(Atlantic) On Wednesday, Cass County Auditor Sara Harris submitted her resignation to the Cass County Board of Supervisors. In February, longtime Auditor Dale Sunderman resigned and, following the interview process, appointed Harris to the position. In April, Supervisor Chairman Steve Baier presented the Oath of Office to Harris to fill the position up to November, in which she would have to file papers in the November General Election.
Harris submitted the resignation letter to the Board of Supervisors on Wednesday Morning. Board Chairman Steve Baier released the following statement to KSOM/KS95 News.
Below is the resignation letter Harris submitted to the Board and KSOM/KS95 News:
Dear Cass County Board of Supervisors:
Please accept this letter as official notice of my resignation. My last day will be Monday, September 12.
I would like to thank the board for the opportunity to interview and ultimately obtain the position of auditor over two additional candidates, with Kathy Somers being one of the two. It was an honor to utilize my skills and 24-years of experience in human resources, payroll, accounting and management in the private sector to help transition the county from the decades of service provided by Dale Sunderman seamlessly in terms of service provided to the county. Our office was not closed to the public, other than a mandated audit of election results. Over the past four months I was progressing every day in learning the duties of the Auditor position despite the added pressure of the Treasurer’s office being closed for an extended period due to the exodus of the entire department staff.
It hurts to know that I will not be able to continue to improve and grow within the walls of the courthouse. I had always wanted a position within the courthouse. I remember in grade school I took a tour of the grounds and I thought at that time how it would be such a neat opportunity to represent my family and community in such a role.
Sadly, my fate has been decided for me by the Cass County Republican Central Committee with their organized effort to remove me in a referendum against the board of supervisors when they chose to place party loyalty over process and a full capability of doing the job as an auditor. I do feel that I could have campaigned and won the election but to what end? The toxic environment fueled with unnecessary drama would remain and the party powers that decided to push me out, to no fault of my own, will be more inspired than ever to continue their vendetta against the board and by association, me and my family. I love this town and community, and I would not want to see it further divided by politics. I pray for all involved that peace may come soon.
Sincerely,
Sara Harris
On August 17th, the Cass County Republican Party released information about a special nominating convention on August 16th. According to the press release, the Republican party met to nominate the Republican candidate for County Auditor on the November ballot, as required by the State of Iowa. The Cass County Republicans nominated Kathy Somers of Atlantic.
According to the press release from the Republican Party; Somers has local government experience, having served on the Atlantic City Council for 12 years. She has served on the Atlantic Personnel & Finance Committee, the Landfill Board, and Cass County Public Safety Commission. She has experience with human resources, labor laws, payroll, employee benefits, and insurance. She has been an active volunteer in the community and the Republican party.
Somers has been employed as the HR & EEO Officer/Safety Coordinator at A.M. Cohron & Son, Inc. for 13 years.
