4-year term; one open seat; one candidateThe County Clerk appoints and supervises Deputy County Clerks, assistants, and employees of the office as may be necessary to perform the duties of the office authorized by the Tompkins County Legislature. The County Clerk is the registrar of the County, and also has responsibility for maintaining the official records of all proceedings of the Legislature and for insuring that all proceedings and records meet legal requirements and are kept as prescribed by law.Tompkins County Board of Elections: For more information, including sample ballots https://www.tompkinscountyny.gov/boe (607) 274-5522; 214 West State Street, Ithaca, NY 14850
Candidate's Name
Rachel Graham
Campaign Address
1214 Dryden Rd Ithaca, NY 14850
Campaign Phone
607-240-6160
Current Employment/Occupation
Executive Deputy County Clerk
Government Experience-elected or volunteer (e.g. committees)
20 year employee of the Tompkins County Clerk's Office, Secretary of the Dryden Democratic Committee, member of the Tompkins County Democratic Committee, Co-Chair and founding member of Tompkins County's team JEDI (a core equity team of county employees), member of Tompkins County's Workforce Diversity and Inclusion Committee (an advisory committee of the legislature)
Education
Associate's degree from Broome Community College
I've worked in a Clerk's Office since I learned to search property records back in high school. When I was working for a local abstract and title company here in Ithaca 20 years ago, I was recruited to apply for an open position at the Tompkins Couty Clerk's Office and fell in love with public service. Over the years I have been promoted up to most recently becoming the Executive Deputy for the last four years ago. I love the work we do and serving the community is fulfilling and rewarding in many ways. I look forward to continuing to serve the residents of Tompkins County.
I know the job well; I've been doing the work and can provide a certain level of consistency that residents are accustomed to. I have established relationships with our teams, frequent customers, vendors, and have mentors in other County Clerks across New York State as a member of the NYS Association of County Clerks (NYSACC). I am a forever student and love learning new skills and acquiring new tools to do my job more efficiently and confidently.
Most recently it's been having our Naturalization ceremonies paused and cancelled by USCIS (United States Citizenship and Immigration Services). Hosting Naturalization ceremonies has been one of the most moving and fulfilling roles of our office. We have watched the numbers in ceremonies drop from 20-40 candidates to 8-9 over the last few years, which has been concerning.
I've been working with staff from Anna Kelles, Lea Webb, and Josh Rileys teams. I talk with County Clerk's across the state to learn about what's happening in other Counties. I try to stay in contact with our partners in hosting ceremonies, like the League of Women's Voters, Ithaca KIWANIS club, and Daughters of the American Revolution to keep them in the loop on what's happening and what we're hearing.
Many residents don't know what the County Clerk does unless they've interacted with our office directly before. So, when I talk to people while campaigning, I usually start with just telling them about what our teams do. We record and make accessible all the land records for Tompkins County, the Clerk is also the clerk of the supreme and county courts so we file all the civil and criminal paperwork, we do passport applications, DBA (Doing Business As Certificates), we provide notary services, host Naturalization ceremonies in partnership with USCIS, and we are also in charge of Records Management for all County departments, and provide a digital records management solution for our Town, City, and Village partners. While most residents have interacted with and know about our local DMV office, they may not know that the County Clerk also oversees the Tompkins County Department of Motor Vehicles, where we issue identification, licenses, and registrations of vehicles.
