Crystal Campos-Perez is a candidate for Blaine County Treasurer. She has held the post for four years.
Perez was born in Mexico and immigrated to the United States in 1986 at age 3. She graduated from Watonga High School in 2001 and gained her citizenship in 2010.
Following graduation, Perez worked at a car dealership in the finance department. She earned a certificate in massage therapy in 2005 and worked in that field for two years before she went to Opportunities as an administrator and translator. However, after only a few months the federal funds for the program she was working in dried up and Perez went to work at First State Bank. That was 2011.
In 2017, Perez went to work for the Blaine County Court Clerk. In the clerk's office, she served as a traffic and criminal clerk and translator. A year later, Perez went to work for the county treasurer.
When the treasurer announced her plans to retire, Perez ran and was elected in 2022. Since then, she said, her training has been continuous.
“I got to be more on top of things,” she said. Another facet of the training is to stay updated on new laws as they are passed and rules as they are instituted.
Perez is proud of the updates and changes made in her office since her election.
“We changed the computer system and totally updated it,” she said. Part of the change is Cloud backup. In order to use backup. In order to use the new system in the most efficient way possible, a treasurer from Logan County came in and trained the entire office on the upgrades.
“She has been a treasurer for 16 years and is a consultant for the company that created the systems,” Perez said. “The computers can help us a lot if you know how to use them properly.” The system is faster, more accurate and user friendly,” she said.
Another point of pride for Perez is the changes in how money on deposit is invested. Those changes, while still keeping tax dollars safe and locally deposited, has significantly increased the interest the county earns, which, Perez said, benefits multiple departments.
In addition to dealing with county money, Perez said she enjoys dealing with the residents.
“Anytime they have questions, I’m ready to answer and if I don’t know, I will look for the answer. I’ll go the extra mile in anything I can.”
Perez said she has proved she can do the job by hard work and determination. “It’s not just promises. I have fulfilled each part of the job.”
Perez has been married to husband Juan Carlos Perez since 2005 and the couple has four children.