We’re guessing that there are not many readers, who are not political insiders, who know what the county clerk does or care very much who gets elected.
Ironically the reason that you don’t know much about two-term County Clerk Maureen O’Connell is because she has done an excellent job.
Her office, which actually provides a service to all county residents, has run smoothly. And if you have ever urgently needed to get a copy of a document, you know just how important that is.
O’Connell, a Republican who formerly served in the state Assembly, was among the first county clerks in the state to put existing documents into electronic form, and is starting to do the same with legal filings for the state courts. She says her office began making the transition to electronic filings when the state court system was moving to e-filing, using the County Court interface.
The East Williston resident has also not been afraid to publicly oppose her fellow Republicans in the county Legislature when they have imposed or sought to impose unfair and economically harmful fee hikes on real estate transactions, which are handled by her office.
O’Connell’s recent opposition to the county Legislature’s plan to again hike real estate fees appears to have gotten the Legislature to look for other ways to bridge a $50 million deficit projected by NIFA in the county’s 2018 budget.
We believe O’Connell, who also served as an East Williston trustee and deputy mayor, will be a strong advocate for residents in a county Legislature that seems destined to remain under the control of Republicans.
O’Connell is being opposed by Dean Bennett a Baldwin Democrat who is a businessman and former deputy director of Nassau’s Office of Minority Affairs under Democratic County Executive Tom Suozzi, who brings a strong commitment to community outreach but lacks the in-depth knowledge brought by O’Connell.
O’Connell has done an excellent job and is moving her office in the right direction. We endorse O’Connell for re-election
