The Lansing Star Online, Lansing, NY - Elections: An Interview With Bonny Boles

Nov 02 2007

Elections: An Interview With Bonny Boles

Dan Veaner

Friday, 02 November 2007

Lansing Town Clerk Bonny Boles grew up in Ludlowville, and has lived in Lansing her entire life. After graduating from Lansing High School she went to work for the town in 1974. She worked as a senior clerk for a couple of years in the Ithaca Chamberlain's Office until she began raising a family in 1980, when she was asked to come back to Lansing full time as Deputy Clerk. When Town Clerk Jane Bush Horky retired in 1987 Boles was appointed to complete her term. In November of that year she ran for Town Clerk and won the post. She has run unopposed in each election after that.

Boles notes that when she started working for the Town in 1974 the tax roll had 2,652 parcels and a levy of $989,254.04, and two water districts had about 50 customers. Over the years the town has grown tremendously to 4,396 parcels and a total 2007 levy of $11,329,573.50. The consolidated water district now serves 1,350 customers with quarterly billings of $107,000.00.

The Star interviewed Boles in the Clerk's office in the Town Hall. We paused as people called or stopped by for information, and at one point she brought out town records 100 years old to show, including handwritten town board minutes. She clearly knew where to find information, and was enthusiastic about keeping up to date with new procedures and technologies to make her functions more accessible to town residents.

Lansing Star: Why are you the best candidate and what unique benefits do you bring to the job?

Bonny Boles: I have been here for 30 plus years.

LS: How many terms is that?

BB: Quite a few. My first term was in 1987. I ran and they are all two-year terms up until a few years ago when they changed to four. I know a lot of people and pretty much tell what they want when they come in the door. I can tell if they are for court or for us. They rely on us to help them with some problems they have, and sometimes it's the same problems over and over.

LS: This office it's almost like a catch all office isn't it? It's everything from the lady who just came in to ask for the newsletter to dog licenses to...

BB: Taxes, yes. A lot of time people will come in and just want to know where somebody else is. We get that quite a lot.

LS: There are two of you in the office right? You and Deputy Clerk Debbie Crandall?

BB: Yes.

LS: Of the things that handle the most, the most important are records and taxes right?

BB: That is probably the most important, yes.

LS: And you don't do things like birth records.

BB: No. We do marriage licenses, dog licenses, conservation licenses, handicap parking. We are both notaries. We're doing more and more notarizing. We do an awful lot of that, and we don't charge for notarizing.

LS: Because of 9/11?

BB: I think so yes. And a lot of contractors have to have their bills notarized in order to get paid any more. So we get a lot of that. We are the records keeper, we take care of the Community Center, we schedule that. There are quite a few people who use that.

LS: When people complain that such and such isn't available to the public, usually it is, isn't it?

Everything is open to the public except for marriage information. That is not public information. Other than that everything in the office is public information.

BB: Usually they don't understand before they ask their questions. We have a lot of questions on taxes, for example, and they are really not reading their bills. They don't understand that if they wait until February it would be cheaper for them to pay their bill in full then if they use the first option and pay the county the 2.5%. If they just waited until February you've got another month and matter of fact you could wait until March because then it's 2% and not the 2.5%. A lot of it is misunderstandings.

LS: In that particular example the way the information is presented really isn't in your bailiwick because the county prints the bills.

BB: Right, and they don't understand the breakdown like the county, their percent, the town, their percent, and the fire percent. They don't look at it that way they look at it as a whole bill.

LS: Then do they think that it's the town's bill because this is where they pay it?

BB: Usually yes.

LS: But there are other things like official documents or the 2010 plan or things like that. Do you get a lot of requests for those kinds of things?

BB: No, not that many.

LS: But they are available, all you have to do is walk in and ask, right?

BB: Yes, everything in here is available. Everything is open to the public except for marriage information. That is not public information. Other than that everything in the office is public information.

LS: Including the dog license?

BB: Oh yes, even the taxes. Everything.

LS: Along those lines what connection do you have with the website with what gets posted there?

BB: We send everything to Lyle (Wadell, who manages the Town Web site) the agendas, the minutes, after they are approved. We don't put them up until they have been approved.

LS: You can't, right?

BB: Right. Because they could take them or change them if there was something wrong in them then they would have the wrong information and not get the right information. So we just wait.

LS: That's the same thing in the office isn't it that you can't give out minutes until they have been approved?

BB: You can mark them as a draft. We try not to do that in case something does happen and it gets changed. Probably not a good idea, but if they want they can come in and read the minutes back to the 1800's if they want. We have them way back.

LS: Do you have requests for that?

BB: Oh yes, quite often.

LS: Really? Well I'll have to do it someday.

BB: It's really interesting if you can read the writing. It's all hand written.

LS: Do all their Fs look like Ss?

BB: Pretty much. Even the old marriage books are all handwritten and very hard to read.

LS: And they were literally books weren't they?

BB: Oh yes. They're this big.

LS: Is that kept in the records building.

BB: It's right here in the vault. We go back to 1883.

(At this point Boles brought out some of the oldest records from the vault)

LS: And those are the...

BB: These are the minute books.

LS: So they took them in a book, the minutes.

BB: Oh yes.

LS: And what did you say the marriage records goes back to?

BB: 1906 and the minutes are 1883. We have conservation licenses, copies that go back to early 1900's.

LS: I guess it shouldn't surprise me after 30 years you obviously know where everything is. You just went straight to it.

BB: (Laughs) Yes, we know pretty much where everything is. Our office here set up like it was in the old building too. We have the same square footage, the same set up.

LS: What do people ask you for that they can't get?

BB: Certificates of occupancy, or a lot of them ask for passports, which we don't give out, certificates of residency to go to school. We get a lot of young kids who ask for that, which has to be obtained at the county.

LS: Is there specific training that you had to do originally or have to continue to do.

BB: Yes, we have to go to training once a year. Last year it was in Rochester. I think this year it's going to be in Saratoga. And it's been in Buffalo. It's always in New York somewhere.

LS: I imagine there are a lot of sessions on legal updates to laws and that sort of thing.

One thing that I'm trying to change right now is to allow us to accept debit and credit cards.

BB: Right. We receive updates in the mail but we can also get them on the Internet now, where we couldn't before. We used to have to buy all the inserts and reinsert them. Now we can get right to them on the Internet.

And then when we go to the Town Clerks Association, which is the group that we meet with every year. Last year they had over 500 clerks attend. They have different sessions on say dog licenses, marriage licenses, taking minutes, everything. And you get updated and you get to sit down with all the other clerks and talk to them and you learn a lot through them. You learn an awful lot.

LS: What changes you would like to see in the clerk's office?

BB: The one thing that I'm trying to change right now is to allow us to accept debit and credit cards. We have a lot of people ask and we don't accept them at this point, because there is a charge. Especially on their taxes. It's hard for people.

LS: Is there any legal impediment to doing that?

BB: Yes. I have to come to a zero balance every month and I don't want to use taxpayers' money to pay for the usage of a debit or credit machine. We're looking into it right now and all the other town clerks are looking into it along with the county. We had a meeting a couple of months ago regarding it and we're just waiting for some updated information. We're more or less working with the Town of Ithaca. A bookkeeper there is working with the company and he's going to get back to everybody. So we would more or less do it as a whole.

LS: And then get a lower rate?

BB: Right, and then it wouldn't be charged back to the town it would be charged back to the customer. And that's what we have to look into the amount, the cost. And we have been asking people and I would say 80% of the people said they would say yes to the charge.

LS: Nobody carries checkbooks any more.

BB: I know. We even find kids carrying debit cards.

LS: I know that keeping records on the Internet poses issues -- not necessarily problems, but definitely security issues and privacy issues and so on. But do you think that it's coming? Do you think that it's coming soon?

BB: I think it will be quite soon. I would say within a matter of 10 years there will be a lot more. We have a lot of requests to pay online and to pay over the phone. We're also looking into that with the debit and credit card allowing people to pay online. What we're looking at is that they could come in here and pay their tax bill, their dog license, their boat slip and their fine all at one time if they could get it online.

LS: Is this one of the things they cover in the yearly sessions?

BB: Yes. In the yearly sessions no, this is something just the town clerks in Tompkins County has gone out and are looking into. This is not covered at the Town Clerk Association sessions, no.

There is an option. (She points out a computer system) This is (from the Department of Environmental Conservation). There is an option for it a debit or credit payment, and that's through Albany. This is all Albany's. They brought it in and set it there and we use it. And it's dialup. You dial up to Arizona to get a New York State hunting license.

LS: Arizona?

BB: Exactly. And it takes forever and it's very slow and that's what I would like to see changed. I would like to see it get a little bit faster. It's time to change this.

LS: Getting back to what we were saying about the Internet becoming more a part of this office... what about records? At the moment I know that you can get for instance public meeting agendas and minutes but only back a certain amount of time. Do you see some kind of archiving happening there at some point?

BB: I think at some point. It's very expensive. We've been talking about it for 6 or 8 years now and we still have not done it because it is so costly. To go through all those minute books and archive them and put them on disk.

I don't like the political part of this job. I just feel if somebody is doing their job whether they are Democratic or Republican or whatever, I would vote for how they are doing their job now. What they are, not who they are.

LS: What would you like voters to know about your candidacy? You've probably been reelected more times than anyone else in this building right?

BB: Yes.

LS: Or anyone in the town?

BB: Yes. I think I have been here longer than anyone. Jack (French, Highway Superintendent) and I are pretty close.

LS: Have you always run uncontested?

BB: No. The first time I ran I ran contested. I won that one, and I've never had anyone run against me after that. I'm hoping they are happy with the job that I'm doing. That's what I'm taking it as, and I just do the best I can.

LS: What about the political side?

BB: I don't like the political part of this job. I just feel if somebody is doing their job whether they are Democratic or Republican or whatever, I would vote for how they are doing their job now. What they are, not who they are.

LS: So do you think it should be appointed or a hired position rather than elected?

BB: No. I think it's good as an elected job, because if they are not happy they can vote you out. It's up to you to make the public happy.

LS: So really your employer is the public rather than the Town Supervisor.

BB: Right. The Town is my employer.

LS: But do politics ever enter into the job and can you give you an example?

BB: Not really. I've been very lucky.

LS: What haven't we discussed that you would like people to know about your candidacy?

BB: I'm looking at keeping the office updated, mostly with the debit and the credit, and we would like feedback on it. I'm trying to keep things going smoothly and we are still trying to get this DEC computer going a little bit faster.

We take any questions or comments or complaints any time. We're doing our best.

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