Two, one a write-in, vie for assessor post

CLOVIS — You wouldn’t know it from looking at the ballot, but Curry County voters will have two choices for county assessor when they head to the polls on Nov. 6.

Candace Morrison is seeking election for a second-straight four-year term. Morrison also served as county assessor as an appointee for two years prior to her successful 2014 campaign.

Lunden Hromas, a former appraiser with the county, is seeking the position as a write-in candidate. County Clerk Annie Hogland said Hromas’ name will not appear on the ballot and voters are required to physically write her name to ensure their vote is valid; stamps or stickers would not suffice.

Assessor is Curry County’s only local race with an eligible write-in candidate.

Hromas worked for the county from March 2013 until November 2017 when she was fired for violating the county’s personnel policies, specifically for falsifying time sheets and bringing her son to work and taking a break outside, leaving him in the office, county officials have said.

Hromas told The News that she felt she was “unfairly terminated” and said that staff bringing their kids into the office was not uncommon.

“All of us take our kids in there including assessor Morrison,” Hromas sad. “We have all had them there and left them in somebody’s care.”

Morrison said according to the personnel policy, staff are not allowed to bring their kids into the office. She declined to answer if there have been instances where she did allow staff to bring their kids to the office.

Morrison said she has brought her kids into the office but as an elected official she does not have to adhere to the personnel policy, something Hromas said she hopes to change whether or not she’s elected.

Regarding the alleged falsified time sheets, Hromas acknowledged mistakenly writing eight hours of time worked instead of eight hours of vacation time on one day, but pushed back against the nearly dozen claims of falsified timesheets included in a letter from Curry County Manager Lance Pyle to Hromas.

“(The time sheets) were accurate, most definitely,” Hromas said. “I actually feel like I got undercut on my hours.”

Hromas said those instances where her timecard reflected hours she did not work on that particular day were a result of carrying over hours from other days when she was working at home.

“I went to hearings and everything that they fired me for was approved by the county assessor.”

Morrison declined to comment on the specifics of Hromas’ termination, other than saying, “I wish her the best.”

Morrison did say that typically assessor staff are allowed to carry over hours within a week, but they do not usually have approval to work from home.

“It depends on the specific situation, typically no,” Morrison said. “I am a salaried employee so I can take work home with me, hourly employees are not to be taking work home. There’s not a whole lot you can do from home because everything is on this system, which you can’t access from home.”

Hromas said she has been working with an attorney, but was unsure of the status of her case.

Pyle said the New Mexico County Insurance Authority declined a tort claim by Hromas, finding no negligence against the county.

Hromas said she is seeking the position because she enjoyed working in the assessor’s office and “I don’t want anybody to feel like how I felt. I feel like if I was in there I would fight for employees as well as the community to make sure nobody gets treated the way I was.

“I feel like I’m qualified because I learned several positions while I was in there. I tried to learn everybody’s position just in case they were out of the office or what not. I think what would qualify me to be in there over somebody else I guess is I always took the initiative to go above and beyond.”

Morrison — who cited her qualifications as 10-plus years as a New Mexico certified appraiser as well her public assessment officer and public official certifications — said she has “a passion for property” and wants to continue the work she’s been doing the past six years, especially the countywide reappraisal process.

“Just keep on working and doing what we’ve been doing,” Morrison said. “I feel like we’ve been doing a really good job and it’s not just a me thing, it’s an us thing, it’s everybody working together.”