February 25, 2002: Equalization Department

When I moved back to Muskegon from Chicago, I thought I would have a job right away, just like I did when I got out of college. I soon found out that it wasn't that easy, especially around Muskegon, where the unemployment has been one of the highest in the state.       I worked part-time at Sears from July 2001 until June 2002.   I took the clerical test at the County of Muskegon and got in the top 5, which were chosen for interviews.  I ended up getting a clerk position in the Equalization Department for the County of Muskegon.    I started there on February 25, 2002.   My first day was quite interesting, as I had no prior knowledge about real estate.    I answered the phone calls and had to give out information on property records.  In some cases, I had to read the legal descriptions, which I had never read before.   There were many abbreviations that I needed to learn.        

Equalization was in the same building at Community Mental Health Youth Services, which is where my mom worked.     My mom and I commuted to work together many times.      I met some nice people there, such as Tom VanBruggen, Heather Singleton, Jamie Huston, Dan Vanderkooi, Sue Bowen, Jerry Groeneveld, etc.    I learned quite a bit on this job, to which I was blessed.   Tom's wife, Gina, got my mom and I into scrap booking.  She had parties at her house and we bought quite a few things.

Some days were stressful at work, especially during the Board of Review season.   We got many phone calls, mapped out legal descriptions, and made maps for the clients.      Some of the legal descriptions could be difficult to map out.  That is when we would go to Tom VanBruggen, who was the expert in that.

I was in the Equalization Department from Feb. 2002 until around October 2003.  Due to budget cuts in Equalization, they had to eliminate a position. Since I was on the bottom of the totem pole, I had to bump out into a different department.  That is when I was transferred to the Health Department.