GULFPORT — Lesley DeMuth may be coming back to Gulfport as the city clerk, a post she held for 14 years until her "retirement" in 1998.
The City Council will review DeMuth and three other applicants for the city's now-vacant city clerk post during a special meeting at 2 p.m. Thursday.
The city received 52 applications for the post by Friday, the close of the application process. Only four candidates met the city's minimum qualifications.
The council is expected to decide whether to continue advertising or begin interviewing DeMuth and the other three candidates.
The Gulfport City Council, which is looking for an experienced, certified municipal clerk, is willing to pay up to $84,000 for the job.
DeMuth, 47, has served as Seminole's City Clerk since 2005 and currently earns a $68,980 salary. She earned $48,000 when she left Gulfport in 1998.
"I left Gulfport so I could spend more time with my family," she said, adding that her children are now mostly grown.
She said she decided to apply for the Gulfport position largely because she enjoyed working there in the past and "left on very good terms."
DeMuth, who is a certified municipal clerk, has served as city clerk for several cities in Pinellas County — Seminole since 2005; Gulfport from 1984 to 1998; and Redington Beach from 1979 to 1984.
DeMuth said she spoke with Gulfport Mayor Michael Yakes and was encouraged to apply.
She told Seminole city officials Monday that she is seeking the Gulfport post.
"They all wished me well," DeMuth said Tuesday.
Also under consideration for the Gulfport post are: Betsy Jordan Driggers, the city clerk in Palatka; Cynthia Hanscom, who is the assistant borough secretary for the Borough of State College in Pennsylvania; and Dana Williams, assistant city clerk in Palmdale, Calif.
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