COLUMBIA, S.C. — Richland County has a new county treasurer who says her goal is to bring better technology, communication, and smarter investments.
Friday is a day that has been years in the making for Kendra Dove, as she officially received the title of Richland County Treasurer. The move comes as a promotion for Dove, as she's spent over a decade as a deputy treasurer for the county.
She's the first Black treasurer in the county's history and only the second female, but she doesn't expect that to be her only legacy.
"It took 224 years to get to this point where there was diversity in this role." Dove said. "I don't just want to be known for being the first; I want to be known for being the best treasurer Richland county has ever had. With my predecessor and my friend, that's a high bar."
On Friday, she laid out a plan to improve her office's efficiency and transparency, hoping to increase the use of technology in the office-
"I have senior citizens that really need to see somebody take their money. They're not used to going to the internet and paying for it; however, they may be willing to go to a kiosk in a local library." she said. "We are heavy on paper and heavy on documentation. I want to make us a little less paper-dependent. I think that's a big goal that all of the staff recognize."
She said all changes will take time to implement, and she is in the process of starting conversations with stakeholders and changing old habits.
"We created some things during our COVID environment because it was the unknown," Dove said. "But it's not really conducive to our work environment, so we are trying to look at those things that we put in place, and we are reconfiguring the office in some ways to better meet the needs of the taxpayers."