Scotts Bluff County Commissioners appointed a new County Assessor Monday, but not without some discussion about whether it could be done on a provisional basis.
Robert Simpson, who has been managing daily business operations of the office for a number of months, was unanimously approved on a 5-0 vote after an interview and recommendation by the selection committee. He was the only applicant to meet all criteria, including recent passage of the assessor’s certification exam.
Prior to that, Commissioner and committee member Mark Harris said given Simpson’s business, accounting and personnel background, he was an outstanding candidate.
“I think as he’s come to us in our meetings here, he’s handled things well, explained things well,” said Harris, “and I believe in the overall scheme of things, he’s an excellent opportunity for us to be able to appoint him as the assessor.”
The approval, however, was provisional, as the Board’s motion was to appoint Simpson to the post, but withhold administering the oath of office pending a six month probationary period.
That provision was the topic of further discussion as to whether the Board could impose such a requirement. Management Accountant Lisa Rein, who also sat on the selection committee, explained “When we we appointed Paul Payne at Public Defender, he wasn’t sworn in for a year after he was appointed. He still received the pay, he still received the title, we waited a year. We had had a bad experience… with the previous scenario.”
That was in early 2020, when the Board appointed a successor to Bernie Straetker, who had announced his retirement mid-term. Commissioners had named attorney Harry Moore as Straetker’s successor, only to have him abruptly resign with very little explanation shortly after his appointment. Payne was then-Deputy Public Defender, and stepped in to the top role in the office on an interim basis.
Harris suggested that the Board get a legal opinion on whether Simpson needed to be sworn-in to be able to legally exercise the statutory duties of the office, to which the rest of the body agreed. Board Chair Ken Meyer then reassured Simpson he was their top choice.
“You’ve got the job, obviously. Now we just need to figure out when, in fact, you’re going to get sworn in. And if we get advice from legal that if it’s okay to swear you in and then do an evaluation in six months,” Meyer said.
The Board agreed that staff should reach out to legal counsel for NACO and/or NIRMA for direction on whether a probationary period was allowable before Simpson could be sworn into office.
EDITOR’S NOTE: This story has been updated to correct that Simpson was the only applicant to meet all of the criteria to hold the office.
