The odds of having a contested race for the office of Kent County’s Clerk of the Court have been precisely 50-50 looking at the last six elections. During the past twenty-four years, incumbent Mark Munford has been challenged three times. And this year, retiring State’s Attorney Robert Strong has taken on the role of an active opponent for the $93,000 a year position.
As a reminder, the Clerk’s office files, processes and maintains civil, criminal and juvenile actions. The Clerk’s office records land deeds, mortgages, plats, conveyances and other precious documents. The Clerk administers oaths to County officials, Judges and Governor appointees, issues business and marriage licenses and performs civil marriage ceremonies. The Clerk also commissions Notaries Public.
In their Spy interviews, each candidate summarizes his background, their perspective on what the job entails, and the primary reason voters should support their candidacies.
Each video is approximately eight minutes in length
Mark Munford (Democrat)
Robert Strong (Republican)
Walter Bowie says
From the moment I met Mark Mumford about 15 years ago he was courteous, engaging , professional, and made sure that my needs were taken care of. I was new to the county and barely knew anyone, yet he treated me as if I was a rock star, even though I was merely looking up some land records as a hobby. His upbeat style extended to the staff , who patiently answered my often uninformed questions with empathy and knowledgeable insight-fullness. I spent many, many hours there off and on for years, and was always greeted by him and his staff with enthusiasm, even though they probably only made about $20 total off of me through the few photocopies that I made over the years. He has always been both highly aware of his responsibilities to historical posterity as well as being very forward thinking in ensuring that the records in his care last forever while being ever more easily accessible. His emphasis on quickly transitioning the county’s land records to mdlandrec.net has saved me many hundreds of hours of time because I can now do this work online and at home and times that are more convenient to me. Yet that has not prevented him from going out of his way to say hello to me on the street, and continuing his high level of professionalism in every context I have had the pleasure of being connected to him. I know many , many people who have had the same experience with him and speak of him in the highest regard. I can’t imagine a single reason why the people of Kent County would even consider any other choice for this very important position. If it ain’t broke don’t fix it.
Kathleen James-Chakraborty says
When Mark married me to my husband in 1999, he was the only clerk of court in the state who would do this outside of his own offices. It meant a great deal to me to have a family friend (and Mark must be a family friend of everyone who went to Kent County High School with him!) conduct the ceremony in my mother’s living room. My husband, who grew up in a very large city, was very impressed with the warm welcome Mark gave him first in his office in the court house; his reaction reminded me how much we who grew up in Chestertown take for granted! But I’ve never taken the fun of watching Mark as a drum major for granted . . .