Published: May 10, 2008 12:32 am      

Two seek Marion assessor position

Only Democrats on primary ballot

FAIRMONT — The winner of Tuesday’s Democratic primary election for assessor will secure the position on Nov. 4’s general election ballot and possibly the office.

No Republicans have filed for the office, and the deadline to slate a candidate has passed.

Tuesday’s race features incumbent Jim Priester and George Yelich.

The Times West Virginian editorial board sent questionnaires to each one of the candidates in the county’s contested races on the May 13 ballot.

A question was selected for each race, giving the candidates the opportunity to answer a question about the position they are seeking as well as provide background information about themselves.

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

Name: Jim Priester

Address: 111 Linda Lane, Fairmont

Background information: Wife, Sonja, two sons, Stefan and Carter; graduate of Fairmont Senior High School and Fairmont State University; work history includes FMC Corp., Eastern Associated Coal Corp., Valley Distributing Company, Towle Distribution Center, American Red Cross in Charleston, Marion County Reappraisal Program and currently the Marion County Assessor.

Boards and organizations: Statewide Addressing and Mapping Board; chair of the Marion County GIS Advisory Committee; chairman of the State Assessors Association GIS Committee; member of the WV GEO Spatial Professionals.

Given the current housing market and impending recession, what do you see will be the impact on assessed values of homes going forward? Explain.

Those individuals with good credit will continue to be successful receiving loans for home building or home buying. It will be very difficult on those who have had problems with their credit to qualify. With the costs of goods and services on the rise, the recession could reduce the number of sales annually. But the sales in the county for the 2005-06 year totaled 1,651. There was an increase of 40 sales to 1,691 in the 2006-07 year. Sales have been brisk for the first three months of this year.

As for the assessed values, I see moderate increases in properties located in growth areas and smaller increases in areas with little or no growth.

In closing, I think Marion County is on the cusp of some long-awaited economic development. If this does occur, we could see market values affected by this growth.

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

Name: George Yelich

Address: 4 Upland Drive, Fairmont

Background information: Resident of Marion County for the past 35 years; graduate of Salem International University with a bachelor’s degree in business; honorably discharged from the U.S. Marine Corps; married with two grown daughters; licensed real estate broker and the owner of Precision Real Estate; graduate of the Real Estate Institute in Parkersburg; an accredited buyers representative; during years growing up, worked in the construction business, and is familiar with all aspects of construction, from pouring footers to hanging wallpaper; extensive training and experience in public relations, marketing, management and leadership.

Boards and organizations: Fairmont Board of Realtors, past president; West Virginia Board of Realtors; National Association of Realtors.

Given the current housing market and impending recession, what do you see will be the impact on assessed values of homes going forward? Explain.

Basically, I think that values are down because we have more supply than demand, and I think the credit crunch is responsible for that to some degree. People’s debt-to-income ratios are high, which keep them from being able to obtain loans. If the trend continues, my prediction is that sale prices will be down; therefore, I think that assessed values should follow suit. I think that currently the assessor’s office has overshot the values.

E-mail Misty Poe at mpoe@timeswv.com.