A Cup of Joe: Caretaker of cash By Craig Howard
Splash Contributor
The first month of 2008 at Liberty Lake City Hall brought more changes than any winter weather pattern.
To begin with, former City Council Member Wendy Van Orman was sworn in as mayor, inheriting the reins that Steve Peterson had held since incorporation in 2001. Arlene Fisher, longtime director of finance and administration, headed west to become city administrator in Cheney. Also that January, Susan Schuler joined the City Council while Cynthia Smith became the newest city clerk.
Fisher's transition meant that Ann Marie Gale, the city's former financial analyst, would move into the treasurer's role. For the first time in Liberty Lake's brief history, the city would have a treasurer without an accompanying job title.
Gale quickly established herself as a stickler for accuracy. She had shown an aptitude for numbers early in her career as a legal secretary and in retail when her original duties shifted to working with money. Before long, Gale was pursuing a career in bookkeeping.
Born and raised in Lewiston, Idaho, Gale grew up with an interest in soccer, running, volleyball and reading. She put herself through college, graduating from Lewis-Clark State College in her hometown with a degree in bookkeeping and starting in the field at the Lewiston Morning Tribune. She would stay on the bookkeeping side of journalism for close to a decade, later working for the Moscow-Pullman Daily News and the Salt Lake Tribune. She is also certified with the American Institute of Professional Bookkeepers.
These days, Gale oversees the finances of every municipal department and program, a task that takes on more responsibility each year as the community expands and City Hall keeps up. If you happen to be a department director in Liberty Lake, chances are you have thanked Gale for double checking your math and making corrections in at least a few reports. Her career in numbers has now spanned over 20 years.
The Splash caught up with Gale and her sharp pencil recently to chat about the job of overseeing city coffers.
Q: How did your career path lead to becoming city treasurer in Liberty Lake?
A: My bookkeeping career started out in the newspaper industry, in which I worked just shy of 10 years. I did a small stint with a power company. I moved on to working for a pathology laboratory in which I spent five years, and when I began feeling like I wasn't being challenged by the position, I applied and was hired by the city of Liberty Lake as a financial analyst. After nine months, I was promoted to city treasurer.
Q: What did you know about Liberty Lake before you started working there in 2007?
A: I learned about Liberty Lake many years ago when I attended a community yard sale. I found the neighborhoods quaint.
Q: You've seen a lot of growth in Liberty Lake in the time you've worked here. How has that affected the financial scenario of the city and your job in general?
A: The increased growth in Liberty Lake has affected the financial picture two-fold. Due to the increase in the population, there has been growth in building/planning permits as well as service demands. The city has met this growth by the addition of amenities and the staff it takes to maintain the amenities. These increased demands have added a substantial workload to the treasurer position in invoices that are processed and the payroll requirements for additional personnel.
Q: I think most of us have an image of a treasurer standing in front of the safe and counting money. Tell us about some of your responsibilities.
A: I call myself "the guardian of the cash." To the best of my ability, I ensure that what the citizens are paying for is accurate. I say "citizens" because I feel the money received by the city is not the city's money but the citizens' money, and I want to make sure every penny is accounted for as if it were my own. When you see the activities of the city, the police officers, library, parks department, planning/building department, recreation department, streets and the golf course, they have costs associated with the activities. All the invoices and payroll for those activities flow through my desk, in which I process start to finish. I help out with human resource issues where I can. I provide customer service to citizens, employees and vendors. I am responsible for processing and submitting the annual financial statements to the Washington State Auditor's Office. Essentially, I am responsible for all operations relating to city finances and revenues, including the preparation and maintenance of all financial records, accounts payable, accounts receivable, payroll and financial reporting.
Q: Do you have much involvement in crafting or overseeing the municipal budget?
A: Once the departments have submitted their budgets, I compile the information into a report format that is part of the mayor's budget. I am administrative support to the finance director for the municipal budget.
Q: Tell us a little about your life outside of City Hall.
A: I married my high school sweetheart, and we will celebrate our 24th year of married life. We have a cat named Mia, and we spend a lot of our time outdoors during the warmer months. We enjoy going to our cabin, ATV riding, boating and picking huckleberries. We are football fans so we enjoy watching NFL games and attending the Spokane Shock games. We love the simple life and love living in this area. I still craft when I can, and I spend the summer months tending to our flower gardens.
Q: Back at work, what is your favorite part of being treasurer?
A: I love working with numbers and the detective work it takes if an amount does not balance for whatever reason. I also enjoy the variety of the work. Each day is not the same. I have to keep track of legislative and federal changes that effect what I do, and that gives some variety to the position.
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