<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/4/1586216031348.jpeg" alt="Dryden" />
 <figcaption>Dryden</figcaption>
 </figure>By JONATHAN ZWEYGARDT Hays PostEllis County Treasurer candidate Sherry Dryden believes her
experience and temperament make her the right person to bring stability to the
office.Dryden has lived and worked in Ellis County for the
past 39 years and has severed in a variety of roles during that time, including
working in human resources management, project management, serving on the USD
489 school board and as the executive director of two Kansas nonprofit groups.
After serving as the executive director for the United Way
of Ellis County for four years, Dryden most recently has been the executive
director of the Central and Western Kansas Chapter of the American Red Cross and
served in that role for just shy of a year.Dryden will face Vernon Ruder Jr. and incumbent Lisa Schlegel in Tuesday's Republican primary.Dryden said working in those positions has allowed her to develop
several skills that are similar to the duties the treasurer performs.“Everywhere I’ve worked, we’ve always had to work with
budgets,” Dryden said. “Not just establishing the budget, but working with your
various accounts, accounts payables (and) receivables and collections.”She said that experience will also make it easy for her to
be able to work with the commission to set the treasurer’s department budget
each year.Dryden also pointed to her work with a finance commission
while the executive director of the United Way as an example of her ability to
make sound financial decisions for Ellis County.Funds are now allocated through a two-year process that
allows agencies to know exactly how much money they are going to receive,
because Dryden said those funds that are raised are what is allocated to the
agencies.The agency used to pre-promise funds to the agencies and, if
the United Way failed to raise the necessary funds, agencies were left
scrambling to adjust their budgets.They also addressed some of their investment issues to develop
a contingency plan to help in years where the money raised may have been less
than expected. Dryden said one of the biggest reasons she is running for
the county treasurer position is to restore the office after several years of
disorder.“I want to restore the treasurer’s department with trust,
transparency, morals, ethics, professionalism and teamwork,” Dryden said. “What
I’ve experienced and what I’ve learned from others I have become frustrated.”Dryden said she will also stress communication within the
office. She said they have had negative experiences with the treasurer’s
department and she said when speaking with Ellis County voters she believes she
is not alone.She said she doesn’t blame the treasury staff; she instead
believes the current training lacks in some areas.“I really feel the treasurer needs to make sure they are
delivering customer service support with their staff,” Dryden said.“I will be a working treasurer who will be right there
beside staff,” Dryden said. “I want to ensure that I learn every staff’s job
duties and functions.”If elected, Dryden said transparency will be a priority for
the office, and she said the treasurer needs to be seen in a positive light.“At any given time, on any given business day, what are the
records of the finances of the county?” Dryden said. “That needs to be
available upon request. That is critical in ensuring trust and transparency.”Dryden said she has been talking with treasurers across the
state and wants to implement an open-door policy that many of them have
implemented.“Having that open-door policy for all is going to be an
asset that can only make this department stronger,” Dryden said.She said two of the treasurers she has been working with
during the campaign have already volunteered to work with her is she is
elected.Dryden said she is asked often by Ellis County residents about the very public incident between Ellis County Commissioner Butch Schlyer
and current Treasurer Lisa Schlegel. Schlegel was eventually escorted from the
meeting at Schlyer’s request.Dryden said she would have never let the situation get out
of hand the way it did.“I would not have allowed it to escalate to the level that
it did,” Dryden said. “That is key in being about to work through conflict.”“To me, leadership is actions,” Dryden said. “A full leader
is one that gains trust through their actions, is fully transparent and will
accept feedback and work through any conflict.”If elected, Dryden would like to create a finance committee
that allows the department to explore financial growth opportunities.According to Dryden, the goal of the committee would be to “ensure
fair and equitable opportunities for all financial opportunities for all
financial institutions in our area.”She said the investments must also be reviewed on a regular
basis.“Are we truly getting the best investments?”Dryden also wants to treasurer’s office to be involved in
the grant process in Ellis County.She believes that her experience working with grants in her
prior positions will be an asset to the county.Dryden said she believes the treasurer’s office can help
administer grants that Ellis County has received but also can work with other
positions to help with financial planning for grant funds.“I really think the treasurer’s office should be a very
strong partner in helping with all grants in Ellis County,” Dryden said.Schlegel has attacked Dryden
because her husband worked for the Ellis County Sheriff’s Office, but Dryden
confirmed that he retired from the department in June.Dryden has also been attacked for her relationship with
Deputy County Clerk Bobbie Dreiling. Dreiling is the only Republican
candidate for county clerk. Dryden shrugged off both allegations and said she has only
known Dreiling for a few months. On social media, Schlegel has also claimed that Dreiling helped Dryden
falsify the form in which candidates obtain signatures to file for office.
Dryden strongly denies the accusation and said even though she collected more
than 300 signatures, when she only needed 250, she elected to pay to filing fee
instead of continuing to collect signatures because of the governor’s statewide
lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic.As for Schlegel’s attacks, Dyden said she hasn’t really paid
attention to them and said she does not need to defend herself. “People who would
rather spend their time pointing their fingers at non-pertinent information shows
that they would rather point fingers than run their department,” Dryden said.Dryden added, “I feel my rounded experience would be able to
re-establish pride in the department for Ellis County.”

CANDIDATE PROFILE Ellis County Treasurer: Sherry Dryden