San Juan County Assessor removed from office

Shelby Seely has been removed as San Juan County Assessor after he failed to earn the required certifications for the position. Seely was no longer eligible to serve as Assessor beginning January 1.
The Blanding-area business owner was elected to a six-year term as assessor in November, 2014. When he began serving in January, 2015, state law states that he had three years to become a certified assessor.
Utah Lieutenant Governor Spencer Cox notified San Juan County that the certifications had not been secured and, as a result, Seely should be removed from office.
In a separate interview, Seely said he did not plan to fight the removal.
“I was glad that I was able to serve San Juan County and do some good,” said Seely. “We wanted to treat people fairly, and I hope that is what I did. I enjoyed working for the people of San Juan County.”
On January 2, the San Juan County Commission appointed Greg Adams to serve as the interim assessor. Adams, who has worked in the assessor’s office for many years, has the required certification.
The next step in the process requires the input of the San Juan County Republican Party, which will select a replacement for the interim assessor.
According to San Juan County Attorney Kendall Laws, an appointed assessor must be a county resident and have the requisite certifications. There are just a handful of country residents who are known to have the certification.
It is anticipated that there will be a formal notice of availability and application process.
Vint Degraw, who is the Republican party chairman in San Juan County, asks that candidates interested in serving as Assessor send a resume and evidence of certification by Friday, January 19 at noon.
Applications can be mailed to the San Juan County Republican Party, P.O. Box 574, Monticello, UT 84535. They can also be emailed to vintsjcutgop@gmail.com.
The party is required to submit a recommendation for a new appraiser within 30 days. The process to name a new assessor will be formalized by the county commission.
Seely defeated the incumbent assessor, Howard Randall, in the November, 2014 general election.