Clerk of Court candidates discuss technology, efficiency

Two candidates are vying for the Republican clerk of court seat in the primary election. Incumbent Al Jean Bogle is running against newcomer Ray Cerda, who is the JROTC instructor at St. Stephens High School.
Each answered four questions from the Hickory Daily Record.

1. Is the office running satisfactorily?
Bogle: I absolutely think it is. Despite being understaffed by 11.5 people, we're doing well.
Cerda: I believe the court can run better. All organizations should annually evaluate, assess and strive to make effective changes to continually seek more efficiency and costs savings to taxpayers by conducting court business via the web as much as possible. They should also pursue positive citizen interaction with the courts.

2. What changes need to take place in the next four years to make it better?
Bogle: The Administrative Office of the Courts in Raleigh is trying to update the technology. People with traffic citations can pay online starting in July 2010. That will save a lot of time. By September, N.C. Aware will start. Law enforcement will be able to bring up any outstanding warrants on people, statewide, in their computers in their cars. We are also gradually putting online training on our staff computers. A lot of the laws passed impact the work on the clerk of court office. We used to have classes all over the state. Now, they're putting that online, like a webinar. Right now, I see that we really need more room. We have people standing in the hallways with nowhere to go.
Cerda: I would be proactive with the Administrative Office of the Courts' technology services division in Raleigh by advocating and targeting all available technological hardware/software applications to benefit the court and citizens.
I would enhance the capability of the current website and utilize the site to its maximum capability. The current website is static. I want to make it more than one page and make it more interactive. I want a site that includes text, graphics, menus, hyperlinks and navigation buttons. I would want court records that are public record to be online, as well as forms that are easy to download, so you can drop them off or send them electronically.
I would also focus more on customer service skills and relations with all courtroom personnel and citizens.

3. Why are you a member of the Republican Party?
Bogle: I've been a Republican since I was 22 years old and I was in Georgia. I liked the idea of free enterprise and that people are encouraged to start their own business, and not support people from the cradle to the grave. My parents were both like that. We should not support an able-bodied person just because of some perks the government put into place. I'm not against helping people that need help, though.
Cerda: I am a member of the party because the party of Lincoln, T. Roosevelt and Reagan has a long history of compassion, progress and hope. It's the party that best represents my core values of honor, courage and commitment and the sanctity of life. A life founded on freedom, democracy and the pursuit of happiness.
I did switch to unaffiliated for a while, because of dissatisfaction with the local Republican Party, but I was never swayed from the national Republican Party. The local party had become so divisive and attacked each other during the 2004 election. I don't think there's a place for that in politics. I wanted a united party. So I stepped away from it, and got a perspective of the unaffiliated voters. Most were unsatisfied with their parties because of the same thing, and wanted a bipartisan solution. Last summer, when I moved back to Catawba County, I got a call from someone asking me to be president of the Men's Forum again. I heard the new chair, Bill Shillito, speak, and he seems to be trying to get us to be whole. I wanted to be a part of that again. He has an atmosphere of inclusion, and he's reenergizing the base and reinvigorating it.

4. Who is your favorite superhero, and why?
Bogle: Wonder Woman, because she can do it all. She's an empowered woman and did not take a backseat.
Cerda: Superman because he strives always to do what is right, good and just for all of mankind.