Spiker and Groner detail plans during Rotary Club’s assessor forum

Published 8:15 am Monday, September 23, 2024

As the race for Iberia Parish Assessor kicks into high gear, the ideological differences between two of the three candidates for the position were made bare during a forum held by the New Iberia Rotary Club.

Candidates Ashlie Spiker and David Groner sat in the front of the meeting room at Landry’s Seafood during a forum hosted by the Rotary Club that appraised the knowledge, motivation and direction that each candidate intended to take the Assessor’s Office. Although all three candidates were invited, Raymond “Shoe-Do” Lewis was unable to attend.

For Spiker, who has been serving as interim assessor since January when former Assessor Taylor Barras resigned in order to work for Gov. Jeff Landry’s administration, the merits were clear. Spiker has not only served as interim assessor but has been with the office for 20 years where she said she has worked in every department of the assessor’s office.

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“I can do the job of every department of my office,” Spiker said confidently. “I’ve worked in the real estate department, GIS and mapping, the commercial department and I’ve had oversight over the fieldmen.”

Along with being a certified assessor, which requires 135 course hours, Spiker is also on state committees related to taxation.

“I’m proud of the office we have and I’m the only candidate that has the institutional knowledge and experience required,” she said.

If Spiker is running on the institutional soundness of the Assessor’s Office that she has been a part of for two decades, Groner has appeared more as a populist candidate decrying the lack of a “human touch” in the assessor’s office.

While Spiker has lauded the accomplishments of the office, Groner, who has worked as a title attorney for years, painted the picture of an Assessor’s Office that doesn’t listen or understand the everyday issues faced by the people of Iberia Parish.

“It’s a system that has lost its human touch,” Groner said. “It doesn’t listen and understand the issues we face; it devalues our property even though the assessor says it doesn’t. I want an assessor who will listen, understand and take action.”

When Spiker cited her accreditation as a certified assessor, Groner responded by citing the accreditation itself as a form of institutional bloat.

“That was something the Assessor’s Association came up with to give an extra $20,000 a year, you take a few seminars and only assessors can become certified assessors,” he said.

Groner also said that the annual reassessment notice letter that was supposed to be sent out to local residents during Spiker’s tenure as interim assessor was not.

“You did not get a reassessment letter as required by law, and you should ask why. Could it be political? Could she be afraid you might not like her? There’s a reason you’ve got plenty of time to review it. If you want change and transparency, I’d ask you to consider voting for my candidacy,” he said.

“We did send the letters out and I always deliver transparency,” Spiker responded. “The Assessor’s Office is a very technical office. It is important to have someone who has a real understanding of the assessor’s responsibilities. This election is a year off, so the person elected takes office in January and you could possibly have someone who doesn’t even know how your house was revalued. This person would not even know how to log into the computer.”