During one of my first meetings
with my management team, I discussed the concept of loyal opposition and how
it fits into my management philosophy. I
believe in loyal opposition and I encourage debate,
discussion, and disagreement – I think they are healthy.
A
recent event confirmed to me that loyal opposition and the environment that it
fosters is alive and well in the Auditor’s Office. During a meeting with County Recorder Joan
McCalmant, Jason Siebrecht (Manager – GIS/Mapping) posed a question to Becky
Shoop (First Deputy Auditor): Why not relocate
the real estate transfer books in our office to the County Recorder’s
Office – it would save our customers time and effort. Jason asked the question on a Wednesday and on
Friday we moved the books to the Recorder’s Office (see news release below). To top it off, Jim Morgan, a former employee of the Auditor’s Office, volunteered to organize
the books on his own time.
While
you may not think this is a big deal, it will save the title companies, real
estate attorneys, and realtors time and effort - which ultimately should reduce the
cost of completing real estate transfers in Linn County
- which should ultimately benefit homeowners and businesses. Thank you Joan, Jason, Becky, and Jim! Great teamwork! --Joel @ 3:50pm
Customer Service
Improved in County
Offices
Auditor and
Recorder work together to better serve the
public
CEDAR RAPIDS—If you need to research Linn County real estate transfer and land
description books, the Linn County Auditor’s Office and Recorder’s Office
recently made the task easier. The books used to be split between the Auditor
and Recorder. The separation of the collection, combined with the fact that the
Recorder’s Office is in the basement of the county administrative building and
the Auditor’s Office is on the top floor, created an inconvenience to the public
who had to go back and forth between offices to get the information they
needed.
The complete collection of real estate transfer books is
now housed in the Recorder’s Office. The Auditor is still the custodian of the
books, but the public benefits by physically combining the books into one
central location.
“We are always looking for ways to make services more
efficient,” said Joel Miller, Linn County Auditor. “Recorder Joan McCalmant
agreed to combine the real estate transfer books into one location in her
office. It’s a real benefit to the public.” ###