Cleveland Advocate (Cleveland, Tex.), Vol. 68, No. 20, Ed. 1 Friday, May 22, 1987 Page: 4 of 22
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Page 4 - Section A, CLEVELAND ADVOCATE, Friday, May 22,1987
LIFESTYLES
Many faces of county treasurer — all smiles
By BETTY MARTIN
Advocate Editor_
LIBERTY COUNTY — “The lady
with the smile” is a title often
bestowed on Liberty County
Treasurer Winn Skidmore.
And for a very good reason: No
matter how beset she is with the
county’s budgetary woes, Skid-
more’s face just naturally seems to
defy gravity. At 52, the very few
lines she does now have all seem to
curve upward.
In fact, her “nice-guy” persona is
one of the reasons why some close
friends, as well as her own son,
didn’t think she should run for office.
“They thought I’d be too soft,”
Skidmore said.
But as they soon discovered —
along with the Liberty County
Judge, Auditor and the entire
Commissioners Court — the lady
with the smile is also a professional
money manager. And, on the issue of
always be grateful for that.”
As if in testiment, Skidmore’s
bumper bears the logo from the
Greater Cleveland Area Chamber of
Commerce: “Discover Cleveland,
Texas.”
Skidmore is a friendly, outgoing
grandmother of two who turned to
public office. In spite of her secure
marriage to a successful Liberty
County cattle rancher and county
official, H.G. “Skid” Skidmore, or
her background of earning top
dollars as an executive in her own
right, she found that she was not one
to sit out the golden years, just
watching the sunset.
“I always wanted to be
somebody’s right arm,” she said,
explaining that soon after
graduation from Livingston High
School, she decided to seek her
fortune as a secretary. She soon
found that it wasn’t enough. “Money
management always facinated me,”
she said.
grandchildren entering livestock
competitions — grandson Phillip
taking home the prize for grand
champion barrow.
Recently, Winn Skidmore worked
on several of the association’s
committees, such as the Liberty
County Go-Texan Committee, the
Ladies’ Box Seat Committee and the
World Champion Barbeque Com-
mittee.
In the 29 years that have passed
since receiving those first pair of
boots and marrying Skid, she has
developed into a first-class
“cowgirl.” Now, she helps raise
cattle to market, is active in Liberty
County’s Trinity Valley Exposition,
gardens in her 40-acre backyard,
and has brought down an 8-point
mule deer.
Throughout all of this, she is
usually the first one to arrive at the
Courthouse in the morning, and is
often the last one to leave at night.
Recently, she completed her cer-
tification at Texas A&M Univer-
sity’s course for county treasurers.
This spring, she also added another
hat, having taken on the job of doing
the bookkeeping for the county’s
payroll, 260 employees.
A lot of people would not have
broached the new job, with its many
added responsibilities, in quite the
same manner Skidmore does —
"/ always wanted to be
somebody's right arm."
The Advocate wants to
know about your business,
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"Cleveland liked me. They
supported me, and I'll always
be grateful for that."
making the county’s money earn
interest, this lady has been — and
continues to be — a tiger.
“I just couldn’t understand why
there was almost a million dollars of
county funds in non-interest-bearing
accounts,” Skidmore said, which
was essentially what she told the
Commissioners Court after her first
month in office.
Since that time, Skidmore has
transferred most of that money to
accounts which would generate
revenue for the depleated county
coffers.
She has also fought in Court for
such things as information about
certain numbered, but unnamed,
county accounts. “I don’t really like
fighting with people,” she said. “But
if there is a way to save money, I
owe it to the people who elected me
to do it.”
A lot of those people, she said, are
from Cleveland. “Cleveland liked
me. They supported me, and I’ll
At Sea-Land Service, an American
flagship company in Houston spread
throughout 57 countries, she began
to take on increasing respon-
sibilities, moving from secretary to
manager to administrative
assistant. She like it, and stayed for
22 years.
But it was her involvement with
the Houston Livestock Show and
Rodeo which brought her into the
sites of “Skid” Skidmore, a
superintendent at Brown and Root.
She was in charge of the livestock
show association’s projects, but had
never been around cattle or
agriculture. “Skid bought me my
first pair of boots,” she said.
Their love-of-sawdust legacy has
continued, now, with both Skidmores
sporting life membership cards in
the association, with Winn Skid-
more’s son, Ronnie Parker,
becoming one of this year’s
Cleveland Dairy Day and Livestock
Show directors, and with both
«
especially when there is no When she gets stumped onj
significant salary increase to go something, she doesn’t hesitate to1,
along with the added duties. “I’m pick up the phone and call the state j
glad they did that,” she said, treasurer, Ann Richards, or look up |
m
the facts in a procedures manual.
“It’s a great challenge,” she said.
“And I love challenges, because
they always offer a learning ex-
perience.”
And do her future plans include
another campaign, four years down
the road when the present term
speaking of the state attorney
general’s mandate for county
treasurers to double as payroll
clerks. “I wanted to take it on. I
want to be a working treasurer, a
valuable team member. If you can
help someone fill out a 414 form, it
gives you a sense of belonging.”
I wont to see that oil county funds ore
all secured earning interest and
invested for a high yield."
Prudent cash management,
Skidmore says, is what she hopes to
accomplish in office. “I want to see
that all county funds are deposited in
a timely manner, and that they are
all secured and earning interest,
invested safely for a high yield.”
expires?
“Well, if I can keep on learning —
and if the voters want me to, you'
bet.” ' ^
With that, her eyes sparkle as her\R
smile lights up the office like a1
beacon. ^
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Martin, Betty. Cleveland Advocate (Cleveland, Tex.), Vol. 68, No. 20, Ed. 1 Friday, May 22, 1987, newspaper, May 22, 1987; Cleveland, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth852096/m1/4/?q=texas+centennial+exposition: accessed June 13, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Austin Memorial Library.