Democrats hear county clerk candidates

The Randolph County Democratic Club met for its monthly meeting last Thursday. Linda Foster serves as president.

Doug Galaske, candidate for state representative for District 22, reported he has been endorsed by the AFL-CIO and can now speak to labor groups and ask for their support.

It was announced a candidate on the Independent ticket will file soon for the job of prosecuting attorney. The filing deadline for independent candidates is July 31.

Two Democrat candidates for Randolph County Clerk, Dorinda Dameron and Wanda Finnigan spoke to the organization regarding their qualifications and desire for the county clerk’s seat.

Wanda Finnigan

Finnigan listed some of the many responsibilities of the county clerk. The clerk is responsible for paying the bills, keeping the county commission records, human resource duties such as keeping the payroll, insurance and taxes, the sale of liquor, notary and auction licenses and budgeting. The clerk puts the budget in a final format to be sent to the auditor’s office. And, of course, the county clerk is in charge of elections.

“It is very much a full-time job,” said Finnigan, a real estate agent. “Real estate is not bad. It’s good and it has opened a lot of doors for me. But I feel called to the position of county clerk.”

Finnigan said she learned the art of negotiation and the importance of documentation through her real estate business. She oversaw budgets in her six years on the Moberly Park board. She is a member of Altrusa and serves as marketing advisor to the moberly Area Technical Center. She has an Associate’s degree in elementary education.

Dorinda Dameron

Many in Randolph County know Dameron through her work with the Relay for Life where she serves as cancer survivor chairman. Closer to Huntsville, she is the force behind the annual Randolph County Old Settlers.

Dameron is no stranger to the county courthouse. She has worked in the Randolph County Assessor’s office working with personal assessments and works each December in the collector’s office.

Dameron has carried out many of the same responsibilities through her years of work experience as the county clerk is required to perform. In 20 years at North Village park Nursing Home, Dameron was responsible forprocessing employee payroll, managing a $350,000 budget for the nursing department, completing state reports and managing the medical records department. She also worked with nine other nursing homes to train employees on computer programs for nursing.

Dameron is currently the assistant to the Director of Law Enforcement at MACC, where she has worked since 2001. Among other duties, Dameron maintains the $80,000 budget for the LETC academy, maintains student records that must be available for years in case an officer’s training comes into question, compiles lesson plans for state review and completes student state reports.

Dameron has been chairman of Randolph County Old Settlers since 1998 and was recently voted president. She is secretary/treasurer for the Huntsville Community Club. Dameron’s daughter, Laversa, is a cancer survivor which inspires Dameron’s work with Relay and the Candlelighters, for which she serves as treasurer. Candlelighters provide various sources of aid for children and their families who are battling cancer.

Dameron is scretary to the Randolph county EXCEL program and is past secretary and treasurer of the Women’s Democrat club. She received the 1992 Woman of the Year award and ABWA Business Associate of the Year in 1995. She has served on the Westran Music Boosters board, and is a third generation member of the Higbee Christian Church.

Jim Sears is retiring from the position of county clerk. Dameron and Finnigan will face off during the August 3 primary. Will Ellis is the Republican candidate for county clerk.