Marlene Carlson: Candidate Profile

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Note: Answers provided have not been edited for grammar, misspellings or typos. In some instances, candidate claims that could not be immediately verified have been omitted. Jump to:BioQA Bio City: New LenoxWebsite: www.carlson4circuitclerk.comTwitter: Candidate did not respond.Facebook: Candidate did not respond.Office sought: Will County Clerk of the Circuit Court Age: 46Family: Married 18 years to my husband Richard, a Local 63 Ironworker. We have 2 sons, Vince 12 and Mitch 13.Occupation: Business Manager Lead Systems EngineerEducation: BS Chemical Engineering from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.BS Chemistry from University of Illinois at Urbana-ChampaignCivic involvement: Involved in public health and fitness initiatives for my community.Elected offices held: Candidate did not respond.Questions Answers Why are you running for this office, whether for re-election or election for the first time? Is there a particular issue that motivates you? If so, what?Throughout my career I have worked in the private sector as an Information Technology Engineer/Consultant for some really great companies, both large and small. I'd like to give back the experience I've gained to our community and county. I'm a problem solver, a technical leader, a business manager, and I'm great with customer service. When the citizens of Will County elect me to be their next Circuit Clerk I will be all these things for them.If you are an incumbent, describe your main contributions. Tell us of any important initiatives you've led. If you are a challenger, what would you bring to the job and what would your priority be?When I am elected I will bring experience, fairness, leadership, and fiscal responsibility. I'll work with all employees of this office to make improvements. We have an overcrowding problem that has plagued our court system for years. Every morning people have to stand outside our courthouse every day in rain or shine, sleet or snow. Our Circuit judges have the largest caseloads per judge than most circuit courts in Illinois. My priority would be to come up with system to minimize this problem. E-Filing more case types is one way of reducing unnecessary foot traffic. Improving services from the websiteDescribe your position regarding the allocation of resources in the clerk of the circuit court's office. Are personnel allocated as they should be? Are there capital expense or other budgetary items that the office must address, and, if so, how do you propose to address them?Right now we have staff working a lot with paper documents. In the future we could more extensively train these employees on computer systems management of these same documents, enabling them to work with customers over the phone instead of people coming into the courthouse. We'd save a tremendous amount of money on paper and printer cartridges if customers could file and print their own documents more frequently on-line.Describe your position on transparency in the office and the ease of access to records by the public. If you believe improvements are needed, what are they and how would you go about achieving them?I think we really lack transparency in the Circuit Clerk's office today.There are so many improvements to the website and document recording and retrieval systems I'd like to make. There are a lot of great court case management technologies out there today to choose from. I will use my 20 years of engineering experience to help our office make great decisions for our courts.Please list any elected office you've ever run for and what the result of that election was. Have you ever been appointed to fill an unexpired term?I ran for Will County Circuit Clerk once before in 2012 against the incumbent. This election year 2016 I am not running against an incumbent. The Circuit Clerk's office is an open seat. I'd love to win this time so I can help make a difference for Will County. No I have never been appointed to fill an unexpired term.What other issues, if any, are important to you as a candidate for this office?My Pledge to Will County When Elected:1)Use technology to create around-the-clock access to our courts.2)Modernize our courts without raising taxes.3)Expand and improve our court services to the public.4)Be fiscally accountable and responsible.Please name one current leader who most inspires you.Steve Jobs before he died and Steve Wozniak the 2 founders of Apple. I guess they aren't leaders anymore but they still inspire me.What is the biggest lesson you learned at home growing up?Being the youngest in the family has its advantages and maybe "some" disadvantages:)If life gave you one do-over, what would you spend it on?I probably would have gone to medical school instead of just going to work after my undergrad. I am absolutely fascinated with the health sciences.What was your favorite subject in school and how did it help you in later life?Science. It's the gift that keeps on giving. Having an understanding of science makes everything in life more fascinating and easier to understand.If you could give your children only one piece of advice, what would it be?Work hard but don't let life pass you by. If you want something you've got to go for it.