|
|
Renae Thode is the new Jasper city clerk/treasurer. She started her new position on Monday, Sept. 22. Photo by Kyle Kuphal
As of Monday, Sept. 22, Renae Thode is Jasper’s new city clerk/treasurer. The Jasper native fills the position left vacant by the resignation of Trinidad Garcia in August.
Thode said she was interested in the job because it was a good fit for her based on her work experience and skills and because the city offers good benefits.
She most recently worked at Peoples Bank in Jasper. Before that she was the executive director of Northbridge in Anchorage, Alaska. According to its website at www.northbridgealaska.com, the company provides care, treatment and support to adults with physical disabilities, children with complex medical conditions, and people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Thode said her work there included budgeting, hiring, billing, working with audits, working with state regulations and overseeing employees. She was also trained in deescalating situations and became a certified nursing assistant as part of that job.
Her goals for her new position as Jasper city clerk/treasurer include keeping things going well for the city. At the same time, if there is something she can do to improve upon anything, she said she’s on board with that too.
“All I can hope for is to do a good job with that position and I’m pretty confident in my ability to do it just based on my experience alone, and having done it on a fairly larger scale,” Thode said.
Thode describes herself as personable, someone who remains neutral and researches information herself, accepting, open minded, approachable and focused.
She is the daughter of Jasper Public Works Superintendent Brian Thode and the fiance of Kevin Gum, who was hired as the city’s public works assistant in May. Due to those connections, the Jasper City Council during its Sept. 9 meeting, at which it approved hiring Thode, discussed developing a conflict of interest policy. City Councilor Deb Plahn brought up the idea of developing a policy and also indicated that Thode was hired because she was the most qualified applicant. Jasper Mayor Kim Lape said six people applied for the job and four were interviewed.
Thode said the city should have a conflict of interest policy and that she strives to be her own person.
“I’m not my dad, I’m not just Kevin’s fiancé, I’m me,” Thode said. “I don’t see there actually being a conflict.
Nobody is over each other, nobody is anybody else’s superior between me and them.”
Thode was born in Jasper and spent her early childhood there. She later moved to Alaska, but eventually returned to the area and graduated from Garretson High School. She then moved back to Alaska where she lived from 2011 until May of this year. She said she and Gum, and their children left Anchorage, primarily due to the high crime rate there. Thode has two children, ages 11 and 12, and Gum has four, ages 9, 12, 18 and 20. Together they have four girls and two boys.
“My kids deserved a life where they have some freedom,” Thode said. “They can go to a park if they want to. I don’t have to restrict them to our fenced in back yard.”
The couple bought a home in Jasper and Thode said she and Gum have immersed themselves in the community since they moved to town and feel like they’re living a more complete life.
“It’s been a huge positive for us, for my fiancé, for me — my kids actually get to go do the things they want to do,” she said. “We just feel a lot more like we’re living life.”