The Arapahoe County Clerk and Recorder’s Office registers voters, records deeds, issues marriage licenses, passports and driver’s licenses, titles and registers automobiles, administrates elections and maintains records for the Board of County Commissioners. The office currently has five locations throughout the country staffed by approximately 120 people.
Matt Crane, a Republican, was appointed to the post on March 19, 2013, when previous Clerk and Recorder, Nancy Doty, was elected District 1 County Commissioner. Crane is running against office employee and Democrat Joan Lopez, who has worked in the Arapahoe Country Clerk and Recorder’s Office for the past 13 years.
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Incumbent Crane faces Lopez in ArapCo clerk contest
By COURTNEY OAKES, Staff Writer
Both candidates for Arapahoe County Clerk and Recorder have knowledge of the office only people who work there can have — because they both do.
Incumbent Matt Crane, a Republican, and Democrat Joan Lopez — currently one of the 120 employees in the clerk’s office — each believe their unique qualifications make them the best to run the office for the next four years.
The Arapahoe County Clerk and Recorder’s office registers voters and administrates elections, records deeds, issues marriage and civil union licenses, passports and driver’s licenses, titles and registers automobiles and maintains records for the Board of Arapahoe County Commissioners.
Crane, a Littleton resident, is seeking a full term in the office after he received an appointment to the position in March 2013 when previous Clerk and Recorder Nancy Doty won a seat on the Board of County Commissioners. He said he has been able to make a significant impact in the short term he’s served.
“We’ve been able to accomplish a lot in that time,” Crane said. “We’ve expanded office hours to 5 p.m. without any additional cost to the budget and we started issuing marriage licenses out of our Byers branch, where before people on the plains would have to come to Aurora to get a marriage license. We’ve done quite a bit of cross-training now, which has helped us be more efficient and keep up with statutory obligations and avoid the overtime we’ve had to pay in the past.”
Crane — a nationally and state Certified Elections Administrator and current vice president of the Colorado County Clerk’s Association — is proud of some new things currently in place and some to come in the office. An improved signature verification software to check ballots, a new ballot track feature that allows voters to receive email, phone or text message alerts about the location of their mail-in ballot from the time it is mailed to them to the time it is received and a virtual queuing system that Crane believes will help wait times at five county locations. A state-of-the-art ballot audit system is in the works as well.
An Englewood High School graduate and county resident for most of the past 28 years, Lopez has worked in the clerk and recorder’s office for 13 years in a variety of capacities. Mounting frustration with a number of inefficiencies she witnessed firsthand in the office — over the tenure of three previous clerk and recorders — finally prompted her to run.
From not enough training of current employees who do multiple jobs to a stream of customers she believes often leave the office more confused than when they arrived to informing people of simple changes they need to make to their voter registration or driver’s license record, Lopez believes the clerk and recorder’s office could be much more efficient and effective.
Lopez, who said she’s recently been removed from the front counter to a back room where she’s not face-to-face with customers, knows she’s risking a lot by running against her boss.
“It has been pretty intense, I’m putting myself on the line,” Lopez said. “I’ve been here for 13 years and I want to run the show, I want to change things. … I’m pretty sure if I don’t win I’m not going to be an employee there anymore. … I’m pretty sure they are going to let me go, which is sad because I love my job and I love helping the people. That’s why I ran.”
[/wc_accordion_section] [wc_accordion_section title=”Joan Lopez Bio“]
Joan Lopez is a native of Colorado and graduated from Englewood High School, going on to earn an Associates of Arts Degree from Community College of Denver. She also attended UCD for two years.
Lopez has spent the past 13 years working for Arapahoe County and the Centennial resident has lived in the county for 28 years. She wants to make a difference in Arapahoe County and has a new clean vision. She wants to make sure the county changes for the better and wants to work hard to make Arapahoe county stronger and better. Info — www.joanlopez4countyclerk.org/
[/wc_accordion_section] [wc_accordion_section title=”Matt Crane Bio“]
Matt Crane was appointed to the post of Arapahoe Country Clerk & Recorder on March 19, 2013, to fill a vacancy left when previous Clerk & Recorder Nancy Doty was elected District 1 County Commissioner. His current term set to expire on Jan. 15, 2015.
Crane has worked for the Colorado Department of State, the City and County of Denver and Arapahoe County. The Littleton resident was also invited to participate in identifying national election best practices with the Election Assistance Commission in Washington, D.C. Crane is a nationally and state Certified Elections Administrator through the National Elections Center and the Colorado Department of State. In January of 2014, he was elected Vice President of the Colorado County Clerk’s Association by his fellow Clerks. He will serve as President of the Association in 2016. Crane was also nominated in 2014 to serve as the Colorado State Delegation Director to the International Association of Clerks, Recorders, Election Officials & Treasurers. Info — www.mattcraneforclerk.com
[/wc_accordion_section] [wc_accordion_section title=”Joan Lopez Finance“]
https://tracer.sos.colorado.gov/PublicSite/SearchPages/CandidateDetail.aspx?Type=CA&SeqID=27478
[/wc_accordion_section] [wc_accordion_section title=”Matt Crane Finance“]
https://tracer.sos.colorado.gov/PublicSite/SearchPages/CandidateDetail.aspx?Type=CA&SeqID=27478
[/wc_accordion_section] [wc_accordion_section title=”Joan Lopez Endorsements“]
Coming soon.
[/wc_accordion_section] [wc_accordion_section title=”Matt Crane Endorsements“]
Coming soon.
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