No endorsement for Nassau County clerk
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The role of a county clerk in New York is steeped in tradition and function and is one of the few government jobs, like that of a district attorney, that is created and protected by the state’s constitution. The clerk is the official records keeper and the repository of Nassau’s court cases, land transactions including mortgage filings, veterans’ discharge papers and more. It’s an elected office but it should not be a partisan one.
Republican Maureen C. O'Connell, 74, was first elected clerk 20 years ago. We have long supported her candidacy but after two decades of promises to advocate against exorbitant fees and to fully modernize services to make accessing documents easier, it’s clear the job needs new leadership. O'Connell did not meet with the editorial board.
Five years ago, the county’s $355 fee for verifying tax maps was found an “unlawful and unconstitutional tax.” It was lowered to $270. In June, a $300 fee imposed for some real estate transactions was also deemed excessive. O'Connell’s voice has been silent. Her office has never publicly provided an analysis of what would be a legitimate charge for the services provided and what was a money grab by the county.
As far as modernization goes, a deputy county clerk testifying before the county legislature in July asked for approval of a $75,000 contract for a new vendor who could handle payments under $10. It had been that for any transaction under $10 — usually requesting a copy of a record — someone had to pay cash, contrary to the cashless trend. But the new contract adds a $2.50 fee collected by the vendor.
Democratic challenger Joylette E. Williams, 54, of Hempstead, is a long-tenured professor at Nassau Community College. She is a quick study of how services in the clerk’s office are inefficient and its software dated.
Williams, who is also pursuing a second doctorate, would take a leave from NCC to run the clerk’s office. It’s uncertain that her success in academia can translate into the skills needed to revive the moribund bureaucracy in need of new leadership.
Newsday Opinion makes no endorsement.
ENDORSEMENTS ARE DETERMINED solely by the Newsday editorial board, a team of opinion journalists focused on issues of public policy and governance. Newsday’s news division has no role in this process.
