ROBERT PIERCE
• Leader & Times
Anabel Clinesmith has worked for Seward County for nearly 20 years in a few departments, including the Activity Center, the county clerk’s office and Emergency Management.
Most recently, Clinesmith was serving as deputy treasurer, and earlier this month, she officially finished her time with the county in that position.
Meanwhile, Cassandra Martinez Ware began working in the treasurer’s office in 2016, and she will begin her 11th year in that office in January 2027 after being named the new treasurer following Clinesmith’s retirement.
Just as Clinesmith has worked in various departments with the county, Martinez Ware’s time in the treasurer’s office has been spent in a few positions.
“I started off as a tax clerk, and I moved to train for tags and vehicles,” Martinez Ware said. “While I was over there, I was in charge of tax sales, abates and escapes, escrow accounts, any quarterly payments we used to do when we had to have big payments like National Helium. I was in charge of making sure those quarterly payments were taken care of on time and paid. I processed those.”
In 2023, Mary Rose was chosen as the county’s newest treasurer, and at that time, she chose Martinez Ware to take over the bookkeeping position she had been in prior to becoming treasurer. Martinez Ware remained there for three years before becoming deputy treasurer.
As an immigrant, Clinesmith said the county has been her only job in the U.S. after she got her permanent residence and citizenship.
“I was lucky to get the job after 19 applicants, and I stayed here,” she said.
As for Martinez Ware, she had moved to Liberal shortly before coming to the treasurer’s office.
“After a year or two, I saw they were hiring in the tag and vehicle department,” she said.
After applying for the job, Martinez Ware said then Deputy Treasurer Rhonda Eichman heard of previous work she had done.
“She put in a good word for me, and they decided to hire me,” Martinez Ware said.
Clinesmith said each department she worked for had something to offer to her.
“It was useful with experience and learning about the government,” she said. “It has been a very interesting almost 20 years. I learned a lot in every department about elections, taxes, emergency management, registering events, what is behind all of those events, what needs to be done. I didn’t even know to have an event, you have to have insurance. If you have alcohol, you have to have law enforcement.”
Likewise, Clinesmith said each department has given her the opportunity to develop herself.
“In every position, I was fitting well in that position,” she said. “I always felt I was in the right place at the moment. I gave the best of me in every way, and I’m taking with me those good memories and experiences.”
As she transitions into her new position, Martinez Ware said her primary goal is to uphold the ethics and morals of the county, as she learned under the guidance of former deputy treasurers Gladys Gomez-Fornwalt and Tawanda Lewis.
Martinez Ware said she too wants to have Rose’s back at all times, standing by her and doing what is right and justifiable for the treasurer’s office.
As she transitioned into the deputy treasurer position, Martinez Ware’s days were split between training with Clinesmith for that job and training fellow treasurer’s office employee Lilia Sanchez to take over the bookkeeping position she vacated.
“Lilia’s becoming the bookkeeper,” Martinez Ware said. “In the mornings, I come in here with Anabel, and after I get done doing what we need to do in here, I go with Lilia in the afternoon and train her.”
Now 63, Clinesmith is still unsure of what she wants to do as she enters retirement.
“I think my mission would be to convince my husband to retire so we can move forward with the next step,” she said.
Clinesmith said she still has a great relationship with all of her coworkers, and she will miss them greatly.
In her decade working for the county, Martinez Ware has already seen some changes, particularly in the way the treasurer’s office does things with the technology in the office.
“When we used to do things, it would be hours on end to do a certain task that can now be done much more quickly with the new software and updates,” she said. “A lot of it’s still the same. We always like to have our paper trail, but the way we actually put it into the system now is much more quick and saves a lot of time with the technology advances.”
Martinez Ware said the treasurer’s office has been fortunate to not have seen much turnover in the last 11 years, with Yesenia Perez being the lone employee hired in that time.
“In all reality, we’ve only had one new girl at all times since I’ve been here on the front line,” Martinez Ware said. “Our department has a huge tenure. We don’t have to deal with constantly training a new person. That tells a lot about the department. We don’t see the turnover other departments do.”
As with many of the county’s departments, Martinez Ware said the treasurer’s office very family oriented.
“We’re all family, and Mary is a very compassionate, caring, wonderful boss,” she said. “I don’t think you could ask for better. She’s very understanding. She’s straightforward. She’ll tell it like it is, but at the end of the day if you need it, she’ll give you the shirt off her back.”
Clinesmith agreed.
“We’ve seen a lot of familiar faces through the years in other departments too,” she said. “The county as a whole is a very good place to work and find a career.”
While she felt the county is a good place to work, Martinez Ware said she feels the treasurer’s office does get taken for granted, adding she feels the staff does not get the credit it deserves, especially with situations such as the recent reissuing of tax statements following the commission’s decision to return the Fiscal Year 2026 mill levy to the Revenue Neutral Rate.
“I don’t feel we got the appreciation we deserve like I feel other departments get sometimes, but we know,” she said. “We know what we do, and we know what matters most. At the end of the day, we get the job done, and that’s all that matters.”
Both Clinesmith and Martinez Ware are excited as they transition into the next chapters of their lives.
“I’m confident this position is going to have one of the best deputy treasurers,” Clinesmith said. “She has what she needs to get things done – her personality. She’s pretty smart, and she’s always hands on. I trust her, and I know Mary’s going to have a very good deputy for her. Mary needs somebody like that.”
“I’m excited because I feel all my hard work has finally paid off with all of the years of being a tax clerk or vehicle clerk and when I eventually got my opening to be the bookkeeper,” Martinez Ware said. “I feel if you stick to something long enough, it will eventually pay off, and I feel my time has finally paid off. I feel Mary has seen I’m qualified and able to do the job, and she put all the trust in me to be able to take the position. She knows I’m going to have her back 100 percent.”
