Charges and counter-charges fly in campaign for county clerk post Candidates differ on properrole for office holder 2/28/02 By JUNE RICH NEWS-PRESS STAFF WRITER It seems that the race to become Clerk-Recorder-Assessor has become quite political. Both candidates -- Larry Herrera, hand-picked by the current Clerk-Recorder-Assessor, and upstart Joe Holland -- carry around documents to help them discredit the other. Both have heard the charges countless times at candidates forums, and deny them vehemently. Mr. Holland has been leading the charge. He pulls paperwork from his folder that he says shows that documents move through the recorder's office more slowly than they did 17 years ago. Mr. Herrera says the comparison is bunk, that Mr. Holland has no idea how quickly documents were recorded back then. Mr. Holland pulls out materials from the elections office that he says advantageously feature Mr. Herrera's name as No. 2 in charge, including a letter recently mailed with absentee ballots. The name-dropping is evidence, he says, of how political the office has become under Mr. Pettit, who freely endorsed candidates through his 16 years in office (including Mr. Herrera) and even occasionally interjected himself into political battles, as when he recently condemned the "drastic and draconian" recall attempt against 3rd District Supervisor Gail Marshall. "As I've walked precincts across the county, the No. 1 thing I've heard is that people want the politics taken out of that office," he said. "They want to know that the person counting the votes is not operating the office in a partisan manner." The office actually oversees much more than elections. In fact, it officiates over some of the most important moments in the lives of county residents. The Clerk-Recorder-Assessor documents births, marriages, divorces, deaths, home sales, and property taxes, which fund schools and special districts. Mr. Herrera said that he will continue the tradition of his predecessor, though perhaps not to the same degree, endorsing candidates and ballot initiatives that he feels will improve life for county residents. "I'm an American citizen, with First Amendment rights. And if I'm elected to public office, then it's important to stand up for things that will improve the quality of life here," he said. "Look, elections law is very strict. There's no way that I could compromise the integrity of the voting system." Mr. Herrera has counter-charged that tax assessments were bungled on Mr. Holland's watch, most notably those of Exxon and the now bankrupt Applied Magnetics. He proffers court documents that he says highlight "failures" in Mr. Holland's office on both cases. Mr. Holland argued that the only person with the authority to fix those problems was Mr. Pettit, as head of the department. Both candidates have big plans, if elected. Mr. Herrera wants to build on what he deems his greatest successes over the last decade: installation of the Accu-Vote system, which ended the interminable vote counts on elections night, and a new online property tax assessment system. The new systems have saved the county money, and he says he would save more by eliminating his current position as the number-two man in the department. In turn, he would like to create "community assistants" to target particular populations to vote more. He would like to reduce the tax burden on the county's small businesses, mobile home-owners, low-income seniors and non-profit groups by showing them how to work within the system. In some cases, he would invite summer interns to write position papers to send to Sacramento, urging changes in state law to help those people. Above all, he said he wants to make his office extremely easy to use. For Mr. Holland, depoliticizing the office is his top priority. Beyond that, he would like to improve services in North County, create a citizens advisory committee to help the office register more voters from all political stripes. He wants to get involved in student body elections at all local high schools, and move property tax assessments and appeals through the system more quickly. PROFILES OF THE CANDIDATES LARRY HERRERA Age: 49 Occupation: Assistant Clerk-Recorder-Assessor Education: Bachelor's in Police Science, Cal State Los Angeles; Master's in Public Administration, Cal State Fullerton. Key Endorsements: Rep. Lois Capps, D-Santa Barbara; Assemblywoman Hannah Beth Jackson, D-Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara Mayor Marty Blum, Clerk-Recorder-Assessor Ken Pettit, Santa Barbara Police Officers Association. -- JUNE RICH JOE HOLLAND Age: 44 Occupation: Business Division Manager with Clerk-Recorder-Assessor Education: Bachelor's in Business Economics, UCSB; Master's in Economics, UCSB. Key Endorsements: Santa Barbara County firefighters; Deputy Sheriff's Association; Treasurer-Tax Collector Gary Feramisco, Auditor-Controller Bob Geis; Former Clerk-Recorder Howard Menzel. -- JUNE RICH Get printer-friendly version