Former clerk backs Steele

Dear editor:

I am writing this letter to support Barbara Steele in her candidacy for Clerk of the District Court.

The clerk's position is one of many and varied tasks and when done properly, takes countless hours to accomplish getting the work done in a timely and professional manner. The position includes Clerk of the District Court, Auditor, Clerk of the Board of Commissioners, Recorder, and Chief Elections Officer. These titles do not fully explain the extent or complexity of the clerk's job.

There are many other things the clerk must do.

Governmental accounting is quite different from business accounting and to be the clerk that has to be understood. The current clerk's new accounting degree did not qualify her for governmental accounting and she was unwilling and has made no effort to take advantage of any help that was readily available to her from many sources.

Barbara Steele will do so.

Line item accounting takes time to assess each individual line item in the budgets and each departmental piece of the budget. The only way to accomplish this task is to work with all the other elected officials and department heads in the county personally to understand what is going on and needed with the other departments.

The clerk also should work personally with each taxing district and see that they are trained and receive all the assistance they may need to complete their part of the of the actual tax dollars that are being requested from the state.

Barbara Steele will do that.

The clerk should also fully understand the tax structure and that the assessor, clerk, commissioners and treasurer are all integral pieces in how that structure is put together.

The clerk must understand that the citizens of Elmore County deserve a working clerk who will go out of his or her way to be the public servant the clerk should be. All citizens should be treated with respect at all times -- THEY ARE PAYING THE BILLS!

The clerk should stand ready to answer any and all questions coming from the public and if the question posed by that citizen is not part of their actual job to try and find out the answers they are seeking or by giving them another source to go to for what they need. That is what public service is all about.

The clerk MUST HAVE a full understanding of what the county commissioners are doing. When the board members, who are part-time, are not available, the clerk who SHOULD BE full-time and is paid for it should be able to work with the public to provide information and answer questions as an extension of the board.

To accomplish this you must be present and work with the board all the time. THIS IS NOT BEING DONE.

The clerk should also be available to help new Commissioners learn the ropes. Barbara Steele does almost all the work the commissioners need right now under the current clerk.

The elected clerk should be there to do anything and everything to assist the board. This is not happening and Barbara Steele is filling this role since the current clerk is not willing to do so.

Until this past term, the clerk of Elmore County has always been highly motivated to be a working clerk who was available to the citizens and a person who would motivate their employees to be public servants and who trained and empowered those employees to serve the citizens.

The clerk's position was one of high integrity for many years when Ramona Yrazabal (1979-91, non-consecutive), Dolores Robison (1992-98), and Gail Best (1999-2006) held the office.

I apologize for this lengthy explanation to get to my point.

The current clerk was not qualified to become the elected clerk at the time she ran for office.

Her work in the court was mediocre at best, and she used the system, generally showing poor judgment, doing only the minimum required.

We, the citizens of Elmore County, need a new clerk who is willing to reinstitute the integrity of the office of Elmore County Clerk. We need to elect a clerk who will bring back the service this office has always willing to provide to best serve the interests of Elmore County.

We need a clerk who doesn't feel "it is the easiest job I have ever had," clearly demonstrating our present clerk is not doing the job.

We need a clerk who doesn't play computer solitaire at commissioner's meetings.

We need a Clerk who WILL DO THE JOB.

Barbara Steele worked under Dolores Robison, an interim clerk and I during our terms as clerk. I believe she will do a much better job for Elmore County than the current clerk, and this is the reason I am writing this letter.

She has worked in the district court and has experience in all other facets of the clerk's office. She held the chief deputy position for six months prior to the present clerk's election.

Barbara also has good common sense and is not opposed to hard work to do the job.

VOTERS: We are not getting what we are paying for. We need and deserve a new clerk.

Please join me in voting for Barbara Steele on May 25.

Gail L. Best, former Elmore County clerk