■ 2 candidates apply to replace late H.R. Autz; Council to appoint successor by July 15

Two Benicians with financial experience are hoping to succeed the late H.R. Autz as city treasurer.

Ken Paulk, whose career primarily has been as an executive in the retail garment industry, is seeking the job for a second time.

John Potter, a retired Naval Academy recruiter and a former engineer who specialized in finance, is seeking the job for the first time.

The treasurer position became vacant when Autz died in office May 16. Autz himself was appointed Oct. 16, 2012, to complete the term of Robert Langston, who died Aug. 24, 2012, after having won the 2011 election against Autz.

Langston succeeded Teri Davena, an administrative secretary who was appointed to complete the term of Margaret “Teddie” Bidou, who died in 2010.

Paulk, 65, has cited his friendship with Langston, which developed after the 2011 election, as the reason he hopes to become the city treasurer.

He sought the job after Langston’s death. City Council members praised him, and Mayor Elizabeth Patterson encouraged the former Parks, Recreation and Cemetery commissioner to continue his community service, but the panel chose Autz, another experienced retailer, as Langston’s successor.

Paulk spent 35 years in the apparel business, employed by multimillion-dollar companies.

His career began with Levi Strauss and Company, for which he became the general manager of women’s wear in San Antonio, Texas, then director of operations for the company’s international side, in Mexico City.

He became an executive in other companies, too.

Paulk has been vice president of operations and human resources for Fritzi of California, executive vice president of operations and equity partner in Catalina-Cole Swim Wear, and executive vice president of operations of Guess Inc.

He also has been executive vice president of operations and equity owner of Hat Brands, the umbrella corporation of Stetson, Resistol, Charlie 1 Horse, Montana Silver Smith and Imperial Golf Headware.

Since moving to Benicia he has started a supply chain consulting business, become an independent real estate agent and is employed by Home Depot. He also writes a weekly column for The Herald’s Food page.

His interest in food and his involvement with Benicia Main Street led him to organize two popular Benicia events: the Great Bowls of Chili cookoff, a fundraiser for the nonprofit that promotes downtown shopping; and the Rookies’ Big Rib Barbecue, for which Paulk serves as emcee.

He also has been active in Rebuilding Together Solano County, which helps rehabilitate the homes of low-income residents, particularly those who are older, disabled or ill, as well as community-use buildings.

Paulk said he also has pursued his own independent “continuing education” in a variety of subjects, from biological studies to golf course construction, as well as finances in both private and public agencies.

He has subscribed to the National Center for Educational Statistics, “to learn more about how generally accepted government accounting practices work,” he said. “It interested me how government financial agencies work.”

Potter, 78, has acknowledged the debate among Benicia officials over whether the city should keep the treasurer’s position an elected one. “I want to determine the merit of an elected treasurer for myself,” he said.

His career began in 1958 with the U.S. Navy, beginning with work aboard submarines. That led him to become a “plank owner” of the USS Mariano G. Vallejo, built at the Naval Shipyard at Mare Island, Vallejo, and launched in 1965.

“I was the weapons officer (third officer of the submarine), in the Blue Crew with the nuclear weapons,” Potter said. He has a picture taken the day of the submarine’s launch. “I was the officer on the sail planes to the far right in the photo.”

He became what he called a “talent scout” for the U.S. Naval Academy, although the more formal description is recruiting.

Potter traveled a region that went as far as Clear Lake, speaking to as many as 25 high schools at one time, seeking potential candidates for the Navy’s school.

Fortunately, he’s a pilot with a single-engine four-seater, making those trips much easier. He still uses the plane for pleasure trips.

Though Potter continued in the Navy Reserve until a few years ago, his academy recruiting career was succeeded by one with Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E) that began in 1971.

That career blended his skill as a nuclear engineer with the master’s of business administration degree he earned at Stanford University. Among his assignments was the Diablo Canyon Power Plant in Avila Beach, where he was the controller, handling budgets, accounting and financial forecasting.

That nuclear power plant produces 18,000 gigawatt-hours of electricity each year, supplying more than 3 million customers — nearly 20 percent of the power delivered by the utility.

Potter did the same type of financial work for the Pittsburg Power Plant Unit 7, a 700-megawatt addition built in the 1970s as an expansion of the original gas-fired plant constructed for PG&E in 1954.

After retiring again, Potter took two years off before becoming a cost and budgetary consultant for the Inupiat people of Alaska, often flying to Anchorage to meet with his clients.

Potter has his own community involvements. He was a Benicia Unified School District Board trustee in the 1970s and a member of its high school Site Council. He described how he traveled to Sacramento to buy Commodore computers for Benicia schools at a time when many school systems didn’t have such equipment.

He’s active in the Benicia-Tula Sister Cities program, and has made four trips to the Mexico city that partners with his home town. He also has been host to members of the Tula delegation when it visits here.

The two candidates for city treasurer have things in common. Both are native Texans who later moved to California.

Both also have acknowledged the recent history of Benicia treasurers who have died in office, each vowing to break the pattern and complete the term that ends in 2016.

The city treasurer must be a registered voter in Benicia, but doesn’t have to have any treasurer experience. The duties are to attend Finance Committee meetings and sign the city’s warrants, similar to check registers for Benicia’s expenses. The job pays $200 a month plus additional expenses and retirement benefits.

The City Council has until July 15 to appoint the next city treasurer, and the panel has asked City Attorney Heather McLaughlin to provide guidance about letting voters decide Nov. 4 whether Benicia should continue to have a treasurer.

The last time voters voiced an opinion about the job was in 1998, when they chose to keep the treasurer as an elected office.