Republican Primary Candidates for San Juan County Assessor and Treasurer

Candidate profiles for Republican primaries for County Assessor and County Treasurer

Rick Meyer

I love San Juan County. I love the history, culture, places, and people of this county.
I was born in Monticello and grew up in Blanding. Red dirt and blue skies are in my blood. 
My youth was spent working on my dad’s farm and my Grandpa Guymon’s cattle ranch. This is the time that I learned the value of work and doing a job well. 
After graduating from San Juan High School in 1980, I served a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in the best mission in the world, the Little Rock Arkansas Mission. I loved the people of Arkansas and Tennessee. 
After my mission I went to Utah State University where I met the love of my life, Jonna Lancaster from Cherry Hill New Jersey.
Right now, we are going on 40 years of marriage and have been blessed with five children and now ten grandkids. 
Logan winters were a little colder than we wanted to endure so we moved down to Provo, Where I attended Brigham Young University and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in biology and secondary education in 1988. 
My hope and dream were to always return home to live and raise my family in a place that I know and love. In 1992, I was offered a job to work for the Health Department as an environmental health Inspector over San Juan County. It was wonderful coming home where my kids could grow up among family and the wonderful people here. 
The 29 years of doing inspections I have lived the dream, yes it was a hard job and not everyone was my friend but every day I was able to choose what to do and where to go. 
I did not know at the time my experience as a health inspector would be so beneficial to my assessor’s work. 
The assessor’s main job is to value property. Knowing where these properties are and, in many cases, having been on the property as the health inspector has been a great asset in getting things right. 
So, for the past three plus years, I have been working hard to make sure that your property is valued correctly, that all 8300 parcels of land in the county are looked at every year. 
During my time as the county assessor, I have implemented a new software program to store all a parcel’s characteristics and information. This information gathering and input will take a number of more years to finish. 
I have learned the processes, procedures, laws, regulations regarding the Assessor’s office. I am now a licensed residential appraiser; this was a huge project. 
One hundred and fifty hours of classroom time, one thousand hours of appraisal experience and one final killer of a four-hour comprehensive test. 
Being the elected county assessor has been a great experience. 

William McFarland

As someone who grew up in and loves San Juan County, my family and I feel incredibly grateful to be able to live in and enjoy all this county has to offer. I have always felt so lucky that I grew up in San Juan County, with its canyons, mountains, Lake Powell, hunting, mountain biking, cattle drives, four-wheeling, and, of course, the great people.
I’m running for County Assessor to become more involved in our county and its future. I have worked full-time as a real estate appraiser since 2000, and running for and working as the county assessor is the best way to get more involved based on my extensive background in the field of property valuation. 
I have performed tax appeal appraisals for county citizens and worked for a county office. These experiences have helped me see the process from both sides. I understand and am aware of the delicate balance between sympathy for the taxpayer and county services being funded by property taxes. The main factor in better serving the county residents and business owners is my in-depth knowledge and experience in appraising.
I aim to make the county residents’ property tax experience as drama-free as possible. While an assessor can’t make promises to lower taxes or bring revenue into the county, an experienced appraiser can add efficiency and consistency to the process while increasing public trust and confidence in the assessment process. 
As a professional appraiser, I will draw on my experience to make informed decisions that will benefit the county residents when outside influence comes into play. I will also work towards making it so the county doesn’t need to outsource assessment work. 
I have encountered many valuation scenarios over 20+ years that will immediately benefit San Juan County residents. I have completed thousands of appraisals in over 13 counties on properties with hundreds of variations and unique characteristics, most with demographics similar to San Juan County. 
As the opportunity presents itself, I will bolster assessor office talent by recruiting and hiring experienced licensed appraisers. It is common for assessor offices to recruit statewide. 
Currently, and in the past, San Juan County is one of a few counties statewide that has yet to require you to be a licensed appraiser before you run for the office of assessor. 
Sheriff, county attorney, and county surveyor require a candidate to be licensed and trained in those fields of expertise before running for those offices. An effort should be made to have those in the assessor’s office be of similar competency for that field of work. 
I am truly grateful for your time and effort in studying the candidates and issues. Your engagement is a testament to the strength of our community. I humbly ask for your support and vote, as my experience and commitment make me the best candidate for this role.

Glenis Pearson

My name is Glenis Pearson. I am the current San Juan County Treasurer in my third term. I am a resident of Monticello, grew up in Blanding and truly love San Juan County. 
I am running for re-election and believe my experience and honesty are valuable for this complex job. I worked as the Deputy Treasurer for several years prior to being elected to this position, thus greatly adding to my understanding of the many aspects involved. 
I am mindful of the fact that it is you, the citizens of San Juan County, for whom I work and I take the responsibility of ensuring the safety of public funds very seriously.
As Treasurer, I hold the responsibilities to bill, collect, distribute and reconcile real property taxes that are levied by all taxing entities of the County. 
The County Treasurer does not determine the amount of any tax.  I assist taxpayers with requests for information and am also responsible for the banking, management and investment of all San Juan County funds. I make sure there are funds available for day-to-day operations of the County.
This is YOUR money.  I always invest with you, the taxpayer, in mind. Investments are made with consideration given to safety, liquidity needs, yield and diversification. 
There are strict State guidelines for such, however one must still look at what is safe and prudent for all. In my previous terms I have diversified our investments, created new spreadsheets for the assurance of precise records and updated accounting procedures.
County financial management duties are performed according to the Utah Money Management Act. Financial institutions, brokers and investment advisors must be qualified with the UMM Council for the Treasurer to invest with them. 
I have proven leadership abilities and good working relationships with support personnel including banking staff and investment advisors. Any available funds have been placed in qualified investments and our investments are growing!
We have a great heritage as Americans. I believe we need to protect our freedoms and return to the basic principles on which our nation was founded. 
I seek a government that is not just efficient but accessible, honest and transparent. I am a strong advocate for government transparency and citizen empowerment and I work hard to ensure these principles are upheld in the Treasurer’s Office.  
I support cuts in government spending and balanced budgets and consistently work to lower costs. I support decentralization of government so that more power is exercised by State and local governments.
I will always strive to make a positive difference. Family, education and community are important values to me. Interaction with citizens is one of the best parts of my job. 
It has been an honor to serve you as the San Juan County Treasurer and I humbly ask for your vote this election.

Vint DeGraw

There are 3 main responsibilities of the County Treasurer. First, ensuring the banking and financing needs of the county are met, second, collecting and distributing property taxes, and third, managing the county’s investments. 
These tasks require coordinated work both outside of county government with the public, financial institutions, and taxing entities, and within the offices and divisions of the county. 
My priorities will be to: 
• Revitalize the county’s investment strategies with a goal of increasing county revenues through investments and taking the pressure off of some of our other budget needs,
• Develop an advisory council comprised of local financial and investing professionals, and targeted county employees. An investment advisory council will ensure awareness of opportunities to improve our results, 
• Increase the transparency and visibility of the work of the County Treasurer’s office, and
• Improve the level of coordination that you receive when working with the County Treasurer.  The intent being a consistent, quality service.
I recently retired after 30 years with the Utah Department of Workforce Services.  I helped oversee the federal grant for veteran employment services which required statewide fiscal oversight and policy development.  I trained veterans on the services available, and employees on how to provide those services. 
Additionally, I have over 25 years’ experience with service and non-profit organizations: Boy Scouts of America (25 years), Alport Syndrome Foundation (18 years), Utah Republican Party (18 years), and Loving Special Families Foundation (2024 is our founding year). 
These experiences have ranged from non-profit start up activities, developing yearly financial and organizational goals, developing member engagement programs, and coordination on local, national, and even international levels. 
My involvement with San Juan County begins with the Hole-in-the-Rock trek. Platte DeAlton Lyman, my ancestor, was the first leader of the San Juan County Republican Party, and his wife Adelia Robinson Lyman was the President of the Women’s Suffrage Association.  
Through their son, Albert R. Lyman, my grandmother Maxine Lyman Himmelberger, and my mother Tauna Larson, a legacy of service in San Juan County has been years in the making. 
A little more than 100 years after Platte Lyman’s service, I served as the chair of the San Juan County Republican Party.
I graduated from Monticello High School in 1986, graduated from Southern Utah University in 2002, and lived throughout Utah for my employment. In each location we lived I tried to continue that legacy of service by being involved. 
Finally, I was able to return to San Juan County in 2014. Three of my children also graduated from Monticello High School. Today, my Dad and two of my boys make our home in Monticello.  
I’m running because I believe I can make a positive difference in the San Juan County Treasurer’s office. I believe we can wisely and appropriately invest our county monies to provide a greater return to the county. I’d like to the 5th generation of my family to serve this place we call home.  
I’m Vint DeGraw, and I’m asking for your vote for San Juan County Treasurer.