This Fight Isn't New to Me

Many people don’t know this, but I ran for office in 2007 (for the 2008 primary).  I have always been interested in politics but never really thought about running for office.  Then Paul Anderson, the Clerk/Recorder at the time, announced that he would be retiring after 17 years, about 2 years into his 4 year term. 

Being a professional real estate title searcher, I have spent hours upon hours in the Kendall County Recorder’s office, as well as the Recorder’s offices of Kane, Will, DuPage, LaSalle, DeKalb, Grundy, Kankakee and other counties.  I make my living researching the records in the Recorder’s offices and I know what works and what doesn’t. 

So, I decided to run.  I figured that since I was the only candidate who had actual experience in the Recorder’s office, I would be a natural choice.   What a rookie mistake!  In the real world of politics, being qualified for the office doesn’t mean that you’ll even get noticed.

But naïve or not, I jumped into the race with both feet.  My biggest concern for the future of the Recorder’s office was technology.  Many County Recorders were considering putting their records online, which sounds great, but I knew if Kendall County did not take proper precautions, the privacy and security of every Kendall County homeowner would be at risk.

For one of my ads, I figured out how many hours I had spent in the Recorder’s office.  The real number was so high that it was unbelievable and I rounded WAY down to 20,000 hours.  I have reviewed thousands of recorded documents and I knew that those documents often contained private information.  Names, addresses, signatures, social security numbers, driver’s license numbers.  Information that identity thieves desperately want to obtain.  If Kendall County posted the recorded document images without first redacting the private information, the identities of thousands of Kendall County homeowners would be up for grabs.

I’ve heard that the number one rule for doctors is first, do no harm.  The Recorder’s office certainly isn’t life and death but the first rule should be the same for elected officials.  Above all, an elected official should never do anything that would obviously cause harm to private citizens.  That’s why the number one item on my platform was "To protect the citizens of Kendall County against identity theft and real estate fraud". 

I’m still proud of my palm card from that election.  It was put together by me, my wife and my best friend.  It wasn’t fancy but I still stand behind every word.   I have scanned and attached the very flyer I used for a handout.  You see folks, this isn’t personal, these are concerns I have had for YEARS!  I have also scanned in my campaign nail file and put that image in the bottom page of what is back of the flyer.

I did everything within my power and my finances to get my message out, but I lost.  Big time.  The race I decided to jump into turned out to be a hotly contested race in the 2008 primary.  I was up against two major factions of the Republican Party.  One faction backed their very politically connected candidate and the other faction backed their very connected candidate.  And there I was, waving my hands and trying to get someone, anyone to listen.  In the end, I didn’t finish last.  But I was far from first.

After the primary, my wife and I had a serious talk about whether or not we wanted to stay involved in politics.  And it is "we".  I don’t know how anyone can consider being politically involved without having your spouse behind you 100%.  And we knew we couldn’t give up. We, both of us, believe too strongly that the Recorder’s office is important.  We MUST have a separately elected Recorder, a Recorder who will answer only to the people of Kendall County and not to political insiders.  I supported the split back then too, in case you were wondering.

And so, I’ve been beating my head against the wall since that 2008 election, hoping that people will listen.  I haven't stopped talking about the Recorder's office and splitting it off from the Clerk's office ASAP.  Something else you may be interested in...I was under considerable pressure to run against the current Clerk/Recorder in 2010, but I decided to wait until this "cycle" and only run for Recorder as a separate office.  The behind the scenes drama of politics would make your hair curl.

I have pushed for years to get the Recorder’s office split from the Clerk’s office.  And once again, I find myself fighting against political insiders who always choose to protect each other instead of protecting the people.   But thankfully this time people are listening.  Finally, because of my ads, the website is down.  Finally, because of my efforts, the private military discharges have been removed from the public areas of the Recorder’s office.  But there’s still a lot more to do to fix what’s wrong in our Kendall County Recorder’s office, and I need your help to get the job done.  

Please tell your friends and neighbors not to believe the insiders.  Please pass the word to Vote NO on the Recorder referendum so we can finally have a separate, proactive Recorder to protect and serve the people of Kendall County.

Thanks, Jerry

www.jerrybannister.com