Flathead County Clerk and Recorder Election: Debbie Pierson

Editor’s Note: In the race for Flathead County Clerk and Recorder, incumbent Republican Debbie Pierson is being challenged by Madelene Howard in the primary election on June 7. No Democrats have filed for the position.

Debbie Pierson

Republican

Age: 56

Occupation: Flathead County Clerk and Recorder

Family: Husband, Mike, five grown children, one grandchild.

Email: debbiepierson@centurytel.net

Background/community involvement: Attended Helena Flats elementary school, graduated from Flathead High School and earned a bachelor's degree in interpersonal communications from the University of Montana. Accepted into the National Student Exchange Program while at UM and attended Eastern Connecticut State University as an exchange student. Telethon coordinator for the Montana Arthritis Foundation, Director of Development for Special Olympics of Montana, and held several key positions with the American Red Cross, worked with the Northwest Montana United Way 211 Program. Worked for the Youth Conservation Corps Trail Crew. Involvement with the Clerk and Recorders Association, Kalispell Rotary, Kalispell Kiwanis, American Association of University Women, Toastmasters International and Flathead County Republican Women. Awarded the first Employee of the Year award from Montana Special Olympics, awarded the Regional Circle of Excellence Award from the American Red Cross, awarded the National Circle of Excellence Award. As the grant administrator for Flathead County managed requests for funding for county departments and the County Commissioners. Successfully secured over $4.5 million in grant funding. As clerk and recorder, managed the process of upgrading and enhancing multiple department systems, including digitizing over 145,000 records, administering department workloads including 59,590 land transactions, and 275,917 recorded and filed documents and implemented equipment hardware and software upgrade for the election department.

Why do you want to be clerk and recorder?

I value this community, which has been my home for over 43 years. My husband Mike’s family has been a part of shaping this valley over four generations. It is important to me to give back to the place we call home.

I believe continuity in proven leadership is key to continued, progressive development of the Clerk and Recorder Department. Although this is an elected office, the Clerk and Recorder position, as well as other elected county-level positions in the county such as the Treasurer and Clerk of Court, operate similar to and alongside department head positions in Flathead County. It has been beneficial that county elected officials have been willing to provide long-term leadership in their roles. This stability has provided the framework for the county to weather continued growth and change.

I have had the incredible opportunity to work alongside dedicated staff that go above and beyond to get the job done. It would be my honor to continue to lead this team!

What qualities and specific job skills do you have that will allow you to be effective in the position?

I have 16 years overall experience with Flathead County; eight years in the Commissioners office as the grant administrator and eight years as clerk and recorder. There is much to learn in the clerk and recorder position and many of our processes are determined by state law. I have spent the last eight years developing that knowledge and building a strong team. I have established successful working relationships with county department staff, members of the public and community stakeholders. I have knowledge of the history of county offices…where they came from and where they are headed. All of this combined gives me the background to continue to successfully fulfill my role.

I offer 33 years of professional experience in project administration, budget management and staff coordination with Flathead County, Montana Special Olympics, American Red Cross and United Way. I have proven project and staff development experience, success with building strong networks of volunteers, and proven leadership skills that have been tested and developed throughout my career. I have had longevity and stability in my positions, including serving 16 years for the county, 10 years for the American Red Cross, and over four years with Special Olympics.

Over the years, I have had the opportunity to recruit, hire and manage multiple staff and hundreds of volunteers. It has been my pleasure to work alongside staff and the community we serve to raise programs to a level of excellence. I am known for my attention to detail and understand the art of multi-tasking, which are essential attributes for the clerk and recorder.

It is important for the public to understand the clerk and recorder position manages four county offices, including the plat room/surveyors office, the recording office, the records preservation office, and the election office. The clerk and recorder is responsible for a $2.1 million annual operating budget. In FY21, the recording office alone brought in over $1,349,000 in revenue. These funds support the county general fund and help with county department operations, lessening the burden on taxpayer resources.

As clerk and recorder, how would you ensure a secure process administering elections?

Montana Code Annotated (MCA) Title 13 & Administrative Rules of Montana (ARM) Title 44, Chapter 3 provides clear rules on administering elections in Montana. To ensure a secure process, the election administrators responsibility is to implement elections according to state laws and it is the responsibility of state legislators to create the laws. State lawmakers work tirelessly each legislative session to review and upgrade statute to enhance practices that support open, fair, honest and transparent elections in the state of Montana.

There are extensive checks and balances throughout the administration of elections in Flathead County. Election processes are open to the public and I would encourage community members to come by and view the many steps that are in place throughout the life cycle of an election.

To clarify misinformation: In the state of Montana, paper ballots are always used. Paper ballots are the official record of an election. These records are retained for 22 months per state law.

Each absentee ballot that is received must be submitted in a signed and dated affirmation envelope. Every voter signature is compared to the signature on file at the election office and must have matching similarities for the ballot to be accepted. If the signature does not match, the voter is contacted by phone or letter.

Registered poll voters must provide approved forms of identification and sign the election register when voting on Election Day.

Ballots are counted using tabulating machines that are never connected to the internet.

Modems are not allowed by state law in any election tabulator certified for use in Montana.

Following each federal election, a post-election audit is conducted. This includes a hand count of randomly selected races/precincts which is compared to the machine counts to verify tabulator counts. This process has been required by law since 2009 when the Post-Election Audit Act went into effect.

What changes, if any, would you make in how the clerk and recorder's office is run?

I will continue to manage the Clerk and Recorder Department based on conservative values, including honesty, transparency, and fiscal accountability. I feel confident in the progressive updates made over the last eight years. There are, however, always areas that can be improved. My suggestions for prioritized improvements include evaluating the election process for efficiency and develop additional internal procedures to continue fair, open, honest, and accurate elections in compliance with state statutes, evaluating staffing levels and work loads to ensure proper allocation of taxpayer resources while meeting community service needs, continue digitization and accessibility of all records, helping departments electronically preserve files, enhance tracking and management systems for records retention and destruction according to statuary requirements, and create an interactive website that is user friendly and easily accessible.

Since Flathead County is the fastest-growing county in the state, how would you prepare the clerk and recorder's office to handle that growth?

The clerk and recorder’s office has experienced an unprecedented increase in workload over the last few years due to the influx of people relocating to our area. In 2018, the recording office processed approximately 31,138 documents and brought in $841,382 in document fees compared to 2020 totals of 44,468 documents and $1,472,822 in document fees. The plat room/surveyors office processed 7,671 documents in 2018, and 9,424 documents in 2020. During the federal election cycle in 2016, the election office processed 48,290 cast ballots and in 2020, the cast ballots were 60,642.

As our county continues to grow, it becomes increasingly important to streamline procedures to offer the best service possible while maintaining adequate but conservative staffing to meet public needs. The clerk and recorder’s office has gone through a rebuilding process over the last several years. Due primarily to staff retirements, we have lost over 150 years of institutional knowledge in the last 5 years. This has created both challenges and opportunities to evaluate training and office procedures. Developing competent, trained staff remains a priority for the department to serve the needs for a growing community.

Another priority for the clerk and recorder’s office is facilitating system hardware and software upgrades to meet the changing requirements of the digital world we live in. Providing an interactive website and additional access to digital documents promotes greater public access to county records.

It is important to maintain continuity in leadership during this time of unprecedented growth. The best way to embrace the future is with experience. “Anyone can hold the helm when the sea is calm.” Publilius Syrus. Our “seas” in Flathead County of late have been anything but calm!