Sequim Gazette staff

For Shoona Riggs, 41, she says the Clallam County Auditor race comes down to experience.

“I’ve had 24 years of that time working in the auditor’s office,” she said. “You can’t teach experience, that only comes with time.”

Riggs, who lives in Port Angeles, began working in the Jefferson County Auditor’s Office in vehicle licensing two weeks out of high school. She worked there for six years before taking another licensing job in Port Angeles. At the Clallam County Courthouse, she’s been in the elections department the past 14 years and served as elections supervisor for eight years and recently was appointed chief deputy auditor. Since she started her career at 17, Riggs jokes she didn’t envision herself being in the auditor’s race 20-plus years later but she finds elections a good place to be.

“Elections are always changing. It’s always interesting,” she said. “It keeps me intrigued and I like working with the public.”

Riggs said she sees the auditor position as the next step in her career.

“I could see myself retiring this way,” she said. “I’ve been in the auditor’s office already and I’ve made my way up from licensing to elections while learning all of the other departments.”

On the issues

If elected, Riggs said one of the first items she’d like to do is to create a local initiatives and candidates voter’s guide.

“The community is asking for it all the time,” she said.

“It wasn’t as simple as it is now. Programs have made it much more accessible to work with and the price used to be astronomical … It was going to be $15,000 years and years ago but now on a smaller election it’s going to cost a couple of thousand at the very most. The voters need that. They need to be educated.”

Another issue she’d like to cut down on is the line with motor vehicle licensing.

Her idea would be to open the opportunity for a vehicle licensing subagency in Port Angeles.

“It’s been more difficult in the past because we had to have a certain amount of mileage from another licensing agent,” Riggs said. “But it creates the opportunity for more jobs and relieves some pressure in the auditor’s office and customers have other options.”

While Riggs is excited for these ideas, she’s not planning on making changes for the sake of change following the retirement of current auditor Patty Rosand.

“The recorder has retired, the licensing supervisor is going to retire, the auditor is retiring and there will be a new elections supervisor, if I win,” she said. “That’s a lot of changes already happening within the office. As much as I like to think I’m going to make change, our office is already experiencing a lot of change.”

If she wins, Riggs said she’d gather all of the employees to go over their goals together.

“It’s going to be different situation. I’m no longer going to be a co-worker so the dynamics do change,” she said.

“So my goal is to keep continuity and keep going forward. Always room to make changes but I don’t think it’s a good idea to just make changes.”

Her main goal as auditor would be keeping customer service No. 1.

“The auditor’s office needs to form the best relationship they can with all subagents and keep open communication,” she said.

If she does not win the auditor’s race, Riggs said she doesn’t plan to leave her current position but as deputy auditor she is an at-will employee.

“We’ll see how it goes,” she said. “ It’s not totally up to me.”

Personal life

When not in the elections office, Riggs said she spends a majority of her time with her family — husband Ron and children Anna, 12, Ben, 15, Megan, 19, and Samantha, 23.

She and Ron have been local foster parents for several years, and she said they’ve cared for more than 20 neglected and abused children mostly ages 5 and under.

“It’s kind of something we fell into and fell in love with,” she said. “I think it’s brought our family together a lot … There’s more children than there are foster parents and there’s a big need in our community.”

Her family also spends a lot of time outdoors, she said, going hiking, playing in Lake Sutherland and visiting the West End to take her children surfing.

For more information on Riggs, visit shoonariggsforauditor.com or facebook.com/shoonariggsforauditor.