Deromedi retires after 31 years

On Dec. 27 at the Hot Springs County Government Annex, several county representatives and people from around town helped County Assessor Shelley Deromedi celebrate her retirement. Appropriately among the cake and other refreshments at the party, were Deromedi's former photo ID card and a Polaroid of her with former assessor Wallace Shaffer at his retirement party.

December 31 officially marked Deromedi's last day as the assessor for Hot Springs County. She began working for the assessor's office as a clerk, on April 1, 1986. At that time Shaffer was the assessor and Shirley Blakesley was the deputy assessor. Following Shaffer's retirement in 1988, Blakesley was appointed as assessor and served one term as assessor. Deromedi was officially appointed to the position and sworn in Dec. 1, 1992.

A lifelong resident of the county, Deromedi attended school in Kirby, a town she and her husband, Jerry, would later have a bar and restaurant - Jerry's Place; they sold the business in 1997. Deromedi recalled the building later became Butch's Place, and was the post office and general store in when she was a child.

Before working for the county, she worked for a local accountant and at the Hamilton Dome Oil Company - now Merit Energy - as a production analyst, which gave her good insight into the oil and gas industry, which is a large part of our valuation.

As for her retirement, the Deromedis plan to stay in Thermopolis; they lived in Kirby until they bought the Thermopolis home in 2009. Her family also has a cabin in the Bighorn Mountains, and they hope to spend some time there. They also enjoy spending time with their dogs and grandkids.

"Hopefully we can travel some and see some other places," Deromedi said, "but this is home." They also have a small mobile home at a senior community in Apache Junction, Colo., so that's also an option if they want to get warm.

"I'll be here to answer any questions if the new assessor has anything that I can help with. After working since I was 13, it might be kind of hard not to go to work in the morning." She noted she also used to correct papers for the teacher at the Kirby school and cleaned motel rooms.

She also makes jelly to sell at the Thermopolis Farmers Market, and said it might be fun to make it during the day rather than middle of the night.

Deromedi will miss the interaction with the community she had in the office, as well as the people she worked with. One of the accomplishments she is most proud of is the office being a training site for high school student exploring job opportunities. "We also worked with Job Service to provide a training site for young people in the summertime, and we had a lot of good kids come through here." In addition to training people in how to do a job, the program provided extra help around the office. Deromedi said one young man went on to become a geographic information system (GIS) manager for one of the state departments.

"I think we were able to provide a positive site for those young people who have successful live now," Deromedi said, noting other students have gone on to become doctors, lawyers and accountants, as well as "just good people, and parents."

She's also proud of the MapServer for the county, which is available to everyone. She credited Judy Carswell's experience with drafting and mapping to make the service possible.

Deromedi also served a couple years as president of the Wyoming County Assessors Association, a group of all 23 county assessors who get together to determine how to do their jobs better and consistently across all counties. She has also served on education and Legislative committees to try and make things fair and equal, and to educate taxpayers so they can understand the system.

"That's been something I tried to do during the time I was here. Try to ensure people understood their notices of value and what the taxes went for." She also served as an officer in the Wyoming Association of Elected Officials for the past seven years, trying to promote work between and among the different associations.

The elected officials and employees who work for the county, she noted, have worked together to help update the county personnel policy and have made arrangements to put on things to make their work environment safer and healthier. These exercises include first aid classes, instruction on how to use a fire extinguisher and what to do if there is an active shooter in the building.

"It isn't valuing property, but it's still an important part of being an elected official."

Regarding the appointment of a new assessor, Deromedi said it would be a similar process to when she was appointed. Applications are taken by the Republican Central Committee, which will also conduct interviews. The committee will present its selections to the Hot Springs County Commissioners, who will then choose the appointee. Deromedi expects someone to be selected by mid-January.