Letter from Thomas Russo

Benton Brings Fresh Ideas

I keep hearing claims that MacGuire Benton is unqualified. Jennifer Basile claims that only someone who has worked in the Otsego County Clerk’s Office is qualified. She has gone so far as to say that Otsego County is so unique that even someone who has been a county clerk elsewhere could not do the job. How she can advance such is beyond comprehension. For most of my life, I lived in a county with 10 times the population and 20 times the number of land parcels as Otsego County. The county courts had over 30 judges. This added up to hundreds of filings per day in the clerk’s office, not the few dozen filings that our clerk’s office sees.

The idea that the job requires unique experience is nonsense. It requires the ability to manage a staff. It requires understanding what customers want and need. It requires dedication to customer service. One candidate has been going door to door for many months engaging voters and customers. One candidate is working hard to get my vote. One candidate has fresh ideas for improving customer satisfaction. The other candidate is running as though she thinks she is entitled to my vote. The other candidate has refused to debate. The other candidate has yet to explain what ideas, if any, she has come up with to make the clerk’s office better in 14 years on the job. The choice is simple, new leadership or business as usual. We need MacGuire Benton as our next county clerk.

Thomas Russo
Cooperstown