No, La Plata County did not surreptitiously get a new treasurer.

Elected as Allison Morrissey, the treasurer has retaken her maiden name and is now known as Allison Aichele.

“I went through a divorce and am taking my maiden name back,” Aichele said. “People sometimes have a difficult time with pronouncing it.”

“Aichle,” pronounced “ike-lee,” is a southern German name meaning oak tree.

“The ‘l-e” at the end is diminutive in old German,” said Aichele, a former linguist. “So it technically means ‘little oak tree.’”

Aichele, a Democrat, was elected to her position in 2014 after defeating Republican and former La Plata County Commissioner Bobby Lieb.

Herald Staff