I thought it might be interesting to examine the five county wide offices that are up for election as petitions begin to be circulated. I'm taking these in seniority order, which puts Linda Frank first, having been appointed to the office in 1991 and elected four times since.
Each election I hear that Linda is vulnerable and each election she ends up winning handily, often in poor Republican years. She got 56% of the vote last year when Bush got 49%. I tend to think that the same holds true this year, that she'll outpace the average Republican by a wide margin.
Linda's perceived vulnerabilities in previous elections were based on perceived problems in service and organization. The new courthouse, which has consolidated her office in one location and has made it easier for the public to get what they need from her office, seems to have dampened those criticisms. She's got a great website and has expanded payments options for people. She seems to be one of the more innovative elected officials, so I think you can anticipate more advances as she continues on in office.
What's it going to take for someone to unseat her? I don't particularly think it's possible. I think by and large, her office is well regarded by the public.
What other things would you like to see from the office? If you were a challenger, what would you be doing to win this election and what criticisms would you raise?
Since she does a good job and there have been no significant missteps, and no political controvery, why would we expect anyone running agant Ms. Frank could do a better job. I could imagine a better interface to the public on-line court records. The current system is probably 10 years old, although adequate.
Now, many public court records can be accessed at the court house or by a paid on-line subscription. One could argue that court fees should be raised so all records are available on-line. This would probably require sanction by one or more of the local judges.
Linda created such a great website that it is the only webpage on the World Wide Web that has not needed any tinkering in 12 years. Its exactly as it was the day it was introduced. I particularly like the information she is providing about the new Courthouse construction project.
I notice her website says the targeted date for completion is November 2001. I wonder if that is being too optimistic or if they will make that target date?
She's the best. How could anyone make a better web page? (Folks attempting to answer this question better not look at the McLean County or Vermilion County Circuit Clerk's websites. That wouldn't be fair, because those counties are not in the middle of a courthouse construction project.
The place where Mrs. Frank does a less than satisfactory job is in the managing and training of the Clerk's Office staff. Her office is notorious for lost or missplaced court files, missing and misfiled documents, files that can't seem to make it to court on time, and other errors that are only apparent to those that work in and at the courthouse.
But do you know if this problem is better or worse than in other counties ??
I think the position should be a professional position and not elected. I like Linda Frank, she is friendly and gets high marks on the public side but I believe a professional hire at a higher salary would solve many of the problems outlined.