Cook County approves new assessor

Cook County has a new assessor.

Bob Thompson, who is currently employed in the assessor’s office, will be the new county assessor. Thompson will take over for outgoing assessor Todd Smith, who faced complications with regard to obtaining required licensure status from the state Department of Revenue. Smith will remain with the county, essentially taking Thompson’s former role. In that sense, Smith and Thompson traded roles within the assessor’s office.

The decision to appoint Thompson as the new assessor was made official during a meeting of the Cook County Board of Commissioners Tuesday, June 11.

Administrator Jeff Cadwell said there were four applicants to be the next assessor in Cook County. Three of those applicants were from out of the state and were not properly licensed to be assessors in Minnesota.

Thompson will be sworn in as the next assessor in Cook County during the next meeting of the county board.

Also Tuesday, the county approved hiring Cook County Sheriff Pat Eliasen to serve as the interim emergency management director for the county. The resignation of Valerie Marasco-Eliasen left a vacancy for that position. The position is currently being advertised to hire. Until the position can be filled, county staff requested the board to approve temporarily appointing Eliasen as the interim emergency management director for the county.