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Lee County clerk fired

• A Lee County government employee is out of a job after deciding to run against her elected boss.

Susan McCord

LEESBURG — A clerk of Lee County Superior Court for seven years, Sara Clark said she was shocked to learn she’d been fired at the end of the workday Wednesday.

It was the same day Clark publicly announced she was running for the job held by her boss, Lee Superior Court Clerk Sondra Cook.

“She came and dropped an empty box at my feet and said, ‘Turn in your keys and clear out your desk,’ ” Clark said.

Handed her first separation notice in her 51 years, Clark said she questioned why Cook would fire an employee who oversees the office’s criminal records division and who’d never had a critical evaluation.

Cook said she was equally surprised to learn of Clark’s campaign.

“The fact that I had to learn of my opposition by reading it in the (weekly Lee County Ledger) newspaper rather than my opponent discussing it with me indicated a lack of candor and reliability necessary in an office such as ours,” Cook said in a statement.

Lee County has no policy against running for office against one’s boss, as some counties do, but clerk office staff, as all Lee employees, are employed at-will, meaning they can be fired at any time for any reason.

Hand picked by longtime Lee Clerk of Courts Ann Nix, Cook was appointed clerk Jan. 2, 2007, to complete the final two years of Nix’s term.

Cook said during her 14 years of experience with Nix, “we always prided ourselves on running an efficient and effective office, providing superior service to the citizens of Lee County.”

“I hope I have the honor and privilege of continuing to provide that high level of service,” she said.

When Cook was named clerk, Clark was promoted to deputy clerk.

When Cook announced her candidacy in January, she commended her “highly trained and experienced staff.”

That experience — Clark’s, in criminal records — will be missing in her absence, Clark said.

“I am the criminal clerk. To me, she was not even thinking of what’s best for the office. Several things I do — did — nobody’s ever done before,” she said.

The women are the only individuals to have filed notices of intent to pursue the post with Lee’s elections office, Elections Supervisor Veronica Johnson said.

Qualifying for the office begins April 28.

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