Best, Hayden will retire from office this year

Elmore County will be losing two of its most experienced elected officials this year as both assessor Jim Haydon and clerk of the court Gail Best have announced they will not run for re-election come November.

The pair, who have been together in the Elmore County Courthouse since 1986, actually worked side by side for more than eight years.

After working in various county offices since 1978, Haydon ran for assessor in 1986. He subsequently won the election and said one of his key staff members in those first few years was a "shy, timid woman named Gail Best."

Haydon also said Best's timidness soon evaporated. "She settled in right away and helped me get through a lot in those eight years we were working together."

Best stayed with the assessor's office until 1994, when she took over the deputy auditor position at the courthouse. Finally, in 1999 she ran for clerk of the court and that's where she's been ever since.

"We've seen a lot of changes over the years," said Best. "And since we both decided to retire this year, we thought, 'why not announce it together?' "

Haydon, who has served Elmore County for more than 28 years and turns 65 in August, said he could have retired as early as last year.

"I think I've had just about as much fun as I can here," he said. "A lot of things are switching back to county/local responsibility and I think it's time to get out."

Not that Haydon has ever shied away from responsibility. The problem he says is the state's tight regulations on what his office can do.

"Now they want to give us more responsibility but with all their regulations, it's hard to get anything done."

Haydon also talked about the state requirements for appraisals.

"If I don't give an estimate that the state approves of, they send someone down here to reassess it at 100 percent of market value. That totally undermines my office," he said.

Best added, "They expect us to do more with less money. The legislature (state) has been doing this for years but now it's getting pretty bad."

Fortunately both retirees have faith in their staffs to handle things in their absence.

"We can leave with complete confidence since we both have chief deputies and staff members who are ready to step up and take over," Best said.

She continued, "With all the various people stationed out at the air base and the population just absolutely booming, an elected official in this county could never do their job without a good staff."

"I rely so heavily on my staff. Without that working relationship, like the one Gail and I had, I wouldn't have gone very far," Haydon added.

While neither Best nor Haydon has said whether they will retire before the end of their term on Jan. 8, 2006, in the event that they do, county commissioners would appoint temporary employees to fill out the term. Those employees would likely be the current chief deputies in each department.

Chief deputy in the clerk of the court's office is auditor/controller Merrilee Hiler while Jo Gridley currently serves as chief deputy in Haydon's assessor's office.

"These people have a lot of experience and training," Haydon said. "They have been taking care of Elmore County, all 3000 square miles of it, right alongside us for the past several years."

And while there may not be any apprehension about leaving their responsibilities in good hands, both Best and Haydon have some anxiety concerning another aspect of retirement, as Haydon puts it, "What am I going to do with all this free time?"

"I won't be leaving Elmore County I can tell you that. I've been here my whole life, my family is all here, I don't know anything else," he said.

Best also plans on staying in the area, saying, "This is my home, and besides the occasional trip, I'll be here for good."

Haydon plans to spend more time with his family while Best is looking forward to being able to volunteer more and, "staying up late without having to worry about getting up early!"

The decision to retire, and then announce it together, are two things that did not take a lot of careful thinking, according to Best.

"We have always been close and knew this would be the right way to go out," she said. "Honestly, the decision to move from the assessor's office way back when was a bigger decision than this one. This one was easy."

Haydon said, "We each made up our own minds independently and I'm just glad it turned out the way it did."

Best also said that she wanted other people to be able to plan their campaigns early and that played a key role in her decision to announce her retirement now.

Haydon said he would be glad to see someone take over who would keep the interests of the people in mind but that he was glad he would not be the one campaigning.

"Sometimes they can be rough," he said.

Best agreed, saying, "It always depends on the different personalities involved."

Despite the hardships a campaign can bring, both Best and Haydon agreed that it would hard to let go of the relationships they had built over their time serving Elmore County.

"Things aren't as personal now as when we first started here," Best said. "But I can still remember when everyone worked very closely with everyone else."

Haydon said, "You get attached to people, a lot of them depend on you, and that is something I know we are both going to miss."