Recorder’s duties are limited

Lake County Recorder of Deeds Mary Ellen Vanderventer last week wrote a letter to the editor making a public plea for her to keep this Office a separate, elected position. In the process, she accused her opponent of being misleading. The incumbent recorder “hopes for the facts to be presented honestly and truthfully,” even says “a fact check is in order.”

I agree 100 percent. The recorder should be completely honest and fully explain to the whole citizenry what her duties entail and what they do not. The role of the recorder is essentially that of a filer, someone who files documents (for a fee) and reproduces them (for a fee). If one understands this very limited role, one understands the elected position can and should be consolidated to be made more efficient, especially in Lake County, where tax payers already pay too much.

Anyone who has used the Lake County recorder’s software system attempting to find documents knows how archaic the software is and what a frustrating maze it can be.

When/if a recorded document is found, the recorder by state statute cannot and does not validate the veracity of contents of the submitted recordings. She can only choose to escalate a potential recording issue to public attorneys, which she has chosen not to do in at least one case.

It’s time to be honest. The Lake County recorder provides an inefficient filing system that is anything but user-friendly and transparent to Joe Taxpayer, cannot and does not validate the veracity of recorded documents and has chosen not to escalate to state authorities (outside Lake County) alleged invalid recordings that remain recorded in Recorder Vanderventer’s office.

Kirk Denz

Ingleside