Write-in candidate signs up for assessor position

CLOVIS — There will be another contested race in Curry County in November, as a write-in candidate signed up Thursday for the county assessor’s race.

Lunden Hromas signed up as a candidate for the assessor position. She was the only write-in candidate to file on Thursday, County Clerk Annie Hogland said.

Current Assessor Candace Morrison did not face a challenger during the Republican primary earlier this month. She was appointed to the position following the retirement of Tim Lyman and won her first four-year term in 2014.

Hromas is also registered as a Republican in the race. There is no Democratic opposition for the position.

Hromas told The News she worked almost five years for the assessor’s office but last November was “ultimately terminated for accusations that are false,” a claim she said was also the basis of a pending lawsuit against the county.

“I’m running because I feel like if I was the assessor, I would make sure that everybody was treated fairly and wouldn’t get what I ultimately got,” Hromas said, referring to her termination for “supposed” falsification of time sheets. “I felt like if I had a position of authority, nobody would be treated unfairly.”

Morrison confirmed Hromas worked for the county and terminated, but said she “really can’t say a lot other than that there’s pending litigation and it’s a personnel issue.”

County Manager Lance Pyle said the same, telling The News that the county “does not comment on threatened litigation and personnel matters.”