Government work is still calling former Avon Lake Mayor Rob Berner.

He has been out of office for less than a month after losing his position to current Mayor Karl “KC” Zuber but already has his sights set on a top position within the Port Clinton city administration,

Berner is one of five candidates to be interviewed for the position of Port Clinton’s safety service director. Berner said he intends to interview for the job Sunday.

The position is open because Port Clinton’s former safety service director resigned after an indictment accused him of selling city-owned scrap metal and keeping the money. If offered the job, Berner will be thrust back into the position of cleaning up after controversy, something he was called to do more than six years ago when he won a special election for the Avon Lake mayoral seat after two predecessors left office in handcuffs.

Port Clinton, which boasts of being the Walleye Capital of the World, has roughly a quarter of Avon Lake’s population, but Berner said the opportunity would allow him to use a lot of the skills he acquired as mayor.

“In Avon Lake, we don’t have a safety service director. As mayor, I did most of the duties of the position,” he said.

In Avon, Berner spent 6½ years running a growing suburban city of about 22,000, where the annual budget easily topped $55 million. If he takes the Port Clinton job, which comes with a salary of roughly $71,000 a year, he will oversee all city departments, including streets, police, fire and recreation.

Port Clinton is 60 miles away from Berner’s home in Avon Lake — if he is picked for the job, he says he will relocate.

“I haven’t even been offered or accepted the job, so I really can’t say what will happen,” Berner said when asked about his feelings about leaving the area he grew up in. “We haven’t made that decision yet.”

Contact Lisa Roberson at 329-7121 or lroberson@chroniclet.com.

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