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Tammy Morse is the Democratic candidate for Lansing Town Clerk in the November 8th election.  Morse is currently the Village of Trumansburg Clerk an appointed position with two year terms.  She has worked there for 12 years.

Morse has lived in Lansing for five years.  She grew up in Dryden, graduating from Dryden High School.  She has one grown son.

 Lansing Star: Why did you decide to run for Town Clerk?

 Tammy Morse:  When i moved from Trumansburg to Lansing I chose to keep my job in Trumansburg.  At that point I'd been there a little over seven years.  I really like what I do and I'm good at my job, but I'd really like to do it here at home, in the Town of Lansing, in my community where I live.

I really love my job, and that's why I would like to do it here.

What will you bring to the Clerk’s office that your opponent would not bring?

I believe that I bring a longer term of experience.  I've been a municipal clerk in some capacity for almost 12 years -- it will be 12 years in January.  It means 12 years of experience, 12 years of education, 12 years of the opportunity to obtain certifications.  I am familiar with my job.  I know what my responsibilities as a municipal clerk are, and I believe that Lansing is a place where I can put my skills to use and make the Town Clerk's office run more efficiently.

You and your opponent have both listed experience on your campaign materials as a reason to elect you.  How is your experience uniquely suited to the Lansing Clerk’s Office?  I guess you kind of answered this question -- but focus on how you are uniquely suited.

After serving as a public servant in a local municipality in Tompkins County my experience isn't necessarily unique to Lansing.  But what is unique for Lansing is the fact that they have a qualified candidate to run against the incumbent, who was appointed in April.  I think that makes it unique.

Generally when there is a municipal clerk opening your applicants are not as qualified, because its a specialized field.  I think that's what makes it unique for Lansing and both of us as well.

Every so often you hear in the news about a municipal clerk who refuses to issue a license or permit based on his or her personal beliefs, in opposition to the law.  Some examples are same-sex marriage licenses or concealed-carry gun permits.  Are there any licenses or permits you would feel uncomfortable issuing or refuse to issue?

Absolutely not.  As a New York State government official it's my duty to uphold New York State law.  My personal beliefs, if there were any that directly conflicted with licence ermit issuance,-- it is still my job to issue those New York State permits and licenses by New York State law.

Has there been a time when your ethics was tested in your role as a clerk?  How did you deal with it?

I don't believe that I've had any situations in my term as clerk in the Village of Trumansburg that have ever tested my ethics.

How do you view the role of the Town Web site or other technology, or social media in the Clerk’s Office business?

I think in the day and age we are in it is a necessity.  I daresay the majority of people use social media now for their news, as opposed to actual news feeds. Twitter and LinkedIn and Facebook are going to become more important.  It's the quickest way to get information to your residence in seconds.  It grows like wildfire.

For instance, I use it a lot when we have water main breaks in the winter time, or something like that.  In the Village of Trumansburg, within two minutes of me putting up a Facebook post it will get shared a few hundred times.  By the time I've done that I'm still on hold with the radio station to get it actually broadcasted in a different medium.

So I think it's going to become more important with emails and programs that will blast emails and phone calls for you when there is a state of emergency or anything else you need to make your residents aware of, and you need to do it now.


County Clerk Maureen Reynolds has been a leader in digital storage and cloud access of municipal records.

She has.

Do you believe this is a good idea?  What has been your involvement with digital storage, and what would you like to do with digitizing Lansing’s records (past and future)?

First of all, Maureen has done a great job as the COunty Clerk and digital records.  Her office is making strides that are just incredible.  I wish I could say that I have been involved in it as much as I would like to have been.  Unfortunately in a very small staffed office it's very difficult for one of us to be gone, especially if somebody else is out -- there are two of us in the entire building.

So that can make it difficult.  I did have our property files put in storage, and on the microfiche now.  Our goal is to have our books next.  I expect that would probably be in the next couple of months.  Unfortunately we had a lot of turnover in our Zoning department.  Now that those positions are in place and are stable again I think we can get back to where we need to be with archiving.

What is your procedure on FOIL (Freedom Of Information Law) requests?  Do you like them?  Do you prefer a FOIL request or an informal request for information (and why)?

I don't dislike FOIL.  FOIL can be cumbersome.  It can give someone the opportunity to try to overburden you with paperwork... my experience has been, unfortunately, when someone is FOILing an immense amount of records it's generally just to see if you'll do it or not.

Really?

There's a lot of that.  We get FOILed a lot.  Our FOILs, interestingly enough, seem to be from a lot of colleges that are doing studies on things, whether it be fracking -- that's a huge one.  Ethics -- I get a lot of requests for our ethics policies, and some other ordinances.

I do prefer a formal request, even if it's just a short email.  I believe it's easier to keep track of what you're sending and who you;e sending it to.  I also think it gives you the ability to format your files within your computer so that you know where that specific FOIL is and what the topic is, so the next time it comes it's that simple -- it's at your fingertips.  it's right there.

Have I ever fulfilled a FOIL request without a formal request?  Probably.  it can be as simple as a taxpayer walking in and asking for a copy of their tax receipt.  By all means, that really doesn't require a FOIL.  It happens.  But with larger documents I certainly would prefer the formal request.

I would say I've taken no less than ten seminars with Bob Freeman, the Executive Director of the New York State Committee on Open Government regarding FOIL and open meetings law.  I can almost spew it!  So I know this stuff.  I know how it works.  It's so spelled out in New York State law that the process isn't something you can really mess with a whole lot.  New York State tells you how you have to handle it.

What your forms look like or how your office handles it could certainly be different, but the end result is always going to be the same.

This election has generated an unexpected amount of heat, or at least I didn't expect it.

I didn't expect it either.

Judging by things I have heard people say and the vandalism and theft of campaign signs.  Surprising, because the Clerk position is probably the least political of all elected positions.

Agreed.  It's bizarre.

Why do you think that is happening here now?

I wish I knew the answer.  My choosing to run for this position was not a personal decision about my opposition.  Like you said, it really should be the least of the politicals.  I'm not sure where all the anger and the hostility is coming from.  It's not something I was looking for.  It's not something I'm condoning by any means, especially if anyone were to do something on my behalf.

It's not the way I would ever choose to run a campaign, and it's certainly not the way you win votes or win voter support.  it just doesn't make any sense to me, which is why I have chosen to take the high road and not speak out about it, because I think that gives whoever is fueling the fire -- it just gives them more fuel.

What should people know about your candidacy that we haven’t covered?

I believe I am the best qualified candidate for the Town of Lansing position because what I bring to this office is 12 years of a proven track record as a municipal clerk.  With the amount of training and dedication to my public service as anyone has ever had.  I truly, truly believe that the work I have done in Trumansburg I can do even more-so here in Lansing. It's a larger population.  it's a large town.  I love it here.  I have no intentions of moving anywhere else.  This is where I want to be.

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