POULSBO — Mayor Becky Erickson was talking to Kitsap Transit executive director John Clauson about an idea she has for a bus that would solely serve routes in Poulsbo, and decided to use some leverage.

“I told him, ‘You stole my clerk. I want my bus,’ ” she said.

Jill Boltz, Poulsbo’s city clerk since the mayoralty of Kathryn Quade, has left the city to become secretary to the board of Kitsap Transit. Her last council meeting was Nov. 13.

“It’s a comparable job, but with no night meetings, and that’s important because she has relatively young children,” Erickson said. “She’s going to be missed.”

The job is also closer to home. Boltz lives in Port Orchard; Kitsap Transit’s headquarters is in Bremerton.

Erickson said the city is soliciting applications for Boltz’s successor. The city clerk’s pay range is $71,000 to $75,000 a year.

According to the city’s website, the City Clerk’s Office is responsible for “processing all ordinances, resolutions, legal publications, contracts/agreements, real property documents, lawsuits and claims for damages filed against the city.”

Other functions include “preparing and monitoring the Legislative and Clerk budgets, conducting the census for newly annexed areas as well as coordinating the annual census requirements, maintaining the city’s records and ensuring the preservation of essential documents.”

Boltz was Poulsbo’s city clerk for more than six years. Previously, she was administrative secretary and interim deputy clerk of Port Orchard.