Paul Rogers has had a largely thankless job at City Hall.

That being the case, I’d like to thank him — both as a newspaper person and as a city taxpayer.

Rogers was first hired in the City Clerk’s Office during my days as a City Hall reporter. It was 1979 and he was hired from Clarksdale, where he had worked for that city for four years.

When Rogers started, Marie Pantoliano was city clerk and had been so for a series of mayors. She had that special temperament it takes to work with bosses of all personality types, while letting them think they were really in charge, too.

Whether he perfected it from watching Miss Pantoliano or not, Rogers had the same manner. Through Travis Vance Sr., Demery Grubbs, Robert Walker, Joe Loviza and Laurence Leyens, he maintained an even keel. The five administrations changed lawyers, fire chiefs, police chiefs and everyone else — but they were smart enough to keep Paul Rogers. Even after Rogers “retired” in 1999 as city clerk, he was kept on in a role as something that came to be called “strategic planner.”

In essence, he was the city’s money man, managing the finances. And it was also his responsibility to see that proper records were kept and that the city was in compliance with state and federal laws and regulations on myriad requirements that change, literally, every day.

Somehow, he also got the job as buyer for the city’s 10,000-customer natural gas utility. In the years before Katrina, Rogers worked a plan that kept rates even in Vicksburg while rates of private suppliers and other public utilities went berserk. We reported what good shape Vicksburg’s gas utility was in compared to others, but those stories got little attention.

Things changed after Katrina in 2005 when every utility got zapped and merely maintaining a supplier took heroic efforts. Rogers took the heat from a lot of people about their heating bills.

Too, it was a freedom of information request by John Shorter, twice a candidate for city office and now president of the local NAACP chapter, that revealed city officials had bypassed normal channels and raised Rogers’ pay to $150,000 per year. It was no accident this was done in a way that the Post’s City Hall reporter wouldn’t discover the boost.

Still, in practical terms, $150,000 is not unreasonable pay for a person managing more than $30 million plus all the other tasks Rogers performs. As former Mayor Laurence Leyens said, Rogers saved the city enough money to cover his salary many times over. But it was a sneaky move. Voters don’t like sneaky.

I haven’t been to City Hall for any reason in many years. Robert Walker was mayor the last time I went and a guard at the door wanted me to sign in and state my business. Because I didn’t really have any business other than to say hello, I just left and haven’t been back. The Post does, however, send reporters to City Hall almost every day and there’s no telling how many Paul Rogers has taken time with through the years.

The processes of municipal government are very specific and they take time to learn. Reporters wanting to understand what all the verbiage meant could get Rogers’ ear. And he would help them, showing great patience with those who weren’t so arrogant as to believe they already knew it all.

I’m grateful to Rogers and all officials who explain millages and bids and bonds and such to newbies; it’s just that I believe Rogers has the record in terms of numbers.

And, of course, I’m grateful as a taxpayer because I believe Rogers has never forgotten who really pays the city’s bills. Ask anyone who knows him. He’s awfully frugal.

Word is Paul Rogers will work part time to make sure the next generation of city managers knows as much as he does, which is a lot.

We should be thankful for that, too.