Isle of Wight treasurer candidate profile: Julie Slye
Published 1:48 pm Wednesday, October 11, 2023
- Julie Slye
Editor’s note: Julie Slye is running against Dahlis Atkins for Isle of Wight County treasurer. The Smithfield Times sent the following questionnaire to both candidates.
Age: 47
Occupation: Deputy Treasurer
1. What inspired you to run for treasurer?
After starting to work in the Treasurer’s Office in 2008 I decided to make becoming the Treasurer my long term career goal. I started seriously paying attention to all positions in the office and learning as much as possible. My original plan was to work my way up through the positions in the office and “wait my turn” to become Treasurer. When I left the Isle of Wight Treasurer’s Office in March 2022 I no longer had to “wait my turn” to be Treasurer. This election presents the opportunity for me to achieve my goal and fast track it approximately 10 years ahead of the original schedule.
2. What if any changes would you make if elected?
As a previous long term employee of the Treasurer’s Office, citizens still ask me questions about their bills or voice their concerns to me. Unfortunately I have not been able to help with the concerns, but I have been listening and remember those concerns. Probably the most spoken concern is the pre-pay booklets, I plan to bring back the pre-pay booklets for the citizens that want to pay towards their taxes all year. I have a few other ideas I would like to change, however, I would need to wait to see what kind of changes the acting Treasurer has implemented since she started July 1st.
3. How can technology be used to make the office more efficient and accessible to citizens?
The credit card system is the biggest piece of technology that needs to be update for both the office efficiency and accessibility to the citizens. It is not a quick fix and will take time to get it updated to be a benefit to everyone. Unfortunately I am at a disadvantage for this question because I am not currently in the office to know how much they are using technology to make the office more efficient. If elected I will want to maximize technology to its fullest capacity in the office.
