Longtime deputy now acting county recorder
She largely ran office as boss fell ill, but doesn’t want permanent job.
A longtime deputy to Willis Blackshear, the Montgomery County recorder who died last week, was sworn into the job Tuesday on an interim basis until Democrats select a permanent replacement.
Montgomery County Commissioners appointed Debra Harden, who was Blackshear’s chief deputy since 2006, to run the department that keeps track of property deeds and mortgages filed in the county.
Harden, a 32-year county employee, largely ran the Recorder’s Office as cancer increasingly kept Blackshear at home over the past year, officials said.
Blackshear’s Feb. 19 death affected many, including his friend and co-worker Harden.
“He was a great person and a wonderful boss to work for,” Harden said. “Anybody who needed anything done, they would call him whether it related to his job or not ... He would just help people and that’s what he loved about being an elected official. It’s sad that he’s gone.”
Harden, who said she is not interested in becoming the permanent recorder, will continue running the office until the Montgomery County Democratic Party picks a replacement.
Mark Owens, chairman of the local Democrats, said the decision is scheduled to be made at a March 22 Central Committee meeting. The party has 45 days after Blackshear’s death to pick a replacement.
Blackshear was recorder for 12 years, last elected in 2016. The term would have run through 2020 but the permanent replacement will be required to run for election this November, said Jan Kelly, Montgomery County Board of Elections director. Republicans will have the opportunity to also put forth a candidate.
It will be the second time in four months Democrats have had to name new top county executives. In November, the party named Russ Joseph new clerk of courts to replace Greg Brush, who retired and took a new job as chief administrator for the Hamilton County Clerk of Courts.
Blackshear’s life will be celebrated at 1 p.m. March 17, memorial service in the Smith Auditorium at Sinclair Community College’s Building 12.
“Willis was a great leader, certainly in the Recorder’s Office and was recognized around the state,” said Owens, who noted Blackshear was one of the few African Americans elected to a county office in the state. “He was a great role model for a number of people who want to serve their state and county.”