Amy Zeman returns home: Humboldt’s new city clerk

By PHIL MONSON
Amy Zeman is coming home.

Zeman, who grew up on a farm south of Livermore, is the new city clerk and finance director for the City of Humboldt. Zeman’s hiring was approved at the Humboldt City Council meeting on Monday night, Aug. 5.

“I’m really excited to be back home in Humboldt County where I grew up,” Zeman told the Independent in an interview after Monday’s meeting.

Zeman replaces Gloria Christensen, who is retiring this month after serving in the position for the past 30 years.

“My father still lives on the family acreage, which was my grandparents’ place, just south of Livermore. My younger sister and I have been talking about building on the acreage for a few years. This move happened quicker than I had anticipated, but the job opportunity was too good to pass up,” Zeman said.

Zeman comes to Humboldt after serving the last seven and one-half years as clerk for the town of Ellsworth. Not only is she excited to be back home, she also views her Humboldt position as a career advancement.

“Ellsworth is a town of around 500 people while Humboldt stands at around 4,800 to 5,000 people, so this is definitely a population increase and with that comes more opportunities,” Zeman said. “I’ve got an excellent teacher in Gloria. With her 30 years of experience here, I don’t think I would have a better knowledge base.”

“The supporting staff here seems to be great. Everybody here works as a team, which is great,” Zeman said.

“I’ve always been in the finance field. I worked for a credit union for a little over nine years. Accounting is my thing,” Zeman said. “When I worked at the credit union, when people would come in and say they were off with their bank account for the last six months, ‘can you help me?’ I would say that was relaxing.”

“I’ve always been a numbers girl. When there was an opening at the city of Ellsworth, someone said I should apply for it. I did, thinking it was mostly going to be for financial reports. Little did I know it was everything,” Zeman said.

“Budgeting was my favorite part. Annual finance reports. Those things are all numbers and that’s what I like to deal with,” Zeman said. “You’ve got your numbers and you have to figure out how you are going to pay for everything and balance in the end.”

A graduate of Twin River Valley High School in the mid 1990s, Zeman then attended Iowa Central Community College in Fort Dodge for two years before getting an accounting position in the Ankeny area. Read the full story in this week's issue of The Humboldt Independent!