Douglas Finbar Graham
(Rep)
Qualifications: Why are you running for Clerk of the Circuit Court and what professional background and experiences prepare you to serve in this role?
I bring the perspective of the citizen to this job. During my short period as a realtor, I was aware of the importance of the court's job of maintaining records, including property deeds. As a reporter in Texas, my beat in Orange Texas was the local courthouse, so I developed an interest in the role the court plays in both the administration of local justice, and in the life of the community, through maintaining property, marriage, wills, and other records that matter in an individual's life.
Administration: What steps will you take to improve customer service and/or increase efficient operation of the Clerk's Office?
I want to improve courthouse operations, to make them faster and more user friendly. We don't need to hire expensive consultants to do this. By maintaining closer contact with both the professional courthouse community and with the average citizens, we can see where we need to change and improve our operations to reduce costs, speed up operations, and make things easier to do, and more transparent to the general public.
Priorities: What issues will be priorities during your term of office?
Make our operations more user friendly, and to reduce costs wherever possible. To the Anne Arundel resident, I want to make the courthouse, YOUR house.
Other: What else would you like voters to know about you?
I will work hard to ensure that the courthouse is YOUR house. I have a broad background which will help me serve all Anne Arundel's many different residents. I hitchhiked across America as a youth, served as an artillery officer in the National Guard, was a reporter in Texas and the Middle East, worked in Washington as a speechwriter, appointee and contractor, and have patented two inventions and written two books. I will put all this experience to work for you.