District Clerk Interview Questionnaire

Transcription

1 District Clerk Interview Questionnaire All potential candidates for district clerk were asked to please respond to the following questions. Copies of this document are available for download from Part 1: Tactical, Introductory Questions The following questions have been a part of the standard questionnaire used by the Daily News in developing their profiles of candidates. We felt they were useful and have included them here. 1. Year of Birth: /01/ Campaign Website: t yet as I have not appointed a treasure as required under campaign finance regulations before expending funds. KinardForSheriff.com 3. Occupation: Self employed, I own John Ford Jewelers a jewelry manufacturing company and I buy and sell real estate at times. FBI Agent for 27 years (Retired), Attorney 4. Education: Bachelor of Science Texas A &M, 1987, International Trade and Finance Accounting Degree University of Texas at Arlington Law Degree SMU Law School 5. Additional Qualifications: Prior Governmental Experience Port of Galveston Chairman, Vice Chairman, Finance Chairman American Association of Port Authorities National Finance Committee Member Central Appraisal District Vice Chairman Board of Directors G.I.S.D Dallas Police Officer, FBI Agent (27 years) and member of the Texas State Bar 1

2 6. Are you a legal resident of the district you are seeking to represent? 7. Have you ever been convicted of a felony crime? If you answer yes please explain. 8. Have you ever sued a public entity or been sued by one? If you answer yes, please explain. President Board of Trustees, Finance Committee Chairman, Member City of Galveston Member Tax Foreclosure Committee County of Galveston Present Yes Chairman of the Bolivar Peninsula Tax Foreclosure Committee Rural Railroad Commission Member Appointed by Judge Henry Yes TWIA & FEMA ( I sued each over IKE claims) Yes 9. Do you have any other debts (including unpaid taxes) to a public entity? If yes please explain. 10. Will you have your home phone number listed in the phone book or your mobile number listed for the public to contact you directly? 11. Why should voters choose you? What are your specific Yes, as a previously elected official and appointed official my cell number was always published and given out. As the party nominee in 2006 I ran on deficiencies I identified in the office and offered concrete solutions. The incumbent then, now the democrat candidate, Yes Qualifications and experience. I have an accounting and law degree. I worked over 30 years in the justice system as a police officer, lawyer and FBI Agent with a proven record 2

3 qualifications for the position? denied all, over time the deficiencies were proven true and I like no other candidate can make her prior poor management a central issue in the campaign. I am a proven leader with 10 years of governmental experience and 28 years of being a successful business owner with extensive experience with public entity budgets, personnel issues, long term planning and business management, an activist for smaller government and lower taxes. I am free of any conflict of interest serving as district clerk. of success. I have extensive experience with records management as an FBI Agent/manager for 27 years. I have successfully managed a large number of employees and major operations in the FBI, including a $100 million Budget as the FBI National OCDETF Coordinator. 12. Who does the District Clerk work for? 13. What are the issues in this campaign? The citizens of Galveston County The poor past performance of the now democrat candidate, the prior incumbent. The central premise is do you want to go backwards or move forward with the office being efficient and modern? The voters/citizens Employee morale and the need to digitize records to make them readily accessible to the public 14. What is your platform on those issues? I will of course point out the hundreds of thousands of dollars of lost revenue, the poor personnel management, and in general poor management practices as compared to those today. I will lead the office into fully utilizing e filling, collect all court fines and fees and implement faster document scanning programs. I will work to stabilize and enhance employee morale and streamline the digitizing and indexing of documents Part 2: Current Events Questions The following questions are very specific to the role of District Clerk. Questions were derived from input provided by elected officials who are stakeholders or customers of the District Clerk s office. 1. What are the District Clerk's To properly manage the funds as a Trustee and The District Clerk maintains minor trust accounts in 3

4 responsibilities with regard to minor trust accounts and how will you handle these? disperse those funds strictly as directed by the Court. accordance with standard fiduciary account maintenance procedures or as directed by a competent Court of jurisdiction. 2. Many people pay more than is due on property sold by the county at sheriff sales. How will you handle excess proceeds? 3. How would you - if at all - change the jury selection process? I support returning all excess revenue collected by the District Clerk to the citizens who over paid. The jury plan itself is done by the judges. The selection process and the entire process needs to be reviewed and I would work with the District Judges to review and make sure Galveston County is following best practices from around the state. Overpayments will be refunded to identified taxpayers and, if this is not possible, returned to the taxing entity. I would ensure that the selection process is fair and that inconvenience to prospective jurors is minimized. An on call system for excess potential jurors needs to be evaluated. 4. How do you propose to maintain the historical records of the District Clerk? I would follow what the Harris County District Clerk did 10 years ago place the records after preservation in sleeves in binders that were fire resistant and place them in a Historical room in the clerk s office. I will accomplish this by seeking grants from private foundations who promote preservation of documents. I will ensure that historical records are properly identified and secured in a facility designed and certified to withstand all potential events that threaten their security 5. With the public s ever increasing use of the internet and increasing demand for access to public records, would you enable the public to view court records online? 6. When venue is changed from one county to the other, what is the impact of that on taxpayers and how do you propose to address that issue? Yes for the most part it s finally available on line now; cases with non releasable information of course are limited. The single issue effected the current cases from being available is the back filling back log. This back log is a critical issue I will address. The District Clerk per say doesn t have a say in that decision. I would make sure that all fees due on civil and criminal cases are paid that are allowable under the law. Yes for all public records In civil cases the parties normally absorb the extra cost and other counties will normally reimburse Galveston County in extraordinary criminal cases 7. We are on the coast in the The preservation of the courts records and documents Ensure public and employee safety within the facilities, 4

5 middle of hurricane season - what are the responsibilities of the District Clerk during a disaster? maintained by the District Clerk so that after the disaster the Court system can return to normal as soon as possible. The only sure solution is to have all current records digitized. What is needed long term is to eliminate the current need and expense for offsite storage. This process called back scanning to accomplish this is slow. This is a long ignored problem by the previous clerk (Ms. Wilson) and at the current pace it will take about 10 years to accomplish. I hope to have the opportunity to cut that time line when elected. and the security of all records Part 3: Strategic Intangible Questions The following questions are very specific to the strategic role of the District Clerk and the District Clerk office. Questions were derived from input provided by elected officials who are stakeholders or customers of the District Clerk s office. 1. strings attached. The person elected to this position cannot be obligated to other people in power. Instead, the District Clerk has to be an independent player and not beholden to others. What assurances can you provide that you are the best candidate? 2. Full Time Commitment. This position is a full-time job; the person elected to it must be committed to treating it as such. What other work life obligations do you have and describe how you would handle them such I am not obligated to anyone, nor will I be. It s very simple I am running to finish the job I applied for in The goal I have is to make the District Clerks office in Galveston County a model office. The office will be operated in an ethical manner without preference to person or special interest group. I have outside business responsibilities that will not interfere with me being a full time District Clerk. I have no conflict of interest from either business or family that would affect the performance of my duties to the highest standards. As an FBI Agent for 27 years, I stand for the highest level of integrity. The County Clerk is an elected position and is only beholden to the citizens. I will work this job in a full time capacity 5

6 that you are the best candidate for this position. 3. People Skills are a Must. The people motivational skills necessary to instill a vision within the staff of the customer, that there is a customer that must be served; this is critical. The public abhors unaccountable bureaucrats. What experiences from your background are relevant and show that you are the best candidate for this position? Please discuss employee management issues. I ve operated 2 businesses that serve the public. I ve been very successful and understand customer service. As an elected official I was dedicated to going the extra mile to help any parent, child and employee with any problem. I will ensure customer service in the District Clerks office when elected. I have had a lot of experience in dealing with personnel, in my own business and serving as Chairman of the Port of Galveston and serving for 61/2 years most of those as the President of the GISD Board of trustees. I received chief executive officer training and many hours of state training specifically on personnel issues. I am very experienced with personnel review processes and conflict resolution. The personnel review process itself is a critical area currently in the District Clerks office that needs revision. My priority is to enhance the effectiveness and efficiency of the District Clerk s Office. My success in this objective will be measured by the satisfaction of the customers. Therefore, customer satisfaction will be a focus and key objective. 4. Process & Technology Courage. Technology changes rapidly and many of the offices within the county are mired in old technology. And technology must be married to the support of new business processes. Many in elected office seem to have an extreme reluctance to embrace new processes and tools. Provide examples from your past where your ability to seek out and implement process and technology improvements such that you are the best candidate for the position. I ran my 2006 campaign on the need for modernization of the Clerk s office. The move to having all cases mandated to being electronically filed is coming, but not fast enough for me. The District Court Judges in the end will decide when this happens. I intend to promote this with the Judges so that we can have a target date to accomplish this. Until this happens I intend to work to increase the number of cases electronically filled with our local attorney s. As an FBI Agent for 27 years I have been exposed to some of the best technology that this country has to offer. I embrace the use of the best technology. 6