I am Trina B. Martin. Devoted Christian, mother, past Clerk-Treasurer of the Village of Clarksburg past Fiscal Officer of Deerfield Township in Ross County, Ohio and a Visiting Clerk for the State Auditor’s Uniform Accounting Network.
I was appointed Clerk-Treasurer of the Village of Clarksburg in Ross County, on April 3, 1990 and continued in that position until a form of crippling arthritis (psoriatic) made it impossible for me to work. I resigned in July, 2002. I found a natural cure in July, 2004 and I have worked diligently to get well and have almost fully regained my health. In November, 2004 our local township clerk sold his house and moved away. Since I was no longer disabled and already knew how to do the job, I applied and was appointed Clerk of Deerfield Township, Ross County. I ran unopposed for the unexpired term in 2005. At the 2007 election I ran opposed and lost by four votes. I left that office with everything up to date and organized so the new Fiscal Officer has a very good chance of doing a good job. Now I have more time to devote to training through this website. I didn't lose the election because I'm not good at my job, I'm just not a politician. Over the years I've seen many excellent clerks get beat out of a job they should have had hands down. Now I know how they felt! With almost 18 years experience I can share so much that will make your job easier.
My journey assisting Clerks began in 1992. I started by assisting a Clerk in a neighboring Village. They had experienced a string of appointees, no one for very long, and the books were a mess! I went back over almost two years and balanced their books, brought them up to date and trained their Clerk in the basics all for just $5 an hour! My name was given to another area Clerk who had just won her election and didn't have balanced books when she took office. We worked for weeks putting together the deposit tickets and cancelled checks, building her books and balancing until she was up to date. Since that time I have specialized in rebuilding books that clerks didn’t keep!
I went on the State Auditor's Uniform Accounting Network and became a Visiting Clerk in 1994. I also assisted on their 800 number and in the training classes for several years. I met some wonderful people there who were doing the very same thing I was; helping new clerks learn their job! I’ve spent many years working with the State Auditor’s Office as a Visiting Clerk and I’m very happy to be renewing that relationship. I’ll be attending my VC training class in July and will meet some of you soon after!
It seemed to me the hardest part about doing the job was finding basic information on how to begin. I didn't know how to do a good budget when I was new and I didn't have good books to look back on. The first year was a nightmare! Many Clerks become discouraged that first year and quit before they even have a chance to do the job right. The major problem was that no one would explain what my responsibilities were and in the bookkeeping I couldn't figure out the relationship between the "Amended Certificate" and the "Appropriations". If you don't know that, you are not going to be able to prepare a good budget. I was determined to get something out there to Clerks that would help them through that first horrible year.
In 2000 I finally put my energy and focus into writing a book. It's been called "The Dick and Jane Book of Appropriations" and many Clerks have stopped me at conferences to tell me what a help it was to them in the beginning of their term. This was back in the days before everyone had e-mail and could surf the web with ease in their own home or at the office. My book had to be marketed by flyers in the mail and postage had to be paid on each flyer. I purchased a bulk mail permit and obtained a list of clerks from the State Auditor's office and my first flyer was mailed in April, 2000. The flyers cost a fortune to have printed; they had to have two stickers placed by hand on each end; and the mailing label had to be placed on the front. I mailed about 1500 flyers and received a wonderful response. My last flyer was mailed in 2002. As my health was deteriorating and I was less able to concentrate due to high pain levels, I quit working at the UAN office, I quit taking on new clients, I quit marketing my book and in July of 02 I resigned from the Clerk-Treasurer's position. My replacement made a mess of the books and I was reappointed for about eight months to balance the books and train another replacement - she's still there doing a great job and we’ve become good friends! Since I no longer marketed "Understanding the Budget. . . " I never expected to get the remaining books out of their storage box and I almost threw them away more than once! When I regained my health and began once more working in government fund accounting, I began exploring the internet for ways to market the book without adding to the junk mail. I started with this web page as simply a way to market my one training book.
Over the last two years I've been developing a plan to make this website a members-based site for resource material. I don't want to put a price tag on each e-book or sample policy. It just seemed simple to set one annual price and let members pick and choose what they wanted throughout the year.
The Lord has truly blessed my humble work and I am very grateful for His blessing and the kind words and acknowledgements from those I've been able to help. Even after five years of not marketing the book, I've had Clerks call asking for a copy or I'll receive a check in the mail with an order form. It is nice to be sought but I really dislike how hard it was for people to find me. I hope the website will be a quicker, more efficient way to access materials to help you learn the job!
Thanks for your interest and good luck in your job! |
