With a new DeKalb Deputy City Clerk position narrowed down to nine applicants, City Clerk Peggy Hoyt said she hopes to choose one to fill the position by Thursday.

Hoyt said 33 applications were sent to her office for the deputy position in a two-week application period. She said she had difficulty narrowing down the applicants because all of them were “excellent.”

“I was very pleased with the caliber of the applicants. I couldn’t narrow it down to any less than nine. I had to get really picky,” she said.

The number of applicants was high because of the proposed salary, Hoyt said. The proposed range of $15,000 to $19,000 is probably higher than what most of the applicants currently are making, she said.

Hoyt said she will interview three applicants per day on Monday through Wednesday this week. She said she hopes to decide by the end of the week.

When Hoyt chooses the new deputy, she said she will contact the applicant by phone immediately and inform the other eight applicants they did not receive the position by mail. She said she will inform the city council of her decision on Monday, March 28, and she hopes then to introduce the new deputy to the council.

Because the council already has given her permission to hire a new deputy, Hoyt said she does not believe she will have to consult the council on her decision unless the proposed salary would exceed $19,000. She said she will offer the new deputy a salary which is more than the applicant already is making. “You have to make it worth their while,” she said.

The nine applicants chosen for interviews were selected because of outstanding work, educational background and impressive letters of recommendation, Hoyt said.

Several of the applicants reside outside of DeKalb, Hoyt said. The new deputy would have to reside or move into a seven and one-half mile radius of DeKalb, which might present a problem for the out-of-town applicants, Hoyt said. The radius includes rural DeKalb, Malta and Sycamore but does not include Genoa or Waterman, she said.

Hoyt said she wants make a decision on the position soon because she realizes the applicants are anxious to know whether or not they will be hired. Some of the applicants also have been applying for other positions, she said.