By: Charles Romans
Carter County Times
The recent passing of Carter County Clerk Mike Johnston left a void both professionally and emotionally in Carter County government. Johnston’s current term was set to expire with the November election, and though the well-respected Clerk had intended to run for reelection, his passing necessitated the Carter County Fiscal Court appointing a new clerk until that election takes place. Newly elected clerks typically take office either on December 31 of the election year, or on January 1 of the following year.
Recently the court appointed Mike Johnston’s widow, Deborah “Debbie” Johnston, to fill the position until November. Johnston definitely has the experience to fill the position, having worked with her husband in the clerk’s office for nearly twenty years. In that time she has been involved in every aspect of the job, as well as having the benefit of her late husband’s example.
“What do you change if everything is working?” Johnston asked.
There are always things that need to be updated, and new things do come up, she said, but the Clerk’s Offices in both Grayson and Olive Hill have been running smoothly. Given that, Johnston said that she didn’t anticipate any major upheavals or in fact any real problems at all. And some day-to-day operations of the office are simply following state guidelines, she said.
“People don’t realize that you have very little control over a lot of things that go on here,” Johnston said of the rules and regulations that govern the office.
“Like the money we collect,” she said as an example. “People think we just put it in the bank, and it stays there. But it doesn’t. In fact, very little of it stays there. It goes to the state, it goes to the school board, and several different entities.”
“We are just a steward over the state and county’s money,” she explained. “And what little is left over is what you run your office on. You pay your employees and other bills. And you hope to give the fiscal court some at the end of the year.”
And the end of the year, she said, is the literal end of the year’s budget. Johnston said that the clerk’s office starts every year with a zero financial balance, which is something most people don’t realize.
But Johnston does know all these things – and how to navigate the challenges. For instance, one thing on the horizon is providing the fiscal court with a budget for the upcoming year.
“That can be difficult,” Johnston said. “Because you never really know what’s ahead. And we are dependent upon the public for everything. Issues like what’s the economy going to be like, how many people are going to buy a new car, those are things that are hard to predict.”
Johnston said that sometimes a prediction can be wrong if there isn’t enough information. Many counties, she said, expected the new law passed to license special purpose vehicles would cause a boom at clerk’s offices, but neither she nor her husband Mike Johnston believed the office should jump the gun in budgeting for a significant increase in revenue.
“It (the new law) helped a little,” Johnston said.
But overall, the impact wasn’t major, she said. With summer on the way that might change, she noted, but for now the numbers don’t bear that out.
Johnston said that she hopes everything continues to run as smoothly as it has in the past, and she is dedicated to working toward that goal.
“I don’t foresee any changes,” she said. “I worked with Mike for 20 years, so I know how he did things. And we pretty much agreed on things, so I don’t see any problems going forward.”
One major motivation for stepping in to fill the interim is the employees of the clerk’s office, Johnston said. Both she and her late husband not only thought of them as family, but also appreciated all of their hard work.
“The employees made Mike look good,” Johnston said. “And I want them taken care of.”
When asked if she planned to run in the November election, Johnston said she would if she were asked by the Democratic Party. The time to register to run conventionally has already passed, she said. But due to the circumstances, both the Democratic and Republican parties can name someone to put on the ballot.
Contact the writer at charles@cartercountytimes.com
