Two Candidates Vie To Be Recorder Of Deeds [Intelligencer Journal (Lancaster, PA)]

Staff Writer

[email protected]

The race for the only county office up for grabs in Tuesday's election isn't exactly high-profile.

Unless you deal regularly with real estate or are a genealogy buff, you're unlikely to need the services of the recorder of deeds.

The office is responsible for keeping property records, such as mortgages, along with military discharge records, oaths of office and other documents.

Incumbent Bonnie Bowman, a Lancaster Township Republican running for her second term, is campaigning on her efforts to improve efficiency and trim costs.

Stacie Ritter, a Democrat making her first run for elected office, is challenging her. The Penn Township mother of four has gained attention as a health care advocate.

Her twin daughters' leukemia forced the family into bankruptcy, even though they had insurance, she said.

Ritter, 39, said she wants to become more involved in local politics. In a way, she's hoping to put herself out of a job if elected: Winning, she said, would enable her "to see how local government functions and how we might better condense it. That's not just a Republican idea. Democrats like smaller government, too."

She thinks some row offices could be combined, but acknowledges that's an outsider's perspective.

"No one really knows until they actually do the job what the job really is and what the public needs," she said.

She's also aware that she's a long shot, given the county's electoral makeup: 52.7 percent of registered voters are Republican and just under 31.9 percent are Democrats.

"But we also need to have people recognize that there are Democrats here who are willing to step up" and run for office, she said.

Ritter is a retail manager who supervises about 20 people, she said, but she declined to say where she works.

"I have to keep politics separate from my job. It's part of our policy," she said.

Bowman, 66, said she's proud of her accomplishments during her first term, but has some unmet goals.

She's reduced her budget by 11 percent since taking office, she said, by improving efficiency.

The former title searcher also increased electronic recordings from 38 percent to about 61 percent.

Her goal is 100 percent. To help get there, the office is working on a project to enable surveyors to submit plans electronically.

"We're very, very close to having that completed. We will be the first in the nation to do this," she said.

She's also working to make all land records easily viewable on the office's website.

Currently, it's easy to search records going back to 1926, Bowman said. But some older handwritten images are of poor quality, and while they are online, searching for them is more difficult. So the office is having them enhanced.

"That is really important for genealogists," Bowman said.

Bowman also has improved the office's website, which has reduced the number of phone calls made by people needing the office's service, she said.

A year ago, the office created the Thank a Vet program, which enables veterans to receive a card that gets them discounts at participating businesses in the county.

She said she's proud of the program, but hasn't campaigned on it because it's not her office's focus.

More than 3,900 cards have been issued, and 175 businesses take part in the program, she said.

Bowman acknowledges she's known for the program, but said that shouldn't be the reason for people to re-elect her.

"I know I work hard. And I know what I've done to improve this office. If I'm not elected on that, I surely don't want to be elected on the Thank a Vet program," she said.

For more information:

www.facebook.com/RitterForRecorder

www.bonniebowman4recorder.org