $53,866, a savings of over $13,000 annually.

In addition, Cates proposed conducting an in-house search for her successor for two weeks, Jan. 4-18, then opening the process to the public if a successor is not found from within county employee ranks.

The court unanimously voted yes after Cates’ presentation.