Ready to put experience to work for county

My name is Denise Sotelo Westerhoff, and I am a candidate for Linn County Treasurer in 2018.

I retired from the Linn County Treasurers Office in May 2015, after being employed there for 34 years. I decided to re-enter the workforce and have been working part-time at the Benton County Treasurer's Office these past two years.

In Linn County, I served as senior account clerk for 14 years and senior title clerk/universal clerk for 20, developing strong skills in customer service, property tax collection, motor vehicle transactions and related disbursements.

As senior account clerk I:

' Balanced and compiled statistical, financial, accounting-auditing, expenditures, accounts payable-receivable, and profits-losses reports.

' Calculated, and disbursed the audit and orders sent to townships, city clerks and school districts.

' Collected property tax for all real estate, mobile homes, special assessments, and utilities for all tax entities of the county.

As senior title clerk/universal clerk I:

' Resolved customer complaints.

' Helped in the supervision of the office staff, and training thereof.

' Solved complex problems.

' Collected one-time registration fee (road use tax).

' Processed vehicle transactions, title issuance, registration renewals, lien notations, and junk certificates.

As Linn County treasurer, three of my goals would be to:

' Do away with unnecessary paperwork associated with title transactions.

' Train staff members on the new computer system. I have been promoting the Tyler Tax system since March 2018. The Board of Supervisors just passed the Tyler system, which will hopefully go into effect by 2020. I want to say: I'm thankful; it's about time!

' Be a working treasurer who is approachable, and who resolves customer concerns.

I would be honored to serve as Linn County treasurer and believe that I have the experience, leadership skills, knowledge, and wisdom needed to provide a continuing efficient service to the people of Linn County. Your support and vote for me on Nov. 6 would be greatly appreciated. If you would like to make a contribution or just check out the events on my campaign trail, contact me at denisewesterhoff.com or my Facebook page. I place my hope and trust in God!

' Denise Sotelo Westerhoff is a Republican candidate for Linn County Treasurer.

All candidate guest columns in the Linn County Treasurer race:

' Sharon Gonzalez

' Denise Sotelo Westerhoff