Both candidates for the position of Mitchell County Clerk of Court spoke at the Mitchell County Chamber of Commerce candidate forum Thursday.
Shana Buchanan and David Wheeler are both running in the Republican primary election Tuesday.
In her opening statement, Buchanan highlighted her experience. Buchanan is the current incumbent, having been appointed to the post when the previous clerk retired over a year ago.
“I’ve served the citizens of Mitchell County for 27 years in the clerk’s office,” she said. “My job as clerk is to make sure that citizens are clerked without favoritism or delay. In North Carolina, clerks serve as record keepers, administrators, and supervisors of the records. The clerks in North Carolina also serve as judicial officials, meaning we are actually the judge over certain hearings as prescribed by statute.”
Buchanan said that she hopes members of the public feel welcome in her office.
Wheeler said that he lived and worked all over the world before settling in Mitchell County several years ago.
“I’m a man of faith, and I believe we’re called to serve where we’re planted,” Wheeler said.
Wheeler said that he believes the clerk’s office can do more for local citizens.
“One of the commitments I’ve made in this campaign is to do regular town halls and listen to you all about how the courthouses can run, but maybe even bring in some of the other elected officials from around the county, around the state, to give them feedback, whether it’s good, bad, or ugly,” he said.
In response to a question about wait times and communication with the public, Buchanan said that transitioning the state’s court records system to digital format has been challenging.
“Communication with the public, that has been hard lately, just to be honest, just because we have gotten a new system. This system, it’s all digital — you do your filings online, and I don’t care for that much because it has decreased our population in the courthouse, and I would rather have that one-on-one contact with them,” Buchanan said. “I just try whenever anybody comes into the courthouse, I try my best to tell them all resources that are available, and I just try to be there for the public.”
Wheeler said that he thinks Buchanan and her staff have done well with the transition to digital filings.
“One of my issues with the system, not with Ms. Buchanan and her team, but the system itself is it’s not very friendly to the outside folks — you really need to be an attorney or familiar with the system to use it,” he said. “One of the things I’d like to see is more pro se training for folks. … Being ‘pro se’ means you can represent yourself on simple matters.