Cache County Clerk/Auditor Jess Bradfield announced this week that he will be switching to part-time employment with the county.
CACHE COUNTY — The first casualty of the ongoing feud between the Cache County Council and other elected officials here is County Clerk/Auditor Jess Bradfield.
After being re-elected to his post on Nov. 8, Bradfield announced this week that he was switching to part-time employment by the county.
“My hope in going to part-time status,” he explained, “is that we can use the $160,000 of my total compensation package, including benefits and 401K, for needed items like election equipment.”
Moving to part-time status is justified under the Cache County code, according to Bradfield, which states “… if the County officer gives notice that he or she chooses to work … less than 30 hours per week, in which case the part-time salary will be an hourly wage based upon the prorated amount of the full-time salary.
“The County officer may not receive other compensatory benefits unless approved by the County Council.”
Bradfield said that he plans to retain his elected position, working about 8 to 16 hours per week.
“I’ll come in early in the morning,” he said, “to make lists of tasks that need to be accomplished. But I’m turning the day-to-day operation of the Clerk/Auditor’s Office over to my chief deputy, Bryson Behm.”
Those routine functions of the Clerk/Auditor’s Office include issuing marriage and business licenses; handling Government Records Access and Management Act (GRAMA) requests; tax administration; and, other duties.
Bradfield was selected by the Cache County GOP to fill out the unexpired term of long-time County Clerk Jill Zollinger in September of 2020. Despite a mass-exodus of former clerk’s office employees after his appointment and a rocky relationship with the members of the Cache County Council, Bradfield said he is proud of the work that has been accomplished to modernize his office.
“We worked for two years to build up this team,” he boasted, “training them to be top talent among clerk/auditor’s offices.
“I believe they are now the most capable team in the entire state … What they don’t need now is another highly-compensated administrator looking over their shoulders.”
Bradfield, a former member of the Logan City Council who gave up a lucrative position in human resources to joint the Cache County staff, will now return to that field for full-time employment with a national industry.
“My expectations when I became clerk/auditor is that I would be treated fairly along with other county employees.
“When the county council voted to block anyone associated with (County Executive) David Zook from getting a salary increase three times in a row earlier this year,” Bradfield recalled, “it created a hardship for my family due to rising inflation.
“Recently, I was offered a full-time position elsewhere in the human resources field,” he added. “Since I was already used to working 60 to 80 hours per week, that will work out nicely.”