Teresa Mallery said she brings more than skill and experience to her role in the Kootenai County Treasurer’s Office. She also brings a steward’s heart. 

Now she aims to bring both qualities to the office’s top spot.

Mallery will face Carlos Zamora in the May 19 Republican primary election, as three-term Kootenai County Treasurer Steve Matheson is not seeking reelection. The winner will run unopposed in November.   

Mallery is a financial professional with nearly 20 years of service in the Kootenai County Treasurer’s Office, where she started as a clerk and advanced to technician and then treasury specialist accountant. 

“I love what I do and I’m ready to lead,” said Mallery, who grew up in Rathdrum. 

She said her experience in the treasurer’s office means she knows the department’s responsibilities inside and out. Investing idle funds is a small part of the treasurer’s job, she said, while collecting taxes is an everyday endeavor. 

Mallery said investments make up about 4% of the county’s budget, while tax dollars make up between 44% and 47% of the budget. 

“It’s crucial that whoever is the next treasurer has a handle on what that encompasses,” she said. 

As treasurer, Mallery said she’d prioritize improving communications with other county departments, particularly the assessor’s office. She acknowledged tensions that have simmered between the elected leaders of the two offices in recent years. 

“We need to work in tandem,” she said. “We can all have better communication. I think it’s exhausting for all of us to see the contention and the back and forth.”  

But there’s one thing Mallery said she won’t change if elected: the consistency and stability of the office. 

“We have an incredible team,” she said. “Steve Matheson set the bar very high and I want to continue that legacy of excellence. I don’t want to come in making big swings, but I’m not afraid to when I see there needs to be change.” 

Growing up in Rathdrum, Mallery said she was raised in an environment where community mattered. That’s why she’s spent her career serving Kootenai County taxpayers. 

“I’m giving this all I have because I love what I do,” she said.