Lisa Bender has served Atlantic County for 24 years since volunteering for AmeriCorps as a Watershed Ambassador. Hired at her host agency Atlantic County Utilities Authority (ACUA), she served as County Recycling Coordinator. At ACUA and later City of Ocean City, she launched innovative campaigns to lower taxes and served as designer/copywriter for their then-new websites. When starting her family, she entered real estate sales and is still licensed. Lisa founded her small business to continue serving municipalities and other clients with marketing and sustainability projects. She’s volunteered as a Cub Scout Den Leader, assisted Boy Scouts with Eagle Scout projects, volunteered in leadership roles for her children’s schools, served as Chairperson for Somers Point Green Advisory Committee and Environmental Commission for a decade, and led an environmental nonprofit. Lisa’s professional experience of converting complex issues into digestible information makes her well suited to the role of County Clerk where she'll guide residents through life’s big moments (buying property, starting a business, deciding to travel the world starting with a passport, and by swearing in notaries who witness many more major moments). The office also suits her natural skillset of leadership, efficiency, organization, and friendly service. Lisa and her husband Bob live in Somers Point and have two sons—one studying science, the other music.
Lisa Bender is excited to bring her management experience to the Clerk’s office to better serve residents and businesses of Atlantic County. Based on feedback from the community and personal experience, staff members of the Clerk’s office seem to be in silos based on their specific job descriptions. This lack of cross training leads to frustration for both employees and the people they serve. Bender will cross train staff and develop a knowledge base so when people call or visit the Clerk’s office, they will get the answers they seek. Additionally, because the Clerk records life’s big moments, she wants to ensure an atmosphere of friendly service to match those moments. Starting a business is a big decision, usually the culmination of years of saving and developing ideas. In order to help these businesses start out on the right foot, Bender will offer guidance through explanations and videos, rather than simply providing forms. She wants the energy of the transaction to match the importance of the moment for the registrant. When someone is ready to travel the world, they must start with a passport. The government forms can be complicated, and there are many items required to have a complete application package. For this too, she will offer video guidance and clear explanations to help people, and will encourage service with a smile. Bender plans to have a mobile office to bring services to the people. These are examples of how she will better serve Atlantic County.
It is critical that the County Clerk be above party politics, ensuring that every eligible, legal voter can vote without roadblocks in a variety of convenient ways according to state law. As Clerk, by working with the Superintendent of Elections and Board of Elections, Lisa Bender will be confident in election security and will instill that confidence in voters. As part of this role, the Clerk must dispel myths about voter fraud. As Clerk of Elections, Bender will ensure ballots are free from error. There have been too many errors in the past couple years. With the voter fraud rhetoric and unnecessary condemnation of mail ballots coming from the federal government, it is very bad when there is a major error in the mail ballots that instruct voters to mail ballots by the wrong election date—two days after the election when they would not be counted. Another major error resulted in a Democratic candidate being left off ballots in their ward. These are critical errors and should never have occurred. Bender will make sure the ballots are free of errors. She will also make sure they are mailed on time, at least 45-days prior to the election for every voter who has applied for a mail ballot by that point, and then subsequently following prescribed timelines as applications arrive closer to the election. She will not stand for any activities that disenfranchise voters. Bender will be on alert for voter suppression and will be available to address concerns and assuage fears.
Lisa Bender will have an active social media presence for the County Clerk’s office that is separate from her political page. Bender will use that as a channel to reach the community with important messages about general service and our elections. As it will be providing regular, useful information, she will be able to quickly reach voters if any concerns surface about election integrity. She will investigate the problem and swiftly use all of her resources to address it and guide the community back to confidence in the election. She will rely on professionals like attorneys and the County Prosecutor if necessary to uncover any issues that are the cause of the doubt. Bender will take accountability for any role the Clerk’s office may have played in the problem. Part of Bender’s platform has always been to share that our elections are safe and to stop misinformation about voter fraud that is all too abundant. The rhetoric alone, even when false, does cast doubt on election integrity, so as Clerk she will make it a priority to be aware of any concerns. Once aware, she will quickly determine if there is any factual basis. Since Bender has two degrees in science, she is naturally observant and always researching. Her professional skills in communication and marketing provide her with the ability to address concerns across multiple channels to make sure to reach voters. Bender wants every resident of Atlantic County to know the role of the Clerk and to have faith in the office.
I am seeking re-election to the position of County Clerk. I have served on many different government positions in my 40 years as either an elected or appointed official. It is all of these positions that have qualified me to serve as the County Clerk. I was first appointed to the Hammonton Planning Board a position that I served in for nearly 40 years. During that tenure I served as Chairman and Vice Chair for over two decades. I later served in the Hammonton School Board for a period of 15 years serving as either
Vice President or President of the Board during that time. During my tenure on the School Board, I oversaw several construction projects that were completed on time and under budget. While serving as President we were able to expand with several new classes with CAD, and the sciences. This was all completed with no tax increase for many years. We also became a CHOICE School taking students from several areas of South Jersey. I later served on Hammonton Town Council for 6 years. During that period of time, I chaired as the liaison to the School Board.
I am a graduate of the Hammonton School System, Atlantic Community College and Stockton University, hold a BA degree in History. I was previously employed by Atlantic County Government and the Atlantic County Improvement Authority overseeing many different types of programs.
All of this has given me the ability to make positive changes here during my first term as the County Clerk.
Over the past 5 years the Clerk's Office has seen many positive changes. Upon taking office the recording of documents was nearly two years in arrears. Documents are now recorded within days. We have added the Property Alert program so that folks never have to worry about their property being stolen. We have a mobile veteran ID program. We also do many seminars around the county to speak with senior groups about all the services that are offered at the Clerk's Office. We also have a website that fully explains all that we do here.
Our elections in Atlantic County are extremely secure. The three election offices are always in communication with each other. We have meeting to make sure that no stone is unturned when it comes to an election. Our county is different as we have a Board of Elections and a Superintendent of Elections as well as the County Clerk take part in the election process. Each office has specified duties in which they must carry out. It is the Clerk's job to follow Title 19 and keep up with any changes that might occur.
If there were any doubt cast on an election, or an issue with an election one must be transparent and do the research as to what is the issue and spell the problem as well as the findings and solution. Items that go unanswered tend to create more issues. You can never act on conspiracy theories. Lastly all issues must be investigated, and the public should know the outcome as soon as possible.
