Peggy White appointed to clerk's seat

WALLACE –– A familiar face is returning to the Shoshone County Courthouse now that Peggy White has been appointed to fill the vacant clerk position. 

White spent 16 years behind the clerk’s desk before announcing her retirement in 2018 – she will be returning as the appointed clerk, where she will hold the seat through the end of 2024. 

Former clerk Tamie Lewis-Eberhard announced her resignation in December of last year, with her final day in office being January 24. 

The position puts her at the head of several departments including clerk of the district court, chief budget officer for all county departments, official custodian of all county records, chief election official, and clerk of the Board of County Commissioners.

On Tuesday, the Shoshone Board of County Commissioners selected White from a list of three candidates that had been submitted to the board by the Shoshone County Democratic Party (SCD) – alongside White on that list were former commissioner and current Pinehurst City Councilman Jay Huber, and Rachel Lyons. 

According to Commissioner Dave Dose, Lyons withdrew her name from consideration on the day of the board’s selection, which could’ve allowed the board to ask the SCD to find another candidate to replace her – however, Dose and his fellow commissioners believed that it was best for the county to not wait and to make a decision on the remaining two candidates. 

Commissioner Jeff Zimmerman made a motion to approve White as the ‘new’ county clerk, which was seconded by Dose. 

“I think Peggy does bring some expertise that will be helpful in our current financial situation,” Dose said. 

That current financial situation as Dose put it, is an ongoing budget crisis that appeared to be the result of millions of dollars in overspending over several years, which was discovered in August of last year as the board moved toward approving their annual budget. This required hundreds of thousands of dollars in cuts and the use of one-time revenues to cover the budget for the 2023/24 Fiscal Year. The board warned that more cuts would be coming in 2024 unless significant revenue streams were found and tapped into. 

The county is still awaiting the results of an audit that was conducted to determine where any errors may have been made. 

White was called in and assisted with the budget last summer, and will be leaned on again this year as they work to navigate the situation. 

“I am hoping to bring my experience back to the county; to help out in areas needed at this time,” White told the News-Press on Thursday morning. 

Per Idaho code, White will serve through the end of the year but would need to seek election in November’s General Election if she wished to keep the seat beyond 2024. 

She declined to comment on whether she planned to seek re-election.