A career public servant who has worked for the Wright City government for over 40 years is planning to retire. City Clerk and Treasurer Karen Girondo announced that she will leave office at the end of March 2020.

Girondo presented her official letter of retirement to the Wright City Board of Aldermen Dec. 12.

“I have enjoyed 44 years of service in my various roles with the city,” Girondo commented in her letter. “One time the DJ for Livewire at KWRE stated that the city was my ‘Hotel California,’ and that I could not leave. Well, it is time for me to go, and I am leaving it in the hands of a very capable staff that will do a wonderful job.”

Girondo started working for the city in 1975. She has worked in three different city hall buildings for eight successive mayors. Girondo said she has also worked with seven Wright City Police chiefs and 11 public works directors.

Throughout that time, she said Wright City has undergone many changes, most of them good.

“When I started with the city, the population was about 900. I am estimating now the 2020 Census will have the population at over 5,000,” Girondo wrote in her letter.

“We appreciate her 44 years of gracious, hard work and service to our community,” said Mayor Dan Rowden. He said Girondo’s deep knowledge of the city is highly valued, and joked that he knows her home address if the city is ever in need.

Aldermen expressed their appreciation for Girondo in similar terms, jokingly questioning whether they had to accept her letter of retirement.

Informally, Girondo has been commenting on her plans to leave office for some time. The city hired an assistant treasurer in 2019 to begin taking on her responsibilities, and other staff have  been learning about the clerk’s position, Girondo said.

For much of her career, Girondo has also been the city’s representative to several regional planning committees and the Wright City Area Chamber of Commerce. City Administrator Jim Schuchmann was selected to assume that role on Dec. 12.