Dellera, Hessey vie for county recorder

The following candidates are running for Churchill County Recorder. The Lahontan Valley News sent the two candidates questionnaires about their interest in the position and qualifications.

Joan Sims, the current recorder, decided not to seek re-election this year; however, Jaime Dellera and Tasha Hessey filed for the office in March.

Since neither candidate is an incumbent, their responses appear in alphabetical order.

Explain your background and how this qualifies you for the position:

DELLERA: I have 21 years working in document management, eight years as a supervisor and working in a leadership capacity to maintain a $1 million budget.

I began my career working for Churchill County in 1993.

During the 13 years I worked for Churchill County, I learned all aspects of the many offices associated with the County regarding pertinent laws and regulations governing local governments. I worked closely with many county departments including the following: District Court, Planning, Recorder, Commissioners, District Attorney, Assessor, CC Communications and County Manager. I was responsible for the management of all the documents associated with the various boards under the clerk, all county departments, including reconciliation of three different county bank accounts and was responsible for programing tabulation of ballots for all elections.

These responsibilities included preparing, reviewing, processing, collecting, filing, indexing, recordation, storage, preservation and maintenance of all of those records.

In 2006 I decided to continue to build my career skills and knowledge by working for Washoe County. During the last eight years, I have gained a multitude of experience working as a supervisor, working directly with other departments, budgets and perfecting my management and leadership skills. The ability to manage the huge volume of documents associated with larger counties is difficult, but with the experience and knowledge I brought to Washoe County, I was able to fulfill the requirements and create new and efficient ways to handle the more difficult tasks associated with my current position.

HESSEY: I have worked for the Churchill County Recorder’s office for the past seven-and-a-half years as a deputy recorder. There are county requirements and state laws that have to be followed. I am up to date and educated on all of the Recorder’s office statutes and county requirements. I have assisted Joan Sims, the current recorder, with the Recorder’s office budget the past two years. This past year I have completed the monthly, quarterly and year-end reports as well as the State of Nevada mining and Nevada Department of Taxation reports. My experience in the Recorder’s office and my knowledge of the Recorder’s office makes me an ideal candidate for recorder.

What are the most important issues that you would address if elected?

DELLERA: One of the biggest concerns facing many counties is ever-changing technology and the ability to preserve records for perpetuity. I have learned a lot about protecting microfilm and transferring microfilm/microfiche to digital (electronic) archival throughout my career. Digital (electronic) archiving is being considered nationally for permanent retention; however, software technology is continually changing. I will endure to research and learn more about digital records and work with organizations such as the National Association of County Recorders, Elected Officials and Clerks to bring forth the best technology to preserve the integrity of both old and new documents and make them available to the public.

An important function of any governmental office is to provide for personal information to be redacted from public view to avoid identity theft. I will do my best to utilize the latest technology and follow all regulations to ensure citizen’s privacy and rights are protected.

HESSEY: As the recorder, I will see my long-terms goal for the Recorder’s office fulfilled. I took the initiative to index older records into our database. I am pleased to say we have indexed from 1977 to 1982. We still have nine years of records to index. Having these records in our database benefits the title companies, researchers and the community. It allows for a more detailed and complete property search. I am proud to say you can now pull up documents from 1998 to current online. As our budget allows, I will continue uploading documents to our database. These project will take years to complete and I will continue to work very hard to complete them.

How do you plan to get your platform in front of the voting public?

DELLERA: I have attended many speaking functions, visited with local interest groups to obtain their ideas and concerns, utilized the local newspaper and radio station, attended many special events, posted signs and walked door-to-door to introduce myself and speak to people individually.

HESSEY: I will continue to attend community events and knock on as many doors as I can to inform the voting public that I am the only candidate on the ballot that has experience in the Recorder’s office.

Why should voters chose you over the other candidate?

DELLERA: Experience is an important factor when choosing a candidate, but there are also other qualities such as dedication, work ethic, community involvement, maturity, professionalism and integrity. I have all of those qualities and I am very passionate about where I live and I feel it is a privilege to work for the citizens of Churchill County. This will not be an 8-to 5-job for me; it will be a commitment to fulfill all the requirements of an elected official. With 21 years of experience working for local government, I understand the demands on elected officials to provide their constituents with the best customer service, while working within a declining market and with limited resources.

HESSEY: The voting public should vote for me because I am the only candidate with experience in the Recorder’s office. I am hard working, driven and I have taken the initiative to learn all aspects of the Recorder’s office. I have the hands on experience. I know all of the county requirements and the Recorders office statutes from the time a customer brings in a document to be recorded to that documents final resting place on microfilm and placed in our vault. I would have to train my opponent if she were to win, and I personally feel that is a waste of taxpayer money. I am qualified, dedicated and have the experience needed to run the Churchill County Recorder’s office efficiently.