St. Joseph County recorder primary opponents share their positions
The Tribune is partnering with the League of Women Voters of the South Bend Area and the American Democracy Project of Indiana University South Bend to publish candidates’ answers to questions on the issues. The League, with local help from the ADP, operates Vote411.org, a website with information about the candidates and their positions on key issues.
The Tribune has agreed to run candidate answers unedited, meaning any spelling, typographical or grammatical errors are the candidates’ own. If there is no photo of a candidate, it’s because the candidate did not provide one. The Tribune is publishing only some of the questions from contested races. Additional questions and answers, including from candidates who have no opponent in the primary, are available at Vote411.org.
The county recorder is the legal record-keeper for property ownership matters, serving four-year terms. Indiana limits a recorder to no more than two terms.
Current St. Joseph County Recorder Mary Beth Wisniewski completes her second term Dec. 31 and may not seek reelection. Two fellow Democrats seek her seat in the primary, Sharon Banicki and Carolyn Topolski. The winner of that election will face unopposed Republican Candace Brown in the general election this fall. Brown’s answers will appear at that time, and they already appear on vote411.org.
Sharon Banicki
Occupation: Fiscal officer in St. Joseph County recorder’s office
Education: Associate degree in computer science
Email: banickiforrecorder@gmail.com
Campaign phone: 574-274-2051 Facebook: facebook.com/sharonbanickiforsjcrecorder
Carolyn Topolski
Occupation: Plat room supervisor in St. Joseph County auditor’s office
Education: Associate degree
Email: catopolski@yahoo.com
Campaign phone: 574-276-5793 Facebook: facebook.com/ elect.carolyn.topolski.for.recorder
What skills and experiences qualify you to be county recorder?
Banicki: I have worked in the Recorders office since December 2016. I have learned every aspect of the office- processing, indexing, posting and auditing documents. I also handle all the financial recordsbalancing the bank bags, doing the deposits, reconciling month end. I have had yearly advanced
training on the office software, attended yearly Recorder Conferences. Prior to working for the County I spent 15 years working for a local owned retail company in the financial department and worked the retail area as needed and before that 10 years at Valley American Bank. I have always been customer service oriented. While employed at Valley American Bank I received many awards for my customer service skills. I have the training and ability to deal with any situation.
Topolski: For the last 25 years I have been in management positions in industries such as Marketing, Hospitality and County Government. I have run departments with multiple employees as well as my own freelance graphic design business. I have also engaged with my community through volunteer opportunities such as Ronald McDonald House. Currently I work for the St Joseph County Auditor. I played an integral part in redesigning the Auditor’s web page to bolster customer service. Property deduction forms were added for easy online submission, as well as making historic records accessible that were once locked away in County vaults. I also reduced Plat room staff by introducing digital tools and utilizing a viral workspace, saving money. I use the Recorder’s data daily. I understand it very well, and how it’s routed through various offices.
Explain one aspect of the county recorder’s office you would like to adjust or change.
Banicki: I would like the ability to do more Public Service Announcements. Currently we have no way to share our information other than on the County website. This year we were able to form a partnership with the Treasurers office to include a handout explaining our Property Fraud alert program which is free to the public.
Topolski: Customer service for sure! I would like to create a Virtual Recorder’s Counter, expanding user-friendly services online, like searching for documents. You will be met with helpful employees both virtual and in person to make the experience smooth and stress-free. This would be accomplished by using the Recorder’s perpetuation fund (IC 36-2-7-10(f)), costing the taxpayers nothing. It would tie in services with other County offices online for a seamless taxpayer experience. I would introduce credit/debit card payments, while partnering with other departments that already have that capability. This would help keep costs down and save taxpayers money! All geared towards great customer service!
One responsibility of the county recorder is to make sure every document is filed accurately. How can technology aid with this goal, while making documents secure and accessible?
Banicki: Currently the Recorders office is using state of the art software that has built in “inspect”. Inspect scans the document and finds names, addresses, parcel numbers and other information that is required to record a document and copies over the information to the indexing area after the data has been verified as correct. The same company also provides a service where our data is stored offsite on 3 different servers in 3 different areas of the country. In the event one server detects that a hack is being attempted it automatically reroutes where the information is sent and stored, it all happens in the background and we have no disruption in service. In the event of a natural disaster or the office is unusable for any period of time the Recorders office has the ability to run all tasks remotely as soon as internet service is available.
Topolski: Technology is an everchanging thing. I would explore OCR (optical character recognition) capabilities. The intention being, once the document has been scanned and approved, it would be indexed electronically. This process would cut down on human error. I would continue to rely on St Joseph County’s IT department to ensure the security of all our files.
What are some possible challenges you expect a new recorder to face? How will you overcome these challenges?
Banicki: My biggest challenge will be protecting the Recorders Perpetuation fund. The fund was set up by the State and the state is very specific on what the money can be used for. The Perpetuation fund can only be used to preserve and maintain records in the Recorders office. The fund covers such things as updating computers, repairing books, updating the plat machine, scanning in the old mortgage and deed books to make them available digitally. The fund cannot be transferred to the County General fund or used for salaries for an employee who has duties outside recording and maintaining records, nor can the fund be used to waive fees on documents or copies. I will not allow the money to be transferred outside the State approved uses. The Recorder must agree to and sign off on any money used from the Perpetuation fund.
Topolski: Change is difficult for people. It won’t happen overnight. I will make sure all staff is up-to-date on all training needed and wanted and encourage continuing education in this field. State codes are iron-clad, following them is key. With the experience and professionalism of the current staff, I’m confident we will reach our goal of great customer service while following all codes.