Auditor announces retirement at end of year

LEE COUNTY – Lee County Auditor Denise Fraise has announced she will be resigning her full-time post at the end of 2023.
Lee County Supervisor Chuck Holmes told Supervisors at Monday’s regular meeting that Fraise had announced her resignation, but would stay on part-time to serve as the Board’s secretary.
Holmes cautioned the board that it may be time to start looking not only for a replacement for Fraise, but also to start preparing for replacing Lee County Budget Director Cindy Renstrom, who is also nearing her retirement. Renstrom has not given notice, however.
“Denise has made it known that she will be retiring at the end of this year,” Holmes said.
“So we’ve got six months and I think maybe we should look at finding a replacement for her. I also asked about a backup for Cindy. So I think we need to look at having someone employed by the county that knows Denise’s job and Cindy’s.”
Fraise had one more year left on her elected term, so the Board would have to appoint someone to fill out her term and then the position would be put on the ballot.
Supervisor Matt Pflug said as they look for someone to replace them, they should look for someone that could do both the Auditor and Budget director positions.
“Let’s start looking now so this doesn’t creep up on us,” Pflug said.
Fraise said it’s time for the next generation to come in and help lead the county.
Supervisor Ron Fedler said the board should start collecting applications and resumes for the position and maybe form a committee to make recommendations to the full board.
“I hope we get a whole bunch of them, but you may not even get five,” Fedler said.