As the Lowndes County Chancery Clerk election comes down to the wire, both candidates made a fourth-quarter throw in an attempt to gain a few more votes.
Lisa Younger Neese, Democrat and incumbent, and Susan Robinson, Republican, spoke Thursday at the Columbus Exchange Club meeting about topics ranging from the chancery clerk’s salary, the office fees and how to improve the office.
Robinson is an office manager and a paralegal for Chuck Easley, a local lawyer in the running for Lowndes County prosecuting attorney, and she said this experience gives her insight into the chancery clerk position and things she thinks should change.
“I would reduce the wasteful spending in the chancery clerk’s office,” she said, noting the position’s salary, office fees and the lack of an electronic filing system.
Robinson said the clerk’s current salary is $100,000 a year, above the cap allowed in the state of Mississippi.
“Most people think the fees are too high to cover the costs of the salary,” she said.
She also wants to implement an electronic filing system and create a less time-consuming and less-expensive process for filing documents.
Robinson also promises transparency by publishing her phone number and enacting “an open-door policy.”
“The office needs a fresh approach and a definite change of direction,” she said.
Younger Neese has eight years as chancery clerk under her belt and 20 years of experience as deputy chancery clerk.
She told the exchange club crowd that her salary is set by Mississippi code and she has no control over it. In her speech, Robinson claimed the maximum salary for the state is $75,000, and Younger Neese responded that it’s actually $90,000.
“My cap is $90,000, not $75,000, and anything I get over that cap I give back to the Lowndes County general fund,” she said.
Neese said she wants to continue updating the office’s computer system, and the amount of duties her position holds requires her to be a full-time chancery clerk. She said her door “is always open.”
“I take my job seriously, I love my job and I’d like to keep my job,” she said.
The chancery clerk duties include being the secretary of the Lowndes County Board of Supervisors and clerk of the Lowndes County Chancery Court and Land Records Department. Chancery courts have jurisdiction regarding matters involving equity, divorce, alimony, probate, guardianship, and sanity.
The exchange club hosts speeches for a Lowndes County election each Thursday at the Columbus Country Club. The candidates for Lowndes County superintendent — Cliff Reynolds, Lynn Wright and Rusty Greene — will speak next Thursday.
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