Donald Lemm and Pete Salazar are bidding for the Republican nomination.
Democratic incumbent Eileen Garbagni has no primary opposition.
Donald Lemm
Age (on date of election): 76
Party affiliation: Republican
Residence: Rio Rancho
Education: MBA, New Mexico Highlands University.
Occupation: Retired.
Family: Wife, two kids, six grandchildren, four great-grandchildren.
Political/government experience: Semi-active in Republican Party helping to elect other candidates.
Major professional accomplishment: Over 25 years of records management. Owned a microfilm/scanning business. Microfilmed records for Sandoval County clerk and many other government agencies.
Major personal accomplishment: 17½ years in military uniform, retired from the New Mexico State Defense Force as colonel.
Have you ever been involved in a personal or business bankruptcy proceeding? No.
Have you ever been arrested for, or charged with, or convicted of drunken driving or any felony in New Mexico or any other state? If so, please explain. No.
Pete Salazar
Age (on date of election): 65
Party affiliation: Republican
Residence: Placitas
Education: M.A., guidance and counseling, University of New Mexico; B.A., education, Washburn University, Topeka, Kansas; associate degree, Indian Hills Community College, Centerville, Iowa; high school, Bernalillo High School.
Occupation: Semi-retired.
Family: Two daughters, three grandchildren.
Political/government experience: Elected to two terms on Sandoval County Commission; served six years as board member for Bernalillo Public Schools.
Major professional accomplishment: 25 years’ experience as president/CEO for SER de New Mexico, which provided over 160,000 meals annually to low-income New Mexico seniors; Senior Olympics board member for 17 years, promoting healthy lifestyles and friendly competition for seniors.
Major personal accomplishment: Served as LULAC scholarships chairman for 22 years, which resulted in the award of over 1,700 academic scholarships for students to attend post-secondary education institutions.
Have you ever been involved in a personal or business bankruptcy proceeding? No.
Have you ever been arrested for, or charged with, or convicted of drunken driving or any felony in New Mexico or any other state? If so, please explain. Yes, a DUI over 32 years ago.
Questions to County Clerk Candidates:
List your qualifications to be the county clerk in Sandoval County.
LEMM: Twenty-five years in records management; owned business in microfilming and scanning documents.
SALAZAR: Having been a former CEO of SER de New Mexico, the job entailed knowledge of how to manage, delegate and involve all employees. I would ensure that all staff is properly trained to maintain excellence in public relations.
What would your top priority be if you are elected county clerk and how would you address it?
LEMM: Improve records management and archiving of documents. Making sure all communities within Sandoval County have the correct number of polling places. Work with state to improve the voters’ roster for all parties.
SALAZAR: I will improve the election process by training more staff and having technical support that will speed up the election process more efficiently, and bring transparency at all voting locations.
How would you rate the management of the Bureau of Elections?
LEMM: At this time, needs vast improvement.
SALAZAR: I would improve the election operations and improve the requirement of verifying results, partnerships with the schools in educating younger members of society, maintain excellent services of public record-keeping for the people of Sandoval County.
How would you ensure that communities throughout Sandoval County have an adequate number of voting locations on election days?
LEMM: Monitor voter registration for each community to make sure they have the correct number of voting locations.
SALAZAR: Canvass all registered voters in each precinct and determine the amount of possible voters and ensure an adequate amount of machines is made available for each precinct.
What changes would you make, if any, to make records in the county clerk’s office easily accessible to the public?
LEMM: To make sure the ease of access to records to the public is as easy as possible and provide any assistance the public may need.
SALAZAR: I would utilize technology available to bring the current system into the 21st century using social media such as Facebook and Twitter, and newspapers, radio and television to bring awareness to constituents.
