Schumacher offered county auditor position

At a special meeting of the Eddy County Commission on Tuesday, Jan. 9, a motion was carried to offer Becki Schumacher the position of Interim County Auditor.

If Schumacher accepts, the move would put a temporary end to questions surrounding the county auditor position after the county's former auditor, Patty Williams, resigned in December.

The vote to offer the position to Schumacher was 2-1, with commissioners Dave Gehrtz and Jamie Allmaras voting in favor, and commissioner Glenda Collier voting against.

Schumacher was one of only two individuals to apply for the interim auditor position. The other applicant was Kristy O'Connor.

O'Connor is Eddy County's current Tax Equalization Director as well as the county's recently appointed interim deputy auditor.

All three commissioners agreed that both Schumacher and O'Connor were qualified for the position, but Schumacher was ultimately selected, and could now return to being an auditor after a brief hiatus.

As it turned out, Schumacher was the first of two auditor resignations towards the end of last year, having resigned from her position as auditor for the City of New Rockford last September.

She first took over as the city's auditor back in August of 2021, and earned an accounting degree from Bemidji State University shortly after.

"She's very qualified and can do the job," said Allmaras at Tuesday's meeting. "I know she can."

In her cover letter submitted to commissioners, Schumacher states, "I would like to officially submit my application for the Interim Auditor position for Eddy County. I have spoken with Ashley Lies, Dave Gehrtz, James Allmaras and Patty Williams about the job details, duties and expectations."

Eddy County State's Attorney Ashley Lies, said she expects to hear back from Schumacher about whether she'll accept the position sometime this week.

If Schumacher is hired, she will remain the county's auditor until at least the upcoming general election in November, when the county could hold a special election to fill the vacancy.

However, commissioners briefly discussed the possibility of changing the county auditor from an elected position to one that's appointed.

The idea seemed to have support from the commission during a very brief discussion, but it was agreed to hold off further discussions regarding that possibility until their regular meeting in February.

That meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, Feb. 6 at 8:30 a.m. in the basement of the Eddy County Courthouse.