FredWatch

Fred, Always A Friend of the Working Person, Derides Union

2009-05-19T07:31:00.000-07:00

So one poor employee had missed imaging a document or two. A problem easily fixed, you say?

Not with Fearless Fred. Our intrepid Recorder of Deeds brought the person in the office and threw a hissy fit, right there.

He berated the person and threatened the person with termination.

Not so, the person replied, "I'm protected by the union."

Fearless Fred, ever one to remind people how pro-union he was during the election, and having received the AFSCME endorsement from Larry Murin, allowed as he did not need no stinkin' union and replied that he was the boss and he could do what he liked, union or no union.

Mr. Sheeler prattled on during the campaign about emulating the Lancaster County Recorder of Deeds office (including listing the Lancaster Recorder of Deeds on his advisory committee on his campaign without the Recorder's knowledge or approval) until I pointed out that the office was non-union, and, in fact, outsourced local jobs to a private firm in New York.

Well, at least, now we know his real attitude toward unions and AFSCME.

Glad he cleared it up.

Brian Mello, Second Deputy Fired; Office Officially Rudderless

2008-11-25T22:11:00.000-08:00

Brian Mello, the only person in managment that knew what was going on in the office has been fired.

Actually this is relatively old news, but I'm just getting around to it.

Mello was fired for allegedly sexually harassing a female title searcher who is, allegedly, a person of an "alternate lifestyle." Further, since title searchers are not employees of the office, there was no legal danger to the office.

Leaving aside for a moment the cognitive dissonance created by the idea that a male can sexually harass a woman who allegedly prefers women, many of the title searchers are now up in arms because Brian was the holdover from Antoine's regime who actually could run the office.

The honeymoon is over.

Now, I have met Brian, and Brian could be a strong dose. While he could be a good office manager, it was evident to me, at least, that he needed someone over him in managment that could soften his "people skills." Since Sheeler has been an "absentee boss," in mind and managment skills, if not physically, that control was not wielded. Hence, the current situation.

Fred claimed to have the right experience. Running a county office requires more experience than just filing 57,000,000 mortgage documents; it requires actual managment skills.

Way to go, Fred.

Fred Hides While Second Deputy Manages

2008-02-06T12:14:00.000-08:00

When last we left Fred, he had won the Recorder of Deeds office for which he had campaigned, stating that he had the "right experience." Let's see how it is panning out so far.

In a final bit of nastiness before her departure, Ellie Antoine fired her second deputy, Brian Mello. Brian far exceeded Ms. Antoine in competence so, of course, he had to go. Fred seemed so far to not comprehend Ms. Antoine's attitude, almost as if the primary campaign against her had been waged for no reason other than that I had nothing better to do. Ms. Antoine has been like this for 12 years; it has not been a secret to anyone who had spent any time at all in the county buildings.

A group of title searchers, outraged at this final action of Ellie's and even more alarmed at the prospect of a manager at the helm of the office (Fred) who did not have the faintest idea what he was doing, prevailed upon Fred to re-hire Brian. In this, Fred showed himself to be a stand-up guy that is also able to think in terms of self-preservation.

Since then, however, Fred comes into the office, closets himself in his office, and does not emerge until the close of business. Ditto, his chief deputy, a former employee of Fred's chief campaign underwriter, Sentry Abstract. Thus, while not charged by the voters to do so, Brian Mello has become essentially the acting Recorder of Deeds since neither Fred nor his flunky seem capable of running the show. Apparently the "right experience" of running a one-horse mortgage brokerage has not been sufficient to instruct Fred on the running of a county office, which requires public administrative experience.

Let's see if he can learn it on the fly, or will he leave the office to run itself?

"John Fielding for Recorder of Deeds" becomes "FredWatch"

2007-11-20T13:56:00.000-08:00

"Are you kidding me?
Posted 11/17/07

In the week and a half or so that has passed since election day, I have been inundated with phone calls offering congratulations, help and advice. I am particularly grateful to the many County officials and employees who have contacted me to assist in my transition into this position. I will be meeting with many of them in the coming weeks. Unfortunately, however, the one person who should be at the forefront of the transition process, Ellie Antoine, has refused to offer anything. She has not reached out at all, and my e-mail and phone calls to her remain ignored. Of course, she is really under no obligation to do so, but I will be blunt here . . . it is an injustice to the Berks County citizens that she serves, it speaks volumes as to why her office has been fraught with problems, and it is simply unprofessional. Further, she is the only one of the County officials who has refused to work with, or at the very least, meet with the newly elected. I have been contacted by nervous members of her staff who report that the office is like a “hornets’ nest,” with wild rumors promulgated by Mrs. Antoine that I intend to dismiss everyone. One staff member even warned me that I would probably be escorted from the office by the Sheriff if I stopped by to meet everyone. Are you kidding me?! Since Mrs. Antoine refuses to give me the opportunity to meet with her and her staff, my only hope is that the staff’s fears in this regard might be put at ease through this blog."

There are times when we can all do less than our best. There are times when we can be downright stupid. But there are moments when some among us are so breathtakingly silly and naive as to earn a permanent place in our hearts and minds.

While a blog is not all that permanent, Fred Sheeler's comments on his website as quoted above regarding Ellie Antoine are so ridiculous as to require us to establish a permanent memorialization for them, here, on a new site that we have designated as "FredWatch."

After all, Fred Sheeler touted himself as having the "right" experience for the County Recorder of Deeds office. Part of that "right" experience would be, one would think, preparation for the idea that Ellie Antoine is not a nice person and would not have cooperated with either of us. Evidently, the only difference is that I had planned to manage around the non-cooperation; Mr. Sheeler"s "right" experience is apparently more limited.

Well, here's to the next four years. Stay tuned for the "Fred Follies."

Mr. Sheeler Finally Wakes Up

2007-11-18T12:00:00.000-08:00

I suppose it had to happen some time. Mr. Sheeler, on his website, has finally awakened to the fact that Ellie Antoine is not a nice person. Well, welcome to the ball game. Better late than never, I suppose.

I suppose that in among all the cheap shots that Mr. Sheeler and his allies were taking at me because I ran for Recorder of Deeds right after I ran for Coroner it never occurred to them that I might have run against Ellie because it was time for someone from my party to recognize the obvious about her and try to do something about it.

Oh, no. Unlike Mr. Sheeler, I was just driven by the ambition to become a county row officer, and my running had nothing to do with the incompetence and poor attitude of Ms. Antoine.

So, now Mr. Sheeler whines on his website that she is not a nice person and will not cooperate with him. Gee, nice time to wake up and smell the coffee.

If Mr. Sheeler had learned anything about the history of the officeholders in that office rather than trying to gain quick employment in a row office after the mortgage market went in the tank, he might have considered that Ellie got no cooperation from Linda Hilgendorf Frey when Ellie took over, including Frey closing all of the office accounts down so that Ellie had to rebuild from scratch.

So Ellie's lack of cooperation should have come as a surprise to no one. Should she be a better sport about the whole thing? Sure. But, unlike Mr. Sheeler, I wasn't going to hold my breath waiting for it and then whine about the lack of cooperation on a website that hardly anyone reads.

A true manager studies the office and plans for this sort of thing. If this an indication of Mr. Sheeler's managerial and political acuity, we are in for a long four years.

Thank You to My Supporters and Final Thoughts

2007-11-07T06:23:00.000-08:00

I would like to take this opportunity to thank my supporters for the hard race that you helped me run. We could not have accomplished the closeness of this election without you.

My opponent, once again, demonstrated his inability to resist smearing me one last time on his website, all the while portraying himself as the poor innocent.

He once again brought up a civil lawsuit which I have explained. He had other matters that were supplied to him by the lunatic fringe of the Democratic Party that would have backfired had he used them.

He won no votes at the Farm Bureau because the folks there were already partisans of one candidate or another, and it was held in his home precinct. I beat him to the punch in my closing so he had delete his little smear job from his closing.

However, in his attempt to actually engage me in debate in the blogosphere, he has managed to admit he has only closed 419 mortgages in the last five years. That is about seven a month. Well, at least that explains why no one has ever seen him in the courthouse. I have never accused him of being a “sub-prime lender”; a mortgage broker is not a lender, but a salesman. As such, Mr. Sheeler has engaged in such practices as blackballing real estate appraisers who do not inflate appraisals to yield enough equity to make one of his deals work. A mortgage broker closes the deal, sells it off to someone else to administer, takes the money and runs. And uses it to finance political campaigns for public office when the mortgage market goes in the tank. Mr. Sheeler spent approximately $1.71 to buy each one of his votes, while I spent $0.28 per vote. Well, there is no denying that the "checkbook express" beat the "shoeleather express."

This time.

Nevertheless, despite there being plenty of negative items on both sides to mine during this campaign, both Recorder candidates managed to refrain from the negativity of the other campaigns for the most part in the vast public media. What goes on in blogs is not significant in Berks County since the blogs seem to be populated by the same dozen or so liberal techno-geeks who energize each other through constant positive reinforcement.

So, I wish Fred Sheeler luck. He will need it. We will be watching.

The Choice is Clear

2007-11-02T06:57:00.000-07:00

Back in January when I got into this race, I had to ask myself: “why am I the best candidate for this office?” Clearly the people wanted a change. Everybody seemed to know that there were problems in the recorder of deed’s office. I had known about them for about 11 years. I was able to confirm the problems by taking frequent trips to the office; so many, in fact, that incumbent Ellie Antoine herself pulled me into her office in 1999 to find out what I had against her. In my characteristic diplomatic tone, I replied that she treated her people like dirt and was incompetent at managing the office. Other than that, I said, I have no trouble with the way you've been running things.

Eight years later, here I am.

My opponent has been in the race since February. He had no plan. Instead, he promised to assemble a team and consult with it about a plan. He included at least one person on his "team" that didn't even know he was on it until I told him. Despite his "assembling" and "meeting" and taking "field trips," he only managed a plan 11 days after he took a copy of mine off a table at the Pennsylvania Constables candidates' forum on September 12, 2007. The plan didn't jump start his campaign.

When his plan did not catch fire, and led by Sentry Abstract, he spent about $46,000 as of October 22, 2007 to "buy" the election, including $40,000 of his own money gotten by selling sub prime mortgages to poor people. At that point, he had more in the bank than I had raised and spent for the entire campaign. He has outspent me by 500%, but it hasn't worked. I got a comfortable pair of shoes and my old 1988 Chevy Silverado gas hog, and went out door to door, meeting the people. If my opponent knocked on his own door, it was a lot. I guess some people use special interests to help them buy offices; other people just work to achieve office.

But, to paraphrase the Beatles, money can't buy you love, and my opponent's wild spending has not gotten the job done either. So he has resorted to public cheap shots.

Even though I have a plan (which is now my opponent's plan, too), developing a plan alone does not qualify someone to run a county office in Berks County. You have to be experienced in the "ways" of the courthouse to sell the plan. My opponent has rarely been in the county offices; no one even remembers him being here. I have experience in controlling costs and controlling taxes; my opponent has none. I have experience in public finance; my opponent has none. I have knowledge of what it takes to manage public agencies; my opponent has none. For 23 years, my opponent has written and filed the same narrow class of documents; I have a wide knowledge of document filing. And while you don't have to be an attorney to know the law, it helps. My opponent claims the office is adminstrative and that a law degree is not required. Well, knowledge of the law defining the limits of administration is; if that were not so, Ellie Antoine would not have been sued. Being a lawyer is not necessary to know the law, but reading the law is. My opponent and his supporters betray never having even read the law.

So who is better qualified to propose and sell a plan of action in county government? Somebody with government service experience. That would be me. Selling a plan in the county requires a vigorous advocate, not a milquetoast.

There are people who watch things happen, those who make things happen, and those who wonder what happened. The Recorder of Deeds office cries out for someone who can make things happen.

The Montgomery County and Lancaster County Recorders of Deeds know I can make things happen—they’ve endorsed me.

The Homebuilders Association knows I can make things happen—it has endorsed me.

The voters in the spring chose me because I can make things happen— when I beat the incumbent.

What I’m asking now is for your vote and support and help on November 6.

So together we can make things happen in the Recorder of Deeds office.

So we can finish what was started in the spring,

A season of new beginnings.

The "Right Stuff"

2007-10-26T15:03:00.000-07:00

My opponent, in his recent public pronouncements, has taken to referring to the fact that he has the "right experience to be Berks Recorder of Deeds." What is the "right experience"?

Well, it can't just be "experience" because by phrasing the issue this way, he has conceded that I have experience. He is obviously referring to his "background in successfully running my own business, my management experience, my knowledge of recorded documents, and my understanding the demands of the users of the Recorder's office," which gives him the "right experience" for the job. It only does if one's narrowness of experience qualifies someone to run a county office.

To have the same narrow experience for 23 years does not make it the "right" experience when running a government office requires breadth of experience. Running one's own business and managing 2 people does not make a person a manager. There have been many people who can successfully manage a business as long as it does not grow too large and require real management skills. "Knowing recorded documents" does not make that knowledge the right experience to manage a county office; it makes one a clerk. Knowing the demands of the users of the office involves merely knowing what the office does and consulting with the users.

My experience is this. I was in the Navy for 6 years where I learned leadership and discipline. I have four earned college degrees which demonstrates discipline, intelligence, and perseverance. I worked myself up from security guard in contract security to a management position with responsibilities for half of the company and in which I was second only to the general manager. I functioned as night general manager which required management decisions made quickly and efficiently in the early morning hours. I took a new job as a manager for Hygienic Exterminating Company with responsibilities for an office covering routes from as far north as Wind Gap, as far south as Newark, DE and Carroll County, MD, and as far west as Reading and the Lancaster County border. My company thought enough of my management skills to offer me transfers to manage both the Eastern Shore office and Altoona office of the company, which I turned down because I was contemplating law school. When my company was bought by Waste Management, I became a customer service supervisor over approximately the same area while attending law school at night.

Upon graduating law school, I got a job in Reading in civil practice, which required me, among other things to become intimately familiar with most offices in the courthouse, including the Recorder of Deeds, Prothonotary, Mapping, Tax Claim, and Tax Assessment. I ended up at Orlando and Strahn, P.C., during which I practiced construction and real estate litigation. That law firm also owned Berks County Abstract. Therefore, I also participated in real estate settlements, filed real estate documents, and performed searches, as well as retaining experts n the areas of title searching and surveying for litigation purposes. Municipal representation brought me into contact with land use issues, zoning boards, planning commissions, and municipal authorities.

Additionally, I am a common sight around the courthouse in the many various offices there and am on a first name basis with many of the supervisors of those offices. I do not simply come in, file documents, and escape safely to the environs of Hamburg.

I sit on the Antietam School Board and the Berks County Housing Authority Board on which I deal with issues of public finance. My reputation for doing my best to keeping costs and taxes down is unimpeachable. My dedication to providing housing for those who wish to help their families escape the environment of Reading has never been questioned. In my copious "free time," I teach developmental writing at Reading Areas Community College as an adjunct instructor.

I not only have a plan for fixing the office, but the temperament and the ability to advocate forcefully for that plan in the highest reaches of county government.

Unlike my opponent, I do not pretend to know what the "right experience" is to manage a county office, but I do know that breadth of experience is required for the multiple issues that arise in a government office. I have that experience; I do not know if it is the "right experience" but it is the "right stuff."

I hope the voters agree.

Fielding Endorsed by the Home Builders Association

2007-10-24T14:48:00.001-07:00

On October 19, 2007, I was informed by letter that my candidacy for Recorder of Deeds was being endorsed by the Home Builders Association of Berks County.

Endorsements happen for all kinds of reasons. One may be endorsed by organizations and individuals that are actually professionally concerned with the day-to-day operations of offices like the Recorder of Deeds. One may also be endorsed by organizations haveing no real connection with the office but have "other axes to grind."

The governmental affairs committee of the Home Builders Association is made up of representatives from many business interests that do business on a regular basis with the Recorder of Deeds office and are, therefore, in the best position to know and evaluate the needs of the office. They are often in the best position to judge the person best meeting their vision of the qualifications needed to "make things happen" in that office.

I am humbled and flattered that the Home Builders Association thought enough of my qualifications to endorse my candidacy. I will not let you, and them, down.

An New Announcement of Support

2007-10-24T14:42:00.000-07:00

By letter dated October 15, 2007, the Reading-Berks Association of Realtors PAC announced that it was financially supporting my candidacy for Recorder of Deeds. The letter states that "those involved with this process found your answers to be quite diligent and insightful."

It is a pleasure to accept this support from an association of professionals who are affected by the proper and efficient operation of the Recorder of Deeds Office. I am glad to welcome them on board!

A Return to Brandywine Taxpayers

2007-10-18T08:09:00.000-07:00

While it is not normally in my nature to treat this blog as a sort of running diary of the campaign, a practice more appropriate to teen-aged girls, it was a real joy to return on October 17 to a candidates' night meeting of the Brandywine Taxpayers Association. This is an organization dedicated to keeping school and municipal costs and taxes down in the area of the Brandywine Heights School District.

Every time I go to one of these meetings, it reminds me of the times I used to go to the meetings of the Antietam Tax Watch, which I eventually ended up chairing. While the Tax Watch has fallen on hard times down in Antietam, there are signs that the anti-tax sentiment may be reviving in Antietam as we have seen our millage rate exceed 30 mills. I mentioned this to Joan Falcone, co-chair of Brandywine, who quite rightly pointed out that people can only take so much.

I had attended meetings of the Antietam School Board regularly from 1997 through 2003, when I was elected to a 4-year term to the Board. In those four years, I have not voted for a budget containing a tax increase for the Antietam School District. The voters have recognized this by renominating me for another term on both the Republican and Democratic ballot in May, 2007.

I have supported complete property tax elimination for many years now. The Legislature is charged in the Constitution with providing "a thorough and efficient system of public education." Having a statewide system of taxation through a consumption tax, such as a sales tax, is the fairest way to do this.

There is no one in this county who can even question where I stand on this issue. My opponent, on the other hand, has never held a position in which he has had to make a stand on a tax issue.

The Recorder of Deeds office is actually a "cash cow" for the County. It takes in much more in fees than it costs to run the office. Nevertheless, large expenditures for useless proprietary software decrease money that should be available to fund other services provided by the County, and failure to timely return real estate transfer tax receipts to municipalities creates budgetary issues for those government bodies.

It is important to have someone in the Recorder of Deeds office that has a proven track record of safeguarding the public treasury. I am the only person running for that office that has that track record. I will treat your money like it's your money!

I guess I just didn't know the secret handshake....

2007-10-05T13:15:00.000-07:00

By this time, many of you have no doubt heard what occurred at the AFSCME Candidates’ Night on October 4, 2007. I was unceremoniously booted out.

I had seen all the notices for the Candidates Night in the courthouse. I asked someone who is in a responsible position with AFSCME whether any candidate could attend. He said as far as he knew, I could. So I planned to attend.

On October 4, I arrived at about 5:45 p.m. at the Goodwill Beneficial Association in Hyde Park. I greeted some people I knew there, and asked where candidates could set up. I was pointed eventually to a table near the entrance. I set up.

A few minutes later, a gentleman named Larry Murin arrived. Despite the fact that we lived about a mile from each other for 12 years, we had never met. I knew him to be the “business agent” for AFSCME.

He called me over and told me that he would have to ask me to leave. He said the Candidates’ Night was “by invitation only.” I said, “Really? And who is invited and who did the inviting?” He said that only “endorsed” candidates were invited and that he had done the invitations. I asked, “Well, how do you get to be endorsed? No one notified me that you were conducting candidate interviews, and I never received a candidate questionnaire. I guess I must have missed the memo that said I was not invited. This is advertised as a ‘candidates’ night, and I am a candidate. The flyers did not mention any additional qualifications.”

Murin responded that nonetheless I was not endorsed and would have to leave. He said that if I would call him, he would explain AFSCME's endorsement “process” to me. I said, fine, give me your number. He gave me an 800 number, and I gathered up my materials and put them in my truck. Then I grabbed a handful of leaflets and stood outside the Goodwill and handed them out to the membership as they arrived, explaining the situation to them. After all, the sidewalk is free and so is the air. They did not seem to appreciate their leadership’s position.

I called Mr. Murin this morning about his “endorsement” process. He has yet to return my call. I guess I didn’t know the secret handshake. It is too bad that the leadership can only survive by keeping its membership in the dark. The members might find out that all Republicans are not anti-labor or anti-union.

Anyway, here is a copy of the remarks that I would have delivered had I been allowed to make them:

AFSCME SPEECH

As reluctant as I am to quote a Democrat, I must say I agree with Michael Dukakis when he referenced an old Greek proverb that “a fish rots from the head first.”

In 1999, I first considered doing something about the situation in the Recorder of Deeds office. On the one hand, Ellie Antoine was 5 months behind at that time according to her own blotter.

At the same time I was aware the incumbent was not treating the staff in that office very well.

I was not able to run in 1999, but by 2001 a new problem had attracted my attention. If it was possible, Nick Bybel had gotten elected and had treated his people even worse, firing the whole lot of them in his first five minutes.

As fate would have it, I ended up working in the Public Defender’s office where one of the fired deputy coroners was my secretary, Terri Straka.

Terri told me that she would never vote for a Republican again after the way she was treated. Well, this was something I could not allow to stand. I could not allow her to think that all Republicans were to be judged by the standard of Nick Bybel.

Terri will tell you that little by little, she talked me into running for Coroner to right the injustice that had been done to those people in that office.

Well, of course, I went on to beat Bybel with 62% of the vote in that primary, but lost the general election by only 4,000 votes.

Then Ellie Antoine came back on the radar screen. She was not treating her people any better, but by this time I had the name recognition to believe I could really fix things with respect to the people in that office. So here I am.

Some people can only talk about their position with respect to employees; I have actually put my name and treasure on the line once before. Terri will tell you that.

I am ready to do it again. At a time when Berks County has lost a lot of good paying jobs, this is not the time for the County to kick its own workers when they are down. I think it is necessary for Berks Countians to stand behind Berks County jobs and preserve them.

I have no plans, nor will I agree with any plans to downsize or outsource jobs in the Recorder of Deeds office

In this I take the position of Nancy Becker of the Montgomery County Recorder of Deeds, who has endorsed me, on outsourcing of jobs.

And even though Steve McDonald of Lancaster County has also endorsed me, Nancy and I both disagree with his approach to outsourcing jobs, and I have told him so.

It is important that the AFSCME membership understand and support the candidate that has a proven track record of taking positions that preserve Berks County jobs for Berks Countians.

Support me, John Fielding, for Recorder of Deeds on November 6.

Identity Theft and how I intend to address it

2007-09-28T05:58:00.000-07:00

Currently in PA there are no requirements to "redact" or cover-up personal information on original documents that are viewable by the public. Florida and some other states do have requirements, and it has cost them millions to redact. California just made them take images off the Internet after they spent millions to have them available over the Internet.

In Pennsylvania, the Recorder is required to keep the original document with no alterations. However, due to the miracle of modern technology, the information can be redacted two ways - electronically where the digital image viewable by the public has the private information blacked out with the image remaining viewable by County staff showing the complete information, or the office can print the document, copy the original black out the information on the copy and rescan the document. The original would then be the paper copy.

Which is better? Well, duplicating the document in a blacked out form is tedious but secure. Within the imaging area, tagged image file format (TIFF) was the format of choice because it was versatile: the format can save multiple distinct pages in a single file, the images have scalability so are able to be stored at various degrees of compressibility and image quality, and they do not come with "metadata" (author, source, date of authorship) that could disclose sensitive information. The problem is that they are not searchable or able to be text edited.

PDF is a possibility, but any text hidden in a PDF can be exposed unless it is saved as an image that cannot be further edited i.e., a TIFF. Then the redaction cannot be removed. But if one must go through this operation, why have a PDF in the first place?

Argonne National Laboratory, as a result of the passage of the Electronic Freedom of Information Act (EFOIA) and at the behest of several federal government agencies has developed a prototype redaction package that, even if it is not perfect, can speed the time necessary to locate sensitive information in a document according to preset lists and advanced drawing tools for performing the redaction.

There is no easy solution, but until a better one comes along, with the increasing number of PDF documents, until the general availability of prototype software redaction packages, the combination of PDF with TIFF seems to be the best solution. While the Recorder's Office must maintain the original that was filed, personal information and all, the images presented to the public may be the redacted ones. In this way, the public's right to access public documents stored in a public office, and an individual's right to safeguard personal identifying information from would be identity thieves will be balanced.

Wow, 11 days later and finally a plan!

2007-09-24T03:44:00.000-07:00

Well, after 4 1/2 months, it only took my opponent 10 days after the release of my plan to come up with his own. Not too surprising considering that 3/4 of his plan it is my plan. And just 11 days after his blog said that his plan was "finalized." Since it is only 11 paragraphs long, one wonders why it takes 11 days to type an 11-paragraph plan that was already "finalized." I guess a paragraph a day isn't bad progress especially with my plan sitting in front of the typist.

The only matter that differs from my plan (beside the amount of detail my plan has that he left out--I guess he didn't want to be that obvious) is his section entitled "Fraud Prevention," which doesn't prevent fraud but simply makes the offense a federal felony (forgery and many other types of fraud are already felonies under state law) through the use of a United States Electronic Postmark, something proposed at PREP (Property Records Educational Partners) educational seminars. Nancy Becker, Recorder of Deeds for Montgomery County and Co-chair of Southeast PA Regional PREP, has endorsed me (see below).

With the open system proposed in my plan, these are easily obtainable through a county website (Montgomery and Lancaster already have this capability). Both Recorders of Deeds in those counties have endorsed me and my approach, although I think that Montgomery County's system in terms of what it has and what it took to achieve it is a little more comparable to the Berks County recent experience at this time. Lancaster County achieves its efficiencies through outsourcing certain jobs to other states, a fact that my opponent seemed to admire earlier, but from which he now seems to have backed away. I guess he learned that his potential union support was not going to buy his earlier admiration for Lancaster County "efficiency".

Another day and still no plan from my opponent....

2007-09-21T05:55:00.000-07:00

It is September 21, 2007 and still no plan from my opponent. Nine more days to go!

Still no plan.....

2007-09-20T06:04:00.000-07:00

It is now Sept. 20th, and there is still no plan from my opponent.

Another day and still no plan from my opponent....

2007-09-19T08:13:00.000-07:00

It is now September 19th, and there is no plan from my opponent for fixing the Deeds office.

John Fielding Endorsed By Nancy Becker, Montgomery County Recorder of Deeds

2007-09-18T00:45:00.000-07:00

Nancy J. Becker
1798 Meadow Glen Drive
Lansdale, PA 19446
215-368-5940
nbecker@montcopa.org

September 17, 2007

It gives me great pleasure to endorse the candidacy of John Fielding for Berks County Recorder of Deeds. I have known John for many years and his legal and management skills would be a great asset to Berks County.

Currently serving my first term as the Recorder of Deeds in Montgomery County I was faced with many of the challenges that the new Recorder will be faced with in Berks County. I am pleased to say that as of today we are recording documents the same or next day and returning documents within one (1) to two (2) weeks of receipt. We also offer electronic recording through a third party vendor or direct access through our website as well as the ability to obtain a certified copy of a document with a United States Postal Seal through our website.

I have talked with John on numerous occasions and his goal is to streamline the process, add greater access, increase efficiency and bring enhanced electronic services and new technologies to the Berks County Recorder of Deeds office. He was very interested in how we increased services and yet saved our taxpayers nearly $750,000 last year. John, a fiscal conservative, has the initiative and vigor to make tough decisions, work hard to see them implemented as well as look for ways to increase revenue and lower the cost of running the Recorder of Deeds office.

As a former resident of Berks County, I urge you to vote for John Fielding on November 6th.

Sincerely,

Nancy J. Becker
Recorder of Deeds, Montgomery County
Co-chair, Southeast PA Regional Property Records Educational Partners

Still no plan.....

2007-09-18T00:44:00.000-07:00

It is September 18th, and still no plan for the office from my opponent.

And so on.......

2007-09-17T05:52:00.000-07:00

It is September 17th, and still no plan from my opponent.

And, unfortunately, so [the whining] begins......

2007-09-16T05:20:00.000-07:00

My opponent now states on his website, "What you see on this website is presented truthfully. If you read or hear anything to the contrary elsewhere, I ask that you consider it's [sic] source and also contact me with questions or concerns that you have, either by email (fred@fredsheeler.com) or by telephone at 610-562-9490 so that we can discuss the veracity of any such issues."

Since his recent poor performance in front of the PA Constables on Sept. 12, my opponent has had to come up with excuses as to why he can't offer a plan. That night, he said, at various times (copied down verbatim), that he would have “a concise, real plan,” that “it was a work in progress,” that you “can’t do it overnight,” and that his policy advisory committee “met yesterday” and was “going to take a field trip to the Lancaster County Recorder of Deeds office soon.” Apparently my pointing that out has become "a negative campaign or the use of smear tactics." I simply pointed out factually that he had no plan. He could have denied it, but he could not because it was true. Hence, the whining about negative campaigning or smear tactics.

Apparently he has scotched his plans for a field trip because he now states on his "blog" that "With today’s meeting [Sept. 11] we were able to finalize our plan, and it will be posted on my site this month, as promised." The fact is, this is another "inaccuracy": a contradiction between his announced plans and his website statements. How can you say on the 12th that you will take a field trip to help with your plan and then state in a blog allegedly produced on the 11th that you finalized your plan? Why do you need a field trip if the plan was finalized the day before you announced you were making a field trip?

Of course he doesn't need to take a field trip to Lancaster anymore: he has my plan, which I'm sure has helped him immeasurably in finalizing his plan and, besides, the Recorder of Deeds of Lancaster County, Steve McDonald, has endorsed me.

I can agree with Mr. Sheeler on one thing: any readers of this blog should call or e-mail Mr. Sheeler and ask how someone who can't manage his website or his public statements can manage a county row office. That's a real question to which we all need an answer.

The Countdown continues.........

2007-09-16T05:13:00.000-07:00

It is now September 16th, and my opponent has yet to offer a plan.

The Countdown continues.........

2007-09-14T23:26:00.000-07:00

It is now September 15, and my opponent has yet to propose his plan.

The Countdown continues........

2007-09-14T00:37:00.000-07:00

Today is September 14th, and my opponent still has not produced a plan.

The "No-Plan Man"

2007-09-13T08:15:00.000-07:00

On the evening of September 12, I appeared, along with my opponent, at the PA State Constables Association Candidates Night. The comparison was enlightening.

As the readers of the blog have known, I have had a plan for moving the Recorder of Deeds office forward after at least 45 years of adequate "low-tech" customer service and the last 12 years of totally inadequate service of any kind. I have posted that plan in a variety of forms on this website for over a month. Four points of that plan I have been handing out in my campaign literature for 2 1/2 months, and those four points are printed on the reverse of my campaign cards. Last night at the constables' meeting, I released the plan in brochure form and challenged my opponent to tell us his plan.

My opponent has been promising a plan for 4 1/2 months on his website. Last night he announced... well... he announced that he was meeting with his committee of advisors, and they were planning a "field trip" to the Lancaster County Recorder of Deeds office. In other words, he has no plan. And why should he? He behaves as if he is still running against Ellie Antoine. Well, I beat Ms. Antoine in the primary, and now he has to actually tell us what he is going to do instead of attacking what Ms. Antoine did not do.

Well, he was observed near my table, and he took a copy of my plan. Well, always glad to help out! I predict that the "no-plan man" will turn into the "Fielding-Plan man" very shortly. Let's see if he can manage a plan that actually differs substantially from my plan published on this site and in paper form. Maybe I should apply for a job on his committee of advisors.

I suggest a countdown. Today is September 13th, and there is still no plan published by my opponent.

LEGAL COMPETENCE AND VETERAN MANAGEMENT: My Plan for the Berks County Recorder of Deeds Office

2007-09-11T23:38:00.001-07:00

Where to begin?

Even though the current incumbent has not only failed to follow the law, but interfered with the ability of customers to get their work and filings completed, and subjected the employees of the office to a reign of terror, it may not be the case that returning to the days of her competent predecessor, Linda Hilgendorf Frey, is in order. After all, time marches on.

Therefore, upon assuming office, I will instruct the solicitor to perform a thorough analysis of the legal requirements appropriate to the filing and recording of every class of documents. These requirements will, in turn, function as the legal parameters to the conduct of business by the office.

Within those parameters, however, I have sought out and will continue to seek out the advice of those professionals involved with each class of documents to explore ways in which the office can streamline their ability to do their jobs efficiently. My advisory group dedicated title searchers, attorneys, a former personnel director, and a banker are providing a broad range of input to my campaign for Recorder of Deeds. Further, the Recorders of Deeds in Lancaster and Montgomery Counties have already provided advice to my campaign and have signaled their willingness to continue to do so.

Equipment and Systems

First, the microfiche readers are not used by the public because the public has no access to the microfiche. They are old and obsolete. They do nothing but take up space. They should go.

Second, the 35 millimeter film projector and copier are old, obsolete, and the films that are viewed on it have been converted to microfilm for the most part. It needs to go.

Third, the microfilm viewers and printers have not been properly maintained. They should be cleaned on a regular basis (a bi-weekly minimum), with an in-depth cleaning and other maintenance to be provided by the vendor.

Much has been made about "running the government like a business." Well, the government is not a business because it never goes out of business. Because the customers cannot "vote with their feet," it requires discipline by the leader of the office to spend the money necessary to serve the public. While it is nice to brag about all the money generated for the County by the office, some of it needs to be spent to provide the service it is legally required to provide. Maintaining usable equipment in proper working order is part of this.

The days of microfilm are over. Therefore, there needs to be an on-going program to phase out the microfilm viewers and printers within three years, and the research material contained on the microfilm incorporated into the imaging system, with suitable allowance for "back-up."

The current imaging system

The current imaging system, while adequate as a software system per se, is not acceptable for several reasons.

First, there is no uniform system for data entry in place. The job of a title searcher is to search the office for outstanding liens, encumbrances and other claims on property so that title may be properly insured on the property. Anyone using the office needs a uniform system of abbreviation and data entry codes used by the data entry people and indexers so that they can locate outstanding claims on a particular piece of property. The job of the office should be to provide open, transparent notice to the world of claims affecting land in Berks County, not play "hide the ball." This should be an obvious matter, but it apparently has not been.

Second, because the current and past Recorders did not appreciate the tremendous advances in computerized document storage and retrieval, the current software system has been "dumbed down" to the paper system it replaced. This must be corrected. The Recorder must be able to take advantage of the technological advances in document storage and retrieval. The first rule when hiring expert advice is to listen to the advice!

Third, the current system is proprietary and expensive. Under the current contract, the software licensing and support costs the county approximately $237,000 a year, not to mention expensive upgrades. Further, the efiling system developed by this software company cost the county another $100,000. Moreover, the system is proprietary. The county spent the money to develop the system for the software company, but has no copyright royalties or revenue rights in the efiling system.

I would be tempted to keep the software system and attempt to clean it up if a new contract price could be negotiated except for one problem: title companies want to move to efiling but Berks County's current software system is really not compatible with any of the surrounding counties. Further, I am told that the current software company does not appear willing to open its system to solve the incompatibility problem. I believe that any efiling system Berks adopts must be compatible with the surrounding counties. If then what I am hearing is true, either our software must be made compatible, or we must switch to a software, and efiling, system that is compatible. The needs of the customer must come first.

Research material

The research material that is not on microfilm falls into two categories: the material that was filed prior to the microfilm system but still continues to be regularly accessed by title searchers and those materials that are of historic importance that are not used regularly but are maintained for their historic system value.

Many of the books in regular use are in an alarming state of disrepair. The Recorder of Deeds office is statutorily charged with keeping its records (including mortgage books, deed books, miscellaneous books, developer plans, and railroad plans) in such a condition as to be completely accessible to those who use the office. When pages are torn or missing, and the index and document books are otherwise in disrepair, it is impossible for searchers to find the information they need to find to give the title insurance companies for whom they work a level of comfort with respect to potential outstanding claims against real property.

Further, there are historical materials not in regular use that are stored on the 16th floor of the courthouse. They are, unfortunately, stored in an area where the conditions are not conducive to the preservation of historical documents. They are in danger of being irreplaceably damaged.

I am convinced the county must contract to hire someone familiar with the care and repair of documents to scan the documents and simultaneously repair the books. At the same time, the cassettes that contain the 16mm microfilm should be inspected and repaired with new labels and new leaders installed so that they feed properly in the readers until the imaging system can take over completely. Further, the county must invest in a climate-controlled environment for the proper keeping of records dating back to the time of William Penn’s descendants.

Personnel and procedures

At present, the office seems to resemble a prison camp more than a county office. It is my perception that morale is at a very low ebb. The public’s perception of the office that I have experienced while campaigning is that the people in the office are rude and unhelpful. I personally never found that to be the case, but lack of appropriate management can produce adverse results in office conduct and morale. The results of the primary election have given some cause for hope. It is my hope that with the institution of reasonable management and personnel policies, the situation can be further improved.

The first point to be made is that both deputies should be thoroughly familiar with the office, the personnel, their job descriptions and the organization of the paper flow. Further, they should be instrumental in the training of new personnel. They should know each piece of equipment and be able perform basic preventative maintenance. They should be the focal point of personnel issues such as sick and vacation time.

Second, as I have stated, each recorder and indexer needs to be familiar with a procedures manual, which, among other matters, will provide a list of standard abbreviations. The recorders are the first people to handle most documents. Thus, the initial entries into the document storage system must be made by them. If they have knowledge that a bank or other business has merged or succeeded to a particular interest, this should be noted in the “remarks” section with a standard abbreviation.

Third, the indexers, the pre-scanners, and the scanners need to be familiar with standard abbreviations in the procedures manual. Further, all of these personnel need to be cross-trained so that they can fill in for one another as needed. Moreover, they and the recorders should be trained to perform a simple deed and other types of searches. The only certainty in any business is constant change. The same is true for a government office. People leave, they get sick, and they go on vacation. We need to be able to cover those absences and ensure a smoothly operating office for the customers of the office.

There are, of course, other changes that are more atmospheric in nature that could be made once I assume office, such as seating someone with more experience near someone with less, and other adjustments. I have heard a string of horror stories issuing from the Deeds office for almost 12 years now. Of most of these matters, the public does not know. However, I know about them, and that is enough. All I can say is that relief is on the way. With the hope and promise that a change in regime brings, I feel confident that the Berks County Recorder of Deeds office can surmount its past problems, and bring legal competence and veteran management to the people of Berks County.

Lancaster County Recorder of Deeds Endorses John Fielding

2007-09-11T12:13:00.000-07:00

Stephen J. McDonald
lancorecorder@gmail.com
717-371-0245

Dear Citizen,

Since 1998 I’ve had the privilege of serving the taxpayers of Lancaster County as their Recorder of Deeds. In that time, my office has saved the taxpayers of Lancaster County more than $1 million dollars and become one of the most technologically advanced Recorder’s office in the United States.

My predecessor came in to the office once every two weeks to collect his paycheck. All of our records were kept in books and our computer system was ancient. Documents were literally piled to the ceiling waiting to be recorded. I’m proud to say that this has changed.

Today, a title professional or attorney can file their document electronically from their office or walk into my office with a document, have it recorded, and walk out in less than five minutes. The document is immediately available for viewing on my website, http://www.lancasterdeeds.com/ and is accessible to anyone.

This past spring, John Fielding came to my office to see just how our system works. I’m excited and proud to support John in his bid to become Berks County’s Recorder of Deeds. John has the management skills needed to properly adjust the process in place in Berks County to create the same kind of results.

John has the initiative and energy to bring the Berks Recorder’s office into the 21st Century with technology that will make the office more efficient for you, the customer. Isn’t that what government should be about?

If you’d like to know more about the Lancaster County Recorder’s office and the technology we use, please don’t hesitate to call or email me.

Sincerely,

Steve McDonald, CPA
Recorder of Deeds, Lancaster County
President, International Association of Clerks, Recorders, Election Officials, and Treasurers
Director, Property Records Industry Association

Why run for Recorder of Deeds?

2007-07-20T22:03:00.000-07:00

As many of you know, I ran for Coroner in 2005. Now, I am running for Recorder of Deeds. What gives?

Okay, fair question.

I believe that the Recorder of Deeds office has been mismanaged by the current incumbent almost from the time she took office in 1995. By 1999, she was five months behind in her recordings, and I was convinced it was time for a change.

For certain reasons, I did not feel able to run that year so I searched around for a candidate to run against the incumbent in the Republican primary of 1999. Unfortunately, that candidate, while having garnered the necessary signatures to run, got "cold feet" at the last minute and did not file to enter the race. The incumbent, despite her gross incompetence, not to mention utter callousness in the way she treated her employees, was unopposed in the primary election and went on to be re-elected in the general election.

Meanwhile, Nick Bybel was elected Coroner in 2001. In the first five minutes of his tenure, he fired everyone in the office and embroiled his office and the County in a labor lawsuit. Further, because of low staffing, he made it impossible for the mission of the office to be carried out. Through happenstance, one of the fired employees ended up working for the Public Defender's Office, where I work. Over time, I became convinced that a grave injustice had been committed against these people and that this office was, as well, being grossly mismanaged. I also believed that this injustice and mismanagement was sullying the name of the Republican Party in Berks County. Therefore, I attempted to find others to run in the Republican primary, but one by one, the potential candidates dropped by the wayside. I then decided that if no one else would do it, then I would. After all, before becoming an attorney, I had held various management positions in private industry, and management is management, even for an unusual office such as Coroner. So I ran, won by 62% in the Republican Primary, but lost in the General by 4,000 votes.

Nevertheless, my original concern, the incompetence of the incumbent Recorder of Deeds remained. Therefore, I decided that, due to my name recognition garnered through the race for Coroner and my successful race for Republican State Committee, there was no time like the present.

So here I am.

To those who say that I just run for office, I answer two ways.

First, many people who eventually won office and went on to distinguished careers in public service lost their first few races, Abraham Lincoln being one (but certainly not the only one).

Second, mismanagement is mismanagement. Why not run for two offices if both offices are being badly managed and need to be cleaned up? If I have management and legal skills I can bring to the table to improve the service of government to the people of Berks County, why shouldn't I step up to the plate, especially when no one else is?

Therefore, I offer myself to the voters of the Berks County as a candidate for the office of Recorder of Deeds.