Clio Lloyd

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Clio Lloyd
Clio Lloyd
In office
January 8, 1901 – September 1910
Preceded by C.W. Kyle
Succeeded by L.B. Mallory
Profession Newspaper publisher

Clio Lloyd (1864- ?) was the 27th Chief Clerk of the California Assembly and a Santa Barbara newspaper publisher.


Lloyd was born in Mercer County, Illinois. He was educated in public schools and private college. Mr. Lloyd took up teaching as a profession for 8 years, until he went into the newspaper publishing business and real estate in Santa Barbara County, California.[1] In 1893, he was chosen as a Commissioner from Southern California to the Columbian Exposition in Chicago. In December 1905 he was elected to a four-year term as a member of the Santa Barbara Board of Education. In the early 1900s, he was publisher of the Santa Barbara Daily Press. He was also Director of the Press Publishing Company in Santa Barbara.[2]


Lloyd served as clerk when party patronage was still widely practiced in California government. During his terms as clerk, Lloyd served under four Republican Speakers of the Assembly: Arthur G. Fisk, Frank C. Prescott, Robert L. Beardslee Sr., and Philip A. Stanton.[3] Prior to the professionalization of the Chief Clerk's office by longtime Chief Clerk Arthur Ohnimus, clerks were often majority party loyalists. [4] To this end, Lloyd was active in Southern California Republican politics. He was Vice President of the League of Southern California Republican Clubs and Secretary of the Santa Barbara County Republican Central Committee. He was a member of the Independent Order of the Odd Fellows and the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks. Served as Chief Clerk from 1901-1910 --at the time, this was the longest anyone had served as Chief Clerk. Clio Lloyd was the first person in California history to serve more than two consecutive terms as Chief Clerk. [5] When Governor James Gillett called the Legislature into a brief Second Special Session in Ocotber 1910, Clio Lloyd did not run for re-election. [6]


In California, the Chief Clerk is now a nonpartisan officer of the Legislature, responsible for advising the presiding officer on parliamentary rulings, guiding legislators on legislative procedures, and overseeing the records and votes of the house.[7]

[edit] Footnotes

  1. ^ The California Legislature was a part-time institution prior to 1967, so during Clio Lloyd's era, Chief Clerks maintained full-time outside employment during their terms. See "California's Legislature," by E. Dotson Wilson, 2006 edition, California State Assembly: Sacramento, page 148; and see also, H.R. 28 (Nunez), 2007-08 Regular Session, California Assembly http://leginfo.ca.gov
  2. ^ Biographical info from "California Blue Book, 1903," by Office of State Printing: Sacramento. Also, *The Government of the State of California 1903," Published by Fred Coleman, Sacramento: 1903.
  3. ^ California's Legislature (2006 edition). E. Dotson Wilson, California State Assembly, p. 265.
  4. ^ Arthur Ohnimus cemented the nonpartisan nature of the Chief Clerk and his staff in the 1940s. See HR 28, 2007-08 Regular Session, California Assembly.
  5. ^ "California's Legislature," by E. Dotson Wilson, 2006 edition, California State Assmebly: Sacramento, page 265.
  6. ^ During the 2nd Extraordinary Session of 1910, the Assistant Clerk, Thomas G. Walker, was elected as Chief Clerk (October 3, 1910). Walker served as Chief Clerk for the brief special session, which lasted just three days. See Assembly Journal, Second Extraordinary Session, October 3, 1910, p. 46.
  7. ^ California's Legislature, 2006 Edition, E. Dotson Wilson, California Assembly, p.148.

[edit] Sources

  • The Government of the State of California 1903," Published by Fred Coleman, Sacramento: 1903.
  • Journals of the Assembly, California Legislature, 1901, 1903, 1905, 1907, 1909, 1910 (1st Extraordinary Session). View Assembly Journal archives online at http://www.asembly.ca.gov/clerk -click on "Assembly Journals"
  • California's Legislature (2006 edition). E. Dotson Wilson, California State Assembly.
  • California Blue Book, 1903 Office of State Printing: Sacramento, CA.

[edit] External links