Candidate Q&A: Curry County Clerk

There are two candidates in the June 2 Republican primary for the position of Curry County Clerk.

The winner faces no opposition in the November general election. Annie Hogland is running to keep the position against Sarah Renae Smith.

Hogland has held the office since early 2017. She was the chief deputy clerk under Jo Lynn Queener, who won the 2016 election, was appointed to the role following Queener’s sudden death and was elected without opposition for the final two years of the term.

The position pays $61,699.85 annually, plus benefits.

Annie Hogland

Occupation: Curry County clerk

Prior or current elected offices held: Currently serving in the clerk’s office

What experience do you have that will prepare you for the upcoming four years?

The most crucial experience I have is the time I have spent in the position of county clerk (since 2017), and as the appointed chief deputy clerk prior to that. Other valuable experience was gained working in the Ninth Judicial District Court Clerk’s Office (Curry), and prior, working at Queener Law Firm, P.C., where I was often doing business in the county clerk’s office.

What do you believe should be the role of government, and do you believe anything changes during a pandemic?

No matter what the challenge is, we must remain accessible and efficient, and work to save valuable taxpayer dollars. My office provides essential business services including recording and maintaining real estate documents, elections administration, marriage license issuance, and informal probate filings in coordination with the county probate judge. Throughout the current period, we continued meeting the needs of our customers; my chief deputy and I have never left the office unattended during regular business hours. We share online resources with customers, implemented a shared drop box, and offer certain vital services by appointment. We must adapt and overcome.

How would you make your office efficient for taxpayers?

In my time in office we have already improved our efficiency. For example, we extended recording services hours and extended early voting in the clerk’s office during election time to 6 p.m. We upgraded the equipment used in our public room allowing for electronic viewing and retrieval of records, and continue to digitize records in order to enhance accessibility. We have also implemented tools such as phone logs to collect and analyze requests and feedback, thus, allowing us to better address the needs of the public, improve our communications plan, and even determine peak hours of business to improve our operations schedule and budget.

As difficult as it is to imagine Jan. 1 right now, what do you envision to be the biggest challenge of the office you’re seeking? How do you plan to address it?

We are sure to face budget challenges, and will continue to be creative in looking for ways to reduce cost, without impacting the quality of services. An exciting challenge we are looking forward to in 2021, is the redistricting process, which we have already started in coordination with the state, as well as with the county commission. I’m confident with our knowledge of the process moving forward. Another exciting challenge is the upcoming legislative session. We must remain attentive to proposed legislation, especially in regard to election law.

Regardless of the primary outcome, you will be in your current position for the next six months. Should you win, what do you plan to do over the next six months to ensure your next term is successful? Should you be defeated in the primary, what would you do in those six months to ensure taxpayers are best served?

No matter the outcome, I will continue to uphold my commitment to serve our community to the very best of my ability. If unsuccessful, I will ensure my office and staff are prepared for a smooth transition.

Sarah Renae Smith

Occupation: Administrative assistant/draftsman, Lydick Engineers

Prior or current elected offices held: First time running for office.

What experience do you have that will prepare you for the upcoming four years?

My experience and education surpass the requirements to serve the next four years. I have 20 years of customer service experience in Curry County, including eight years of office management and human resources. I have also owned my own business, Grand Haven Events Center, where I coordinated county events. As a lifelong resident of Curry County, I am remarkably familiar with local schools, business, and local government. I have built lasting relationships with my employers and the organizations I have volunteered for, including Clovis schools. Most of my career has been in the agricultural sector. I have also served as Curry County administrative assistant to the detention administrator. For the past three years, I have worked closely with the clerk’s office as an administrative assistant and draftsman for Lydick Engineers. This has allowed me to gain experience in filing surveys, liens, deeds, mortgages, in the real estate and title segment of the clerk’s office.

What do you believe should be the role of government, and do you believe anything changes during a pandemic?

The role of our government and its elected officials is to first, and foremost, represent the people who elected them to their positions. Secondly, I believe the employees who are appointed to work for these elected officials, for example, the clerk’s office, are the heartbeat of our local county government. Our current situation with the COVID-19 is unprecedented. The challenge that presents itself is keeping essential government employees and the public safe, while avoiding infringement upon American’s civil liberties, such as voting. Most local government workers I have visited with mention what a challenge it is to focus on work from home, while assisting their children with their studies. I believe in family first, career second, therefore flexibility is a must, and it sounds like Curry County is handling the frequent changes quite smoothly.

How would you make your office efficient for taxpayers?

I assure the people I will enhance the working relationship with the treasurer’s office, as well as the assessor’s office by providing thorough recordings, proper filing, and generation of searchable minutes. While the clerk’s office does not handle tax payments, one of the main roles of the clerk’s office is to provide accurate, respectful, and efficient customer services to the taxpayers who rely on the office of Curry County and point them to the right direction. I will attend job-specific training the state provides for local government, as well as encourage my employees to partake in the classes, while taking into consideration the current staff are all parents, and family comes first. Ask anyone, I am a team player and I lead by example. Together the clerk staff and I will make the residents of Curry County feel welcomed to request the transparent information they deserve.

As difficult as it is to imagine Jan. 1 right now, what do you envision to be the biggest challenge of the office you’re seeking? How do you plan to address it?

I envision advancements in the digital world concerning old real-estate documents, while preserving the paper ballot for elections. It’s a big challenge and I am ready for it. We need to cater to all generations when providing records to the public and voters should always take comfort in the sanctity of the ballot. Voter turnout has been scarce, and the number of registered voters is low. I guarantee I will work to increase those numbers. For speedier documents, why not utilize new technology and get those old brittle documents scanned? Microfiche is no longer the best option for backing up critical data, nor reducing storage, in fact, these micro formats have proven to be obsolete, time consuming and the film itself is vulnerable to decay. Instead of purchasing voting machines over and over, we should consider digitizing old documents. Citizens’ documents are equally important as elections.

For this position, the Republican primary is the only contested one, and there are no nominees signed up for the Democratic or Libertarian parties. Should you win the primary, what will you do to ensure a smooth transition?

If I am blessed to be elected to the position of Curry County clerk, I am going to appoint Amber Roberts as my deputy. She is also a lifelong Curry County resident, an employee of Curry County, and has extensive knowledge and experience from previously working in the clerk’s office. I will also work closely with the current staff to ensure that we as a whole are working together to provide the best and most efficient customer service, to our title companies, real-estate agents, home buyers, landlords, taxpayers, voters and couples seeking their marriage licenses.

— Compiled by Editor Kevin Wilson