Interview: Jennifer Basile, Otsego County Clerk Candidate

By DARLA M. YOUNGS
COOPERSTOWN

I’m hearing a lot of feedback from readers who feel that the role of county clerk really should not be an elected position. Should it be an elected position or an appointed position? Why?

In my opinion, I think the position should be appointed because of all the knowledge that you need to have to perform the role. It’s kind of like, you wouldn’t want somebody running for treasurer that doesn’t have any [accounting] experience whatsoever.

Your opponent has referred to you as a “lifelong bureaucrat who has never held elected office.” One of the definitions of “bureaucrat” is “overly concerned with procedure at the expense of efficiency or common sense,” which seems to be where he is going with that. Do you see yourself as a lifelong bureaucrat?

No.

Do you feel there is any evidence that procedure in the clerk’s office takes precedence over efficiency and common sense?

No, other than [adhering to procedures] the state says that you have to follow in both our office and DMV. If the state says, no, you can’t do this, then yes, I’m going to follow their procedures.

That being said, you have worked for 14 years in the County Clerk’s Office. Do you think there is such a thing as being too familiar with the job? Are there benefits to a fresh, new perspective?

This is a position that requires a full working knowledge of the offices in order to effectively lead. This is a working role. You have to be able to answer customer questions, staff questions, attorney questions. There’s nothing that can prepare you for leading the county clerk and DMV offices other than having direct experience working in the office. Our retired State Senator Jim Seward has said, “Even as a 34-year veteran state senator, I would not be qualified to properly administer the County Clerk’s office.” Of course, being the deputy for someone, there are ideas that I’ve kept in the back of my head that I have wanted to implement, but is not my office. [Among other things], I am looking at enhancing transaction processing, extending DMV hours, and extending our copy and notary services.

So if you’re extending DMV hours, would you also be increasing the payroll?

No, no. There would be staggered shifts.

How important, or relevant, do you think prior political experience is to this particular position, and why?

Doesn’t matter. Politics don’t play a role in the clerk’s office. Experience does, knowing how to do the job, and I know I sound like a broken record, but it’s that simple.

Have you ever had any interest prior to this in running for a public office?

No.

Do you have any political aspirations above and beyond running for county clerk?

No. I just want to do the job.

We received a letter to the editor praising your opponent for his public speaking skills and volunteerism. How relevant are public speaking skills and volunteerism to the county clerk position, do you think?

Public speaking is not relevant. You do the job. It’s not [just] an administrative role. You do the work. You’re not out speaking every day at public functions.

And what about the volunteerism?

I think it’s important to go out into the community and help the community [through] volunteer work. Hence, my husband and I have been members of the Hartwick Fire Department for quite a number of years. We did take a leave when we built our house and then we went back.

The same letter writer described you as lacking confidence and said she “didn’t feel enthusiasm, compassion, or approachability. I was left feeling like I had missed something from her.” How do you respond to this?

I explained the job. I explained what the job entailed. I believe I did see her. She didn’t approach me. I’m a very approachable person—anybody that I’ve met will tell you the same thing. The truth is, I am not an experienced public speaker. I started off by saying that I am not a comfortable public speaker. I’m a worker, and a doer.

You have come under fire by both your opponent and the League of Women Voters for choosing not to debate. Have you ever run for public office or debated before?

I have never run for public office before. I chose not to debate because this is crunch time right now. My schedule is very, very packed. After this, I’ve got three events lined up later today along with sign drops. I work all day but have been out [campaigning] nights and weekends. Probably ready to be divorced, because of my lack of cooking [laugh]. I tell my husband, “I will return to cooking dinner someday.” [laugh] But it’s completely worth it.

Do you think declining to debate will work for or against you?

I really don’t know.

Let’s go back to the public speaking and campaigning for a minute. It seems to me that running for political office is not why you’re in the job.

It’s not. I’m in the job because I love doing what I do every day. If I didn’t, I really wouldn’t be doing this. It’s a job that I hold very dear to my heart and I care so much about it. You know, that’s why I’m running. So I’m trying to push aside the whole public speaking thing and the whole being “out there” thing because I’m a worker and I care about the job, not the political role. And that makes it difficult, I think, because I feel like, yeah, he [Benton] could talk you into anything. My husband said, “He’s your politician here, a salesman. He could sell shoes to a person with no feet.” Do I think it’ll hurt me not being a big public speaker? I hope not. There are quite a few people that would say, well, I can’t [speak in public]—more than are comfortable being a public speaker, I think.

Your opponent said recently that he is running “because there is important work to be done to improve the office.” He mentions the need to improve customer satisfaction and the process of transactions and filing. Are you aware of any major problems within the department, with customer service, and/or timeliness of processing and maintaining documents?

No. We have always strived for complete customer satisfaction. That’s why we get a lot of customers in from surrounding counties that will only come to us because we’re so great to deal with, and that’s at DMV as well as in the clerk’s office. We get praised and thanked daily [for] how helpful we are and for all the assistance.

You said in answer to a recent interview question that “reopening Oneonta DMV” is not an option, but yet that is one of the main running points of your opponent. Why is a second office no longer an option?

That office has been gutted, revamped and is occupied by DSS. Just because a program has a revenue source does not mean that it is a net positive after all the expenses are factored in. The Oneonta DMV was cut because we were losing money.

In a letter to the editor a couple weeks ago, you said you had secured a shared office space in Oneonta from which to operate a satellite DMV program. Can you tell me what that would look like, how much it will cost and where the money will come from?

[I am planning to set up] a satellite location, which is something I’ve been working hard on and I have already gotten approval with some of the other department heads to use a shared space to operate a satellite DMV office at 242 Main Street, Oneonta. I had my first budget talk Thursday, and it has a couple more rounds to go through budget. As long as [the county board] approves the budget, I can go ahead and start the process with the state. Then, of course, we have to have the state come out and approve the space and so on. The goal is to help as many customers as we can. Expenses would just be the state equipment. The bare minimum. No rent, because it’s a county building.

Your opponent said recently that he is “not running to collect a title or a pension.” How do you respond to that?

My response to that [laugh] is, if you truly cared about the office, you would have come in and visited; see what it was all about, see what it looked like, see what we do.

Supporters of your opponent have said that willingness to listen, vision and energy are some of the attributes that make him the right person for this job. What are your thoughts on this?

You can have all the vision and hopes and dreams that you want, but unless you know how to do the job, they’re not going to help you. While it’s never bad to have vision and ideas, you have to know the role to realize what is possible and what is not.

A recent letter writer also said your opponent has a desire to keep taxpayer money in the county. What are the ways in which taxpayer dollars meant for Otsego County are being lost to out-of-county entities with regard to clerk’s office operations and services?

They’re not. I’m sure there are some who choose DMV online and that’s perfectly fine. But do we lose a lot of revenue from it? No. In one of his answers to the questions in “The Daily Star” [Saturday], Benton said we lose almost 11 percent on every transaction. That’s not true. It’s not 11 percent on every transaction…some transactions are a percentage, some are a flat rate.

Your opponent has said that people who live in the southern part of the county don’t want to drive to Cooperstown, so they’re going to Chenango County and Delaware County to conduct their DMV business.

I’ve heard this from a couple people that [live in] Unadilla. They’re going to go to Sidney anyway, because Sidney is literally right across the river, five minutes [away], whether there is a DMV office in Oneonta or not.

And you’re saying that we do have people that use our DMV who are not from our county as well, correct?

Yes. From Herkimer County, Montgomery County, Delaware County. We have people from [New York City] that come up and use us when they [are] on vacation just because they prefer us.

One of your opponent’s talking points is expansion of the “Return the Favor” program for Otsego County Veterans. What role does the County Clerk’s office play in this program? Who spearheads the program? The current listing of more than 100 participating vendors seems to be out of date—are there any plans within the department to improve or expand the program?

Yes, we do advertise [this program] to local businesses. We reach out and provide the information. If they want to take part, we put them on the listing and provide a sign.

Who spearheads that program? Who heads that up in your department?

That was started by our current County Clerk, Kathy [Sinnott Gardner]. We send an invitation letter out to the DBAs that come in now. We have plans to update and expand the listings.

In a recent interview, you said knowledge of the department and experience within the clerk’s office is important with regard to prioritization. Can you give me an example of how your experience has helped you prioritize amid moving targets?

Well, right now for example, the budget process is a top priority. Then it’s a matter of whoever comes in through the door, and whether or not it’s a pressing issue. That can definitely vary every minute of every day. I was actually surprised I got my desk cleaned off yesterday. First time I saw it all week.

Does it bother you that supporters of your opponent do not seem to think 14 years in the clerk’s office is a motivating reason to vote for you?

I find it a little on the frustrating side just because of the amount of work that’s entailed in the office. [For instance], we have at least 10 different types of deeds. Everybody says a deed. Oh, it’s just a simple deed. No, there are literally many different types of deeds, and they’re all processed a little bit differently. The public doesn’t really understand what the office entails. It’s a lot. It’s a lot. Kathy, a couple years ago, said, “Here, I want you to handle this, you handle this.” So I’ve [also] been dealing with board resolutions. I’ve been [attending] conferences. I think this is my fourth or fifth year doing the budget and the board resolution. This office is very unique in what it does. The statement to me by a retired official—“what you do there is above me”—proves that.

So Kathy has been kind of stepping back a little bit over the last two years, preparing you for the role?

Yes.

Your opponent contends that as deputy elections commissioner he was doing the work of a clerk during the COVID shutdown.

He was only there a year and a half. I believe his role was entering absentee ballot information. You can call the Board of Elections to verify that. [It was] a very different role. The offices are very different. There is no comparison.

In retrospect, do you think it was a conflict of interest for someone who works in the clerk’s office to challenge your opponent’s petitions?

I didn’t challenge them.

No, but it was a coworker that did, right?

Yes.

Do you think that was a conflict of interest?

No. It was just business as usual. We keep what happens in the clerk’s office and my campaign completely separate. We have to. The process allows for challenge of the petitions. There’s nothing there.

I noticed that a lot of your your letters of support are coming from lawyers. Why do you think that is?

Because the attorneys know how important it is. We have a legal obligation not only to them, but then they in turn have that legal obligation to their clients. So they understand how important [experience in the office] is. Let’s say we missed something, that they had the wrong tax map number and we didn’t catch it. They might have to re-record the deed to fix the problem. In the end, [inexperience] could cost them money.

Your opponent says his experience as deputy elections commissioner has prepared him for the job as county clerk and he can hit the ground running in the role. What do you say?

If he were to be elected, it would be a real problem for the entire county. There’s no comparison between the offices. They’re so different. I am afraid things would come to a standstill for an indefinite amount of time.

It is my understanding that the county clerk appoints the deputy clerk. If your opponent wins and asks you to remain in the position, would you say yes?

I don’t expect that to happen but, in the event that it does, I would have to give it some serious consideration based on what is best for the County Clerk’s Office and my family. 

Where do you see yourself in five years?

As county clerk, helping every Otsego County resident possible.