Democrats generate heat over future of office

Chicago Alderman Ed Smith wants Cook County Recorder of Deeds Eugene Moore's job.

And then he might want to quit.

Smith said one of his main tasks, if elected, will be to evaluate whether the office could be abolished altogether to save taxpayers some money.

Moore, the incumbent, is a office veteran and has the backing of Cook County Board President Todd Stroger.

Moore charges that Smith, who enjoys the endorsement of Mayor Richard M. Daley, is less worried about good government than he is about padding his pension.

Not so, said Smith, who cited endorsements by three Chicago-area newspapers and self-styled reformers such as Cook County commissioners Forrest Claypool and Mike Quigley as proof of his reform credentials.

"The (people) should know that Ed Smith is concerned about good government. He's concerned about doing the right thing," Smith said Friday.

By contrast, the recorder's office, Smith claimed, is laden with patronage hacks who mope around collecting a paycheck rather than providing service.

Moore went to Hawaii on a junket in recent years to the National Association of Counties in a time of tight budgets, Smith pointed out.

Moore said it was conferences like that one that help him run the office more efficiently.

Since taking office, he has set up a Web site whereby people can automatically download deeds and other documents for a small fee, Moore pointed out. And he instituted a state mandate that notifies owners when a quit-claim deed is filed so that scam artists have a harder time stealing people's homes out from under them.

Moore said he's also working on a system to allow mortgage companies to file documents electronically, but he has to go slowly to make sure the system is secure and not vulnerable to hacking.

And he scoffed at the idea that the office could ever be abolished, noting that would require legislation in Springfield.

But the idea that the property and tax functions of the recorder's office, the clerk's office and the assessor's office could somehow be combined for tax savings is one that, while not new, is starting to gain momentum. Cook County Board finance committee Chairman John Daley endorsed the idea last year, and Quigley has advocated it for years.

Smith said the recorder's office should focus on recording information, not just images of documents. That way, Smith said, the data can be categorized, analyzed and sold to real estate brokers to turn a profit for the office.

In addition, work that is now duplicated and triplicated by the three county offices each separately examining records and entering them into their respective systems could be done just once, Smith said.

The winner of the Democratic primary will face no Republican opposition in the general primary, so Tuesday's election effectively decides who will hold the office for the next four years.