Demopolis city clerk Paula Bird will resign from her position later this year, but will wait until the city council finds a new city clerk before she leaves office.

“I just want more time to spend with my family,” she said Tuesday. “That’s truly my main reason (to resign). I am grateful for the opportunity to have been able to work, because it’s been exciting, and it is a full job. It takes a lot of time, but it is an exciting and fulfilling job.”

Bird held the longest tenure as Demopolis city clerk since Vickie Taylor, who served from 1986 to 2004. Paula Rich served as an interim city clerk from October to December 2004, and Carla Cowling was named the permanent city clerk on Dec. 2, 2004. Cowling served until January 2007, and current accounts payable clerk Sam Gross served as an interim city clerk until Bird was hired in May 2007.

Bird credits her teamwork with her fellow office workers in the success of the organization of the city offices after the city went through three city clerks in a 31-month period.

“We’ve done a lot to get things organized,” she said. “I think, in all that turnover, there was a lot of disorganization, and we’ve worked really well as a team to get things organized, so you know where things are and you know what things are. I feel like I played a good part in that.

“I am proud of the teamwork we had here. The teamwork we had here made my job easier. I have really enjoyed my time here.”

Bird has a number of achievements in her short tenure, including the organization of the city’s code of ordinances, which have been updated for the first time since 1994 and will be placed online later this year.

“They are scheduled to be updated twice a year,” she said. “They are in a process right now where they will be available online. That way, it should be a little easier for people to see what the rules are.”

Demopolis mayor Mike Grayson said the council is in the process of interviewing people to fill the position.

“She has been an absolute pleasure to work with,” Grayson said. “She has lessened my burden. She has been professional, a hard worker, a good personality — what you would want in a city clerk. She has had a dual role in working not just with the city employees, but also with the general public. I have personally enjoyed working with her, and I’ll miss her.”