O'Connell for Nassau County clerk

The Nassau County clerk doesn't usually find herself in the middle of a passionate discussion over anything. After all, many of the clerk’s duties revolve around adhering to New York State laws about maintaining property records and answering homeowner questions.

But when it comes to the elimination of key Nassau fees, especially the tax map verification fee, current County Clerk Maureen C. O’Connell has a lot to say. She had spoken out when the fees were imposed and made certain her office didn't play a role. Now, she is urging County Executive Laura Curran to sign the bill to eliminate the $355 charge, required on property transactions to verify a plot's section, block and lot.

After four terms, O’Connell, 70, has a rich knowledge of the clerk’s office, which is responsible for county land and court records. The East Williston Republican knows where paper records are stored, which records have been digitized, and the critical security needs involved.

Democrat Justin R. Brown, 30, is a Baldwin health care administrator. Brown suggested bringing the digitizing of records in-house, so the county’s information technology personnel would handle it, rather than an outside vendor. But he couldn't detail how that would work. Brown is smart and should stay involved. His attention to the office's relationship with Nassau residents is welcome and his idea of adding help services to the clerk’s website is worth considering.

In her next term, O’Connell should continue digitizing Nassau's older records, while doing more to make the office consumer-friendly. With an experienced hand, she should study best practices in other states, to potentially build Nassau’s land records into a searchable database, something that would be particularly helpful to research historical land use and identify properties that still have illegal racial covenants on file. And she should continue to be vocal about fees that are over the top.

Newsday endorses O’Connell.