Robertson replaces Underwood as Wayne County auditor
Russell Robertson, left, takes the oath of office from his predecessor Jarra Underwood while stepping into the position of Wayne County auditor.
If you’ve recently visited the Wayne County auditor’s website, you may have noticed a new name as county auditor and wondered, “Who is Russell Robertson?”
After 44 years of serving the public, Wayne County auditor Jarra L Underwood retired in February, passing the torch to Robertson, who was recently appointed interim auditor by the Wayne County commissioners.
Underwood began her career in 1979 when she was hired to work in the real estate department of the auditor’s office. In a recent meeting with staff, Underwood described how her time with Wayne County began.
“I always wanted to hold a public office,” she said. “My family was always involved in political campaigns, and as a child, I campaigned with my great aunt.”
Underwood described a time when prior auditor Glenn Newland came into her family’s hardware store in Shreve and talked to her. After observing her interactions with customers, Newland asked Underwood to join his office. Underwood applied and worked in the real estate department from 1979-99 when she was elected Wayne County auditor, becoming the third generation in her family to hold an elected position in the county.
During her time in office, Underwood helped oversee the implementation of technology into the daily operations of the auditor’s office. She began working during a time when computers did not exist, numbers were crunched using adding machines, documents were prepared using typewriters and filing cabinets were full of property record cards.
As Wayne County grew, Underwood knew change was necessary and technology was needed to fulfill her responsibility to taxpayers.
Robertson began working in the auditor’s office in 2016 as the geographic information system director. The GIS director position works closely with nearly every county office as well as townships, cities and villages across Wayne County. While often described as digital mapping, GIS also involves maintaining servers, database management, data analytics, and data visualization and mapping.
With technology becoming increasingly central to the auditor’s office, Robertson’s role as the GIS director naturally found him heavily involved in nearly every aspect of the auditor’s office, from real estate, to an agricultural program known as CAUV, to the auditor’s websites, to triennial updates, to dog tags, and to weights and measures.
In 2022 Underwood saw in Robertson the leadership potential that would make him a possibility as auditor. Underwood spent the next two years mentoring Robertson to succeed her.
“I am grateful to have worked so closely with Jarra for the past two years,” Robertson said. “With the number of statutory duties given to the county auditor, the job is extremely complex and would have been very difficult to step into the position without any previous exposure.”
Robertson has a Bachelor of Science in Engineering Geology with a minor in mathematics. While pursuing his Master of Science in Geoenvironmental Studies/Geography, Robertson realized his passion for GIS, statistical analysis and real estate. He chose to utilize Underwood’s real estate data and his abilities in GIS to develop a model to predict home prices throughout Wayne County, years before working for Underwood was even a thought in his mind.
“My master’s program gave me the ability to research any topic of my choice. It seems fitting that my interests led me to research one of the most important aspects of a Wayne County Auditor’s Office. As a result I was very familiar with Jarra’s data years before she hired me as her GIS director,” Robertson said.
Robertson plans to run on the Republican ticket in the November election in hopes of being elected Wayne County auditor, with a plan to continue helping the office evolve with technology becoming more efficient and accurate. Robertson hopes to enhance communication with the taxpayers of Wayne County by establishing a social media presence.
“Jarra made exceptional public service the backbone of the Wayne County Auditor’s Office,” Robertson said. “That focus on customer service cannot and will not change. At the end of the day, this office isn’t mine or Jarra’s. This is the auditor’s office of the people of Wayne County.”