Candidate Profile: Donna Lent For Brookhaven Town Clerk

BLUE POINT, NY — Election Day is fast approaching and Patch is giving you a look at the candidates on the Nov. 2 ballot.

For the Brookhaven Town Clerk’s office race, incumbent clerk Donna Lent faces Democrat Ira Costell.

Lent discusses why she deserves to win. She answers Patch's Q&As below.

Age (as of Election Day)

69

Position Sought

Town Clerk

Party Affiliation

Independence, Republican, Conservative

Family

I am married 49 years to my husband, Greg Lent. I have three children, Gregory, Angela, and Adam. We have 10 beautiful grandchildren.

Does anyone in your family work in politics or government?

My son, Gregory, is a sergeant with the Horry County Police Department in South Carolina and supervises the Homicide Unit.

Education

B.A. from UNY Stony Brook and A.A. from Suffolk Community College

Occupation

Public service for 21 years

Previous or Current Elected or Appointed Office

Brookhaven Town Clerk-Elected

Campaign website

none

Why are you seeking elective office?

I believe I am the best candidate to serve the Brookhaven Town residents as Town Clerk. If re-elected as Brookhaven Town Clerk, I will continue to increase services and access to online services for town residents. I will continue to improve efficiencies throughout the town by utilizing technology and automated processes. I will continue to leverage the town's resources to share services and reduce costs for other municipalities located within the Town of Brookhaven.

The single most pressing issue facing our (board, district, etc.) is _______, and this is what I intend to do about it.

The most pressing issue facing the Town of Brookhaven is the loss of revenue from the impending close of the landfill. While as Town Clerk I do not have a vote on the Town Board, I can work to lower the costs of my department to offset a small part of this loss in revenue. I am diligent in decreasing costs whenever and wherever it is possible. For example, as town clerk, I decreased overtime by personally meeting with funeral directors to file death certificates on nights and weekends.

What are the critical differences between you and the other candidates seeking this post?

My experience and education set me apart from my opponent. I am currently completing my second term as Brookhaven Town Clerk. Prior to being elected, I served as Chief Deputy Town Clerk for four years and Chief of Staff for a New York State Assemblywoman for nine years. I spent more than two decades assisting the residents of Brookhaven Town. I know how to get things done in government. While Town Clerk is an administrative position, I often assist residents and local businesses with government issues that lie outside of my office. I pride myself on being able to navigate the various departments and levels of government to solve problems and get results.

How do you think local officials performed in responding to the coronavirus? What if anything would you have done differently?

I was directly responsible for shepherding my office through the COVID-19 pandemic. As town clerk, I have state-mandated responsibilities that must be fulfilled. I had to balance the safety of the residents and my staff with the ability to perform required duties. I am extremely proud of the performance of the town clerk's office throughout the pandemic. We faced a great increase in workload regarding the filing and issuance of death certificates during this time. I was able to create an online ordering system for Funeral Directors so that they could order death certificates without delay and eliminated the need for face-to-face contact. We also continued to serve the public in person for the issuance of marriage licenses. To reduce the time couples needed to be physically present, I created an online marriage license application system. This decreased the transaction time from 30-45 minutes to less than 10 minutes. All other routine services were conducted through the mail with allowances for cases of emergency that needed immediate attention.

Describe the other issues that define your campaign platform.

As I stated above, I believe it is the duty of government officials to increase access to services for all members of the public. As town clerk, transparency, and increasing services while decreasing costs have been been the hallmark of my administration. I have increased the services offered online including applying for a marriage license, dog license, and marina waiting list. I've made it a priority to hire Spanish-speaking staff to accommodate the growing Hispanic population of Brookhaven Town. I have also translated the applications for copies of vital records so that they are available in Spanish and posted the applications online.

What accomplishments in your past would you cite as evidence you can handle this job?

Beginning as deputy town clerk and then as town clerk, I spearheaded the archived record scanning project for the town. Prior to me, not one document in the town clerk's office was available digitally to the public. Currently, there are nearly 23 million pages of scanned documents.

This was a massive project involving multiple departments throughout the town. This effort not only safeguards and preserves these records but also decreases the costs to the town and ultimately the taxpayers. For example, prior to digitizing their records, the finance department needed to dedicate a staff person solely to pulling records for Freedom of Information Law requests. Now that the finance department’s records are scanned biweekly, the record searches take only a few minutes and are delivered by email.

The best advice ever shared with me was:

"Make a friend a day." I do that by providing quality service to the residents of this town every day.

What else would you like voters to know about yourself and your positions?

There is no Democratic or Republican way to safeguard vital records or issue permits and licenses. This race is about which candidate can provide the town clerk services effectively and efficiently. The town clerk is vital to the functioning of the town and most of my responsibilities are mandated by state law. I've worked very hard throughout my time as town clerk to ensure I was informed and educated on these duties. Due to my experience and education, I earned the designation of Registered Municipal Clerk through the New York State Town Clerk's Association.