City’s finance director closes the books

♦ Sheree Shore’s retirement brings Rome nearer to the end of an era.

“We all grew up with the city,” Rome Finance Director Sheree Shore said Tuesday, her last day of work before her retirement.

In between calls from well-wishers, Shore reflected on how much had changed since she was hired 35 years ago; BC, before computers at every desk.

At that time the city manager, Al Crace, was following what she called a national trend of expanding government services. He established new departments such as finance, IT, human resources and purchasing — and set about staffing them with young professionals.

“All of those things were under the city clerk. He got them separated out,” Shore said.

She took the job as assistant to the new finance director, Gary Burkhalter, who’s now the assistant county manager. Their fellow new-hires included John Bennett, who retired as city manager in 2014; Kirk Milam, the public services manager who retired last year; and Joe Smith, the current city clerk.

“I was 27, Gary was about 30 and John Bennett couldn’t have been but 40, so we had children running the whole city,” Shore said with an impish grin.

“There were a lot of people hired during that time so we had a lot of young people, which is kind of what’s going to happen now,” she added.

Her slot remains open, with Assistant Finance Director Toni Rhinehart in temporary charge. City Manager Sammy Rich said he received 13 applications for the position.

“I started interviewing today and hope to have the process wrapped up in a couple weeks,” Rich said Tuesday. The new finance director will have a more complicated mission than Shore did when she started out. She said government accounting used to be easier than in the private sector but the past regulation, decade aimed brought at transparency. more “It’s the taxpayers’ money, so there’s a higher standard for managing it,” Shore said. “Plus, with increased accuracy and timeliness, the City Commission can make better decisions.”

In the early days, she noted, the city only had eight or 10 separate funds. Now there are more than 30 — which led her to muse on what the additions have meant in terms of the city’s development.

“I remember when we merged the (city and county) fire funds,” she said. “We built the library. We built the golf course and the tennis courts. It’s been a pleasure to see what the city has grown into.”

Shore said she doesn’t have definite plans for her retirement, other than a list of little things and a desire to spend more time with her daughter and grandson in Atlanta. She’s worked full time since she was 18; parttime starting at 14.

“This is a new adventure,” she said. “My husband says I’ll be bored soon but ... When I get done with everything, I’ll look at what I want to do.”

Above: Sabrina Ball (from left), mom of upcoming freshman Judson Smith (not shown), gets directions from Rome High School students Ashuni Wise and Aaron Bailey during the RHS Back to School Extravaganza on Tuesday.

Read about students returning to classes inside on A5. Photos by John Popham Above: Rome High School Principal Eric Holland (left) poses with Smoothie King owner Jarrod “J.J.” Johnson at the RHS Back to School Extravaganza on Tuesday. Left: Ben Winkelman (left), of the Rome-floyd County ECO Center, holds an alligator while Kendrick Jones scratches it on its neck.

Diane Wagner Rome Finance Director Sheree Shore fields phone calls from well-wishers Tuesday on her last full day of work before her retirement after 35 years with the city.

Diane Wagner Rome Finance Director Sheree Shore (from left) gets a goodbye visit from Floyd County Tax Commissioner Kevin Payne, City Clerk Joe Smith and Property Tax Manager Jill Robinson.