Polygon, the Dancing Bear

Occasional notes on politics, history, technology, architecture,
and the life of a county clerk

2002:
May / June / July
August / September / October
November / December

2003:
January / February / March
April / May / June / July
August / September / October
November / December

2004:
January / February / March
April / May / June / July
August / September / October
November / December

2005:
January / February / March
April / May / June / July
August / September / October
November / December

2006:
January / February / March
April / May / June / July
August / September / October
November / December

2007:
January / February / March
April / May / June / July
August / September / October
November / December

2008:
January / February / March
April / May

Current entries

Friday, November 19, 2004, 7:37 am

Northern Neighbor. I was up in Clare, Michigan, Wednesday and Thursday for a meeting and training sponsored by the Michigan Association of Registers of Deeds. This morning, I found the following in the comments section, signed "Northern Neighbor":

Larry,

Your tone is ridiculous. Ms. Haines has been nothing but 100% professional to everyone. I wouldn't let you in to my office either before I was required to. First of all you're an Ann Arbor Democrat and secondly an Attorney, oh boy, it is clear that trust would be a HUGE issue. Just because you want to take office before your term begins and Ms. Haines has a responsibility to continue to operate her office through the end of the year, you attack her. She offered you the opportunity to transition once you take office. Then, your comments about Northfield Township are ridiculous as well, you weren't at the meeting, where transition was discussed and you have no idea what was said unless you operate on word of mouth. If this is the way you plan to communicate, the people of Washtenaw County are going to be gravely disappointed in your lack of ability to deliver even half of the services that were provided by Ms. Haines and ethics obviously are not a concern of yours. Just be aware, we will all be watching your budget and your actions. Let's see if you can amaze us all and perform your duties ethically when you are sworn in, thus far with your actions, I have little hope that you will live up to the level of professionalism that Ms. Hanes has operated at for a number of years. Who knows, maybe I'm wrong and you might learn from your mistakes. I doubt it. What a shame.

Okay, I should admit right away that I haven't been directly involved in Northfield Township's transition. What I know about that situation comes from the newspaper and as reported to me by trustworthy folks on the scene. I also noticed the bitterness between the factions when I campaigned door to door in Northfield Township. If the initial hard line taken by the outgoing supervisor has been softened since the election, I applaud him for that.

Of course, Peggy has the responsibility to operate the office through the end of the year, and I gave her my support for whatever decisions she deems necessary during that time, including the implementation of the new computer system in the Deeds office. By no means was I looking to take over before the legal date.

Based on events since I wrote that item, I am hopeful that the transition will be more cooperative than I feared. However, I have not yet heard anything definitive.

Some additional thoughts. A friend of mine grew up in Mississippi. From the way the people around her used the word "Yankee", she assumed it was a slur. When she grew up, she was startled to discover that the targets of the supposed slur didn't think of it that way at all.

Northern Neighbor writes: "First of all you're an Ann Arbor Democrat and secondly an Attorney, oh boy, it is clear that trust would be a HUGE issue." This may sound like a non sequitur, but I don't think that was intentional. The writer was polite enough to avoid the heavy-duty smear word "liberal", but angry enough to use an expression ("Ann Arbor Democrat") which meant the same thing.

At the same time, many others locally have an equal lack of trust in Republicans and Bush supporters. See the Ann Arbor News letters column since the election for plenty of examples.

Obviously the tensions of the national election, and the local results, are getting to people. Let us have some perspective here. Whatever goes on in Washington DC, we here in Washtenaw County have to live and work together. Democrats and Republicans, conservatives and liberals, city and township residents, all are part of this community, and none of those groups are going away. It's time to focus on our common goals.

Some mistakes are inevitable in any complicated transition. But my goal as Clerk-Register will be to provide all the services the public expects and deserves, with courtesy and respect to everyone.

....Posted by Lawrence Kestenbaum — Comments

Sunday, November 14, 2004, 9:56 am

The Problem With Electronic Voting Machines. Computer security expert Bruce Schneier has posted an essay about voting technology. I think he's asking the right questions, but I'm not sure he has all the answers.

Perhaps even more interesting are the comments, which appear further down the page. Many different points of view are represented. A few excerpts:

Software simply cannot be trusted when the software itself may be tainted by a relatively small handful of people behind the software.
No "open source" scrutiny can ever prove anything. You must check the compiler, and the compiler's compiler, and the compiler's compiler's compiler, ad infinitum. "Open source" does NOTHING for proving the code that is being used in the voting machine is actually the code that was published.
People are the problem, not computers. Software vendors generally "advise" how to install and secure their product, but it is the ultimate responsibility of the user to secure the hardware and operating system on which that software runs. The vendor will not take on that liability. A tv spot earlier this year highlighted how easy it would be to change a vote tally by hacking the database residing on the "pc" that tabulates the votes in a DRE system. You are assuming that the people who work these machines will have the knowledge to secure them.... Hardware security is a very complicated process and requires in depth knowledge of computer systems and network protocols.
One very important piece missing from the "voter verified paper trail" requirement - the requirement that there be some mechanism in place to correct the problem if something does go wrong. There were numerous instances in this election of voters stating that the machines didn't get respond to their votes correctly and how they were ignored or laughed at when they took those concerns to the voting authorities. Those individuals likely did not have their intent recorded properly.
VOTER CONFIDENCE is ommitted from 'four essential characteristics'. Whether the DRE works or not, voter perception is essential: We must perceive that it's accurate, anonymous and fair is essential.
The real problem facing electronic voting isn't anything that has been mentioned on this page. The problem is money. Very few in this country are willing to pay what it will cost to have the kind of accuracy and security that is demanded by the neophyte/luddite 'so-called' voting systems experts.
It's really very simple. The legal and binding result of the voting transaction needs to be the paper ballot generated. not bits flipped invisibly on some storage media. Why? Because it's human verifiable. Not only by the voter but also by anyone desiring to recount the ballots.... We technology minded people need to resist the temptation to over-engineer the voting process.

Michigan will be using optical-scan paper ballots in all elections statewide. This is a wise decision. My only quibble with this is that "blacken the oval" has been mandated instead of "connect the arrow". I think the latter creates fewer ambiguous cases.

However, the Help America Vote Act (HAVA) apparently mandates costly DRE voting machines in every polling place, to accomodate blind and handicapped voters. Very likely this will force a radical consolidation of polling places in order to minimize the expense. But how many jurisdictions have venues available which can accomodate many thousands of voters in one room?

The DRE machines will be rigged to generate printed ballots which are supposed to be indistinguishable from voter marked ballots. That will be a neat trick.

Update. See also my past comments about voting technology, in October 2003 and May 2003.

....Posted by Lawrence Kestenbaum — Comments

Thursday, November 11, 2004, 11:40 am

A Rocky Transition. [Deleted. The outgoing incumbent is now cooperating in the transition.]

....Posted by Lawrence Kestenbaum — Comments

Wednesday, November 10, 2004, 10:07 pm

Job Description. My new job in detail:

CLASS TITLE: COUNTY CLERK / REGISTER OF DEEDS
FLSA STATUS: Exempt

JOB SUMMARY
As an elected official, manages the Office of the County Clerk/Register of Deeds, which includes the Court Services, Public Services, and Administrative Divisions. Serves as Clerk of the Circuit Court, Chief Elections Officer, Clerk of the Board of Commissioners, Registrar of Vital Statistics, and Chairperson of the County Plat Board. As Register of Deeds, serves as the legal custodian of records and documents pertaining to the ownership and location of real and personal property in Washtenaw County. Maintains permanent records and furnishes copies and information to the public. Develops programs and policies to carry out the mission of the Department, determines appropriate staffing levels, hires employees, and represents the County to other governmental entities and the general public.

EXAMPLES OF DUTIES

Directs the activities of the Office of County Clerk by developing short- and long-term goals and objectives. Serves as liaison with other county department directors on issues that impact the Register of Deeds Office. Represents the County at meetings with local, state, and federal officials and speaks before interested groups on topics related to the County Clerk/Register of Deeds Office and county government in general. Orients local officials to county operations and informs them of relevant legislation. Serves as Chairman of the County Plat Board, which reviews, approves, or rejects proposed plots of land according to the Subdivision Control Act.

Regularly meets with division supervisors to review activities, coordinate work effort, discuss and resolve problems and assure adherence to departmental goals, objectives and policies. Perform various personnel functions in collaboration with division supervisors, such as interviewing, hiring, training, assigning, evaluating personnel problems and counseling staff.

Prepares periodic financial and activity reports and an annual budget, receiving input from division supervisors, finance personnel and the County Board of Commissioners. Oversees the maintenance of required account records and the preparation of semi-weekly and monthly reports to the County Treasurer.

Supervises the records and preparation of minutes and reports of official actions of the County Board of Commissioners, the Plat Board, the Board of Canvassers, the Concealed Weapons Board, the Allocation Board, the Special Elections Scheduling Committee, and so forth. Provides support, documentation and carries out related assignments.

For the County Board of Commissioners, oversees the scheduling of resource persons and speakers to appear before the Commissioners, hosts meetings and notices the presentation of common actions to the Board.

Directs employees in the filing, docketing and recording of all Circuit Court cases. Serves as Custodian of all Circuit Court records and papers related to divorce, civil and criminal cases, as well as the Court seal and County seal.

Supervises employees in the receiving, processing, filing and reviewing of legal records and documents. These include birth, marriage, death certificates, passports, gun permits, legal judgments, service discharges, assumed name certificates, professional registrations, partnership certificates, campaign finance filings, farmland agreements, deeds, mortgages, land contracts, leases and security agreements that convey title on real or personal property. Directs the receipt of materials over the counter and by mail to assure orderly processing, and oversees the collection of fees chargd for recording all legal documents and instruments.

Serves as Chief Elections Officer supervising voter registration, processes nominating petitions, trains elected officials, trains election workers, and the orderly conduct of elections. Arranges facilities for voting and aassures that adequate supplies and ballots are available. Calls special election meetings and records results for processing and distribution. Administers Campaign Finance Act reviewing financial documents of candidates.

Attends seminars, conferences, and professional meetings and reads various trade publications to keep informed of current legislation and professional concerns.

Meets with high officials of various state departments to coordinate record keeping procedures and review proposed state policies and rules. Assists in developing legislation.

Serves as Clerk of the Jury Board to select jurors from all registered voters according to predicted needs. Summons, records, and pays jurors for their service.

Directs microfilm work and the index system to ensure archival quality, provides safe storage of film, ensures conformity to laws and provides for the efficient retrieval of records.

Performs a variety of related duties as required.

The above statements are intended to decribe the general nature and level of work being performed by employees assigned this classification. They are not to be construed as an exhaustive list of all job duties performed by personnel so classified.

PHYSICAL DEMANDS
Duties require sufficient mobility to work in a normal office setting and use standard office equipment including a computer, vision to read printed materials and a VDT screen and hearing and speech sufficient to communicate in person or over the telephone. Sit at a desk for long periods of time in front of a computer screen.

These requirements may be accomodated for otherwise qualified individuals requiring and requesting such accomodations.

EMPLOYMENT QUALIFICATIONS

EDUCATION
Possession of an Associate's degree or its equivalent in business management or a related area.

EXPERIENCE
A minimum of five (5) years of experience in governmental operations or business, or the equivalent. Six- to twelve- month break-in period.

This class description intends to identify the major duties and requirements of the job and should not be interpreted as all-inclusive. Incumbents may be requested to perform job- related duties other than those outlined above and may be required to specific job-related knowledge for successful job performance.

(Odd grammar and syntax in the original.)

The text above is outdated in many ways. For example, jurors no longer come from voter lists. Positions mentioned as "chairman" and "chairperson" have long since been updated to simply "Chair".

The education and experience requirements are of course unenforceable for an elected position, and probably written to match the credentials of the incumbent at the time. I believe I will be the first County Clerk since 1934 who holds a bachelor's degree.

....Posted by Lawrence Kestenbaum — Comments

Thursday, November 4, 2004, 11:29 pm

Ann Arbor News Reflects on Clerk's Race. Our local daily paper calls my election a surprise which was caused by straight-ticket voting, but also editorialized as follows:

Fortunately for county residents, the Washtenaw County clerk's office won't be left to a novice. Haines' successor is learned in elections operations and the technology that's so important to running a large clerk's operation like Washtenaw's. We expect Democrat Lawrence Kestenbaum, an attorney and former county commissioner, should perform ably in his important new post.

....Posted by Lawrence Kestenbaum — Comments

Wednesday, November 3, 2004, 6:45 am

Elected. Reasonably final results for Washtenaw County Clerk and Register of Deeds are as follows:


       Lawrence Kestenbaum (D)  81,322 (52%)

       Peggy M. Haines (R)      75,425 (48%)

Hence, I am elected, and will take office January 1st.

Many thanks to everyone who helped or supported my campaign.

The depth of my mixed feelings at this moment can only be imagined.

....Posted by Lawrence Kestenbaum — Comments

Monday, November 1, 2004, 7:00 am

Downballot Races. A lot of folks have asked for advice on the candidates and issues on the nonpartisan section of the ballot. Here are some thoughts:

Michigan Supreme Court: The candidates are nominated by parties, and then "pretend" to be nonpartisan. Marilyn Kelly and Deborah Thomas are the Democratic nominees.
Court of Appeals, Circuit Court, District Court: In Washtenaw County, they're all unopposed. Voting or not voting for them makes no difference, and write-ins don't count. [But see late update below.]
Washtenaw Community College Trustees: There are no "bad" candidates running. However, Alfred Johnson has withdrawn (his name remains on the ballot). I recommend Stephen J. Gill and Roger W. Lane.
Proposal 1, Limit Gambling by Requiring Local and Statewide Vote on New Casinos: Vote Yes!.
Proposal 2, Ban Same-Sex Marriage and Many Other Unspecified Things: Vote No!
County Proposal, WCC Proposal, City Proposal: Vote Yes on all these.

LATE UPDATE: Jane Bassett has registered as an official write-in candidate to oppose Archie Brown for 22nd Circuit Court.

Local activist Martin Contreras writes:

We are supporting a write-in campaign to unseat Judge Archie Brown, conservative-activist judge of the circuit court.

He is running unopposed and is responsible for denying same-sex couples from joint custody and adoptions. A little history, previously Judge Sheldon of Ann Arbor had been the only judge in the state of Michigan granting same sex couples' adoptions.

Judge Brown imposed his belief structure and relieved Judge Sheldon of all adoption case load effectively killing the only judicial venue for same sex parents.

We are writing-in "Jane Bassett for 22nd Circuit Judge of the Circuit Court."

Jane Bassett is a long-standing local attorney who has been an advocate and very involved in family law and adoptions within the GLBT community.

....Posted by Lawrence Kestenbaum — Comments

Monday, November 1, 2004, 6:36 am

Election predictions. My guesses about the outcome are as follows:

The Kerry/Edwards ticket will win both the popular and electoral vote.
The vote for Washtenaw County Clerk-Register will be approximately 75,000 for me, 70,000 for my opponent.

....Posted by Lawrence Kestenbaum — Comments

2002:
May / June / July
August / September / October
November / December

2003:
January / February / March
April / May / June / July
August / September / October
November / December