By Keith Knepp
InkFreeNews

LEESBURG — Leesburg Clerk-Treasurer Mike Searfoss said he almost literally walked in to the job back in 2013.

Leesburg Clerk-Treasurer Mike Searfoss has held the office since 2013. He is pictured standing in the town council meeting room inside town hall. InkFreeNews photo by Keith Knepp.

He had just returned from vacation in Texas when he stopped in to the clerk-treasurer’s office to pay his utility bill but didn’t find Jan Carter in her usual place. Instead, a young man informed him Carter was experiencing health issues and was planning to resign from the position. Searfoss was told they were looking for someone who lived inside the Leesburg town limits who had a background in finance and was a registered political party member. With a population of 555, the pool from which to draw was relatively shallow.

However, as luck would have it, Searfoss did have the requisite experience, having served as financial secretary at Dana Corp. in Syracuse and his semi-retired status allowed him the flexibility to take on the position. After speaking with town council member Doug Jones, a deal was struck and Searfoss was appointed by the board to fill the remaining term vacated by Carter. Since then, he has been elected by his fellow townspeople in 2015 and again in 2019.

“This job definitely fell into my lap,” he said. “It wasn’t something I was looking to do.”

Searfoss said he ran unopposed in 2015 but was challenged in 2019. His opponent held a full-time job and wanted to perform the clerk-treasurer’s job in the evenings and weekends. Searfoss noted, however, the job as he performs it requires nearly full-time hours. He said he usually puts in 30-40 hours a week, maintaining fairly standard office hours each weekday. He said the position allows him a lot of autonomy and flexibility with his time off but he makes an effort to be available most days.

“I don’t have to ask the board’s permission to be gone,” he said. “They explained when I started that ‘you’re an elected official, you don’t answer to us, you answer to the people of the town. If they don’t like the job you’re doing, you may not get elected!’”

Each day, Searfoss answers emails, phone calls and in-person visits. He said he often has to explain “just because you have a Leesburg address, it doesn’t mean that I am the person you need to speak with,” since many people outside of the town’s limits share the ZIP code. He does, however, do his best to connect them with the correct person or organization to get their questions addressed. He also attends the monthly meetings of the town council and works with the State Board of Accounts and the Department of Local Government Finance to ensure the town’s financial status and budget are correctly maintained.

The town has 286 paying utilities customers and Searfoss said he personally knows around half of those families who come in and out of the office. Others he sees at the post office or around town and is familiar with many of them.

Searfoss graduated from Warsaw High School in 1973. He lived in the Barbee Lakes area for 30 years before moving to Leesburg in 1993. He and his wife, Sally, enjoy traveling together, especially to visit her son in Fort Myers, Fla. He added Puerto Rico was one of their favorite trips together. Between the two of them, they have four children, nine grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.