Kroll and Maloy are best choices for Seminole County
Following the old advice of “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it,” Seminole County has half a repair job with some constitutional positions.
The clerk of courts office is humming along under incumbent Grant Maloy. The tax collector’s office is a disaster left by Joel Greenberg.
The best candidate to fix that office is J.R. Kroll. Maloy’s already repaired the clerk’s office and should get re-hired by voters on Nov. 3.
Tax collector: J.R. Kroll
Being a county tax collector is demanding, but not all that complicated. Citizens just want honesty and transparency and to not wait in line all day to get a driver’s license.
They don’t want cronyism and headlines about federal investigations for stalking and sex trafficking.
That’s what Seminole County got in Joel Greenberg. And that’s what prompted J.R. Kroll and Lynn Moira Dictor to run to replace him.
“We both looked at this and said somebody needs to make a change,” Kroll told the Editorial Board. “Now it’s just up to the people of Seminole County to determine who is the best fit.”
We think it’s Kroll, thanks largely to his business background. He’s built and manages a real estate firm with 17 employees. Running the tax collector’s office requires similar skills and knowledge.
Dictor certainly knows the area and issues. She was on “The Philips Phile,” a popular radio talk show that ended with the retirement of host Jim Philips in 2018.
Dictor was initially drawn to the tax collector’s job by the tenure of Ray Valdes. He and his relatives bought and sold taxdelinquent properties he regulated.
Though legal, it left a bad ethical aftertaste.
“This has been on my radar for a long time,” Dictor said “I knew when it was time for me to make a change and leave this place better than I found it.”
We don’t doubt her sincerity, but we question whether Dictor is as prepared for the job as Kroll. She’s helped manage budgets for nonprofits but lacks his administrative experience.
We endorsed Kroll in the Republican primary, though we were disturbed to learn afterward that he used his campaign’s Facebook page to promote his real estate firm. Kroll said that was done without his knowledge, but it was a bad look.
Similarly, we were put off by Dictor’s campaign rhetoric over what she called the corrupt “Valdes-Greenberg-Kroll legacy.”
“J.R. wants to join that team,” Dictor said. “It’s very clear to me.”
There’s no evidence Kroll has any connection or allegiance to Greenberg. Mudslinging gets tiresome enough in highprofile political campaigns (see: U.S. presidency). It was disappointing to find it in a county tax collector’s race. And unnecessary.
It was the kind of thing we’d expect out of Greenberg, and the one thing everyone agrees on is Seminole County doesn’t need any more of that.
People just want an honest and professionally run office that stays out of the headlines. We think Kroll is best suited to deliver that.
Clerk and Comptroller: Grant Maloy
Grant Maloy walked into a time warp when he was elected Seminole County clerk of court and comptroller in 2016.
The office was fiscally sound, but the website and many procedures hadn’t been updated in 20 years. For instance, about 67,000 traffic citations had to be typed into the system a year.
That alone would probably get Maloy the votes of once-beleaguered office clerks. The Republican gets our endorsement based on his overall record and knowledge of a vital but often overlooked office.
In Seminole, the clerk/ comptroller runs the jury selection process, issues marriage licenses, collect and process court fines, conducts audits, acts as a fiscal watchdog and does scores of other things citizens don’t routinely think about.
Maloy’s experience gives him a big edge over Democrat Kristina Renteria. As a CPA, she knows numbers. But Renteria shows little knowledge of the inner workings of the clerk’s office.
For example, she wants to increase jury duty pay from $15 a day to $15 an hour. That’s probably a good sound bite for voters, but jury pay is set by the Legislature, not by county clerks.
Renteria also didn’t know how much such a plan would cost.
“There’s still a lot of research I can commit to doing,” she told the Editorial Board.
The time to research such things is before getting elected, not after. Maloy estimated Renteria’s plan would cost $1.1 million a year.
Maloy may not be a CPA, but he’s intimately familiar with the administrative requirements of the job. A big one in his first term was automating office procedures so citizens could conduct business online.
Maloy’s office has programs that help ex-felons cut through the red tape involved in regaining their voting rights. He said an updated website will roll out next month that will have translations in 10 languages.
The office also faces a big budget crunch due to the coronavirus shutdown. It will need an experienced leader to navigate that dilemma.
“I have a track record of experience and delivering services in an efficient manner,” Maloy said.
If Seminole County wants that to continue, the choice is obvious. Maloy should get the voters’ support on Nov. 3.
Election endorsements are the opinion of the Orlando Sentinel Editorial Board, which consists of Opinion Editor Mike Lafferty, Jennifer A. Marcial Ocasio, Jay Reddick, David Whitley and Editor-in-Chief Julie Anderson. Sentinel Columnist Scott Maxwell participates in interviews and deliberations. Send emails to insight@orlandosentinel.com. Watch candidate interviews at OrlandoSentinel.com/interviews.