BISBEE, Ariz. (KGUN) — Last month, the Cochise County Board of Supervisors appointed Billy Cloud as the new Cochise County recorder, after the previous recorder, David Stevens resigned earlier this year.
"That was kind of my overall plan, anyways, to run for recorder when Stevens retired," Cloud said. "It just so happened he retired a lot sooner than I thought he was going to.”
He was selected out of five applicants. Those who were interested had to submit their resume and an interview with the board of supervisors.
"It was kind of a surprise," Cloud said of being appointed. "They hadn't had a chance to call me yet, and a friend of mine had seen it the news release; so he called me to congratulate me.”
Now, he’s learning the responsibilities of the job, while preparing for his first test: a special election to replace the late Congressman Raul Grijalva.
"For me, is to learn the job, learn it well," Cloud said. "I have a very, very good staff here that I inherited from recorder Stevens.”
More than 17,000 people will receive early ballots for the special election, all sent from his office.
When asked if there were any changes in the department that he’d like to make, he said it's too soon for change.
“You don't know what you don't know is what I keep telling the ladies that work here...so why would I want to come implement a bunch of changes,” Cloud said.
But, if laws change, so will his department.
"If our citizens in Cochise County decided, hey, we wanted a set way and it meets with state law, we should do it that way," Cloud said. "If the state law comes down and we have to do it that way, well then we just we have to figure out where to get the dollars from.”
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Alexis Ramanjulu is a reporter in Cochise County for KGUN 9. She began her journalism career reporting for the Herald/Review in Sierra Vista, which she also calls home. Share your story ideas with Alexis by emailing alexis.ramanjulu@kgun9.com or by connecting on Facebook.
