PORTSMOUTH — Following a wave of Republican wins during last election, including in local offices that had been Democrat strongholds, Scioto County has now sworn in Scioto County Recorder Gary Jenkins after a celebration and inauguration funded by his campaign this past weekend that welcomed Boneyfiddle Brass to entertain the likes of commissioners, State Representative Justin Pizzulli, State Justice Pat DeWine and a total of 70 people in attendance to honor Jenkins during his swearing in.
While the seat had avoided much partisan consideration, as voters decided for Recorder, this past election was different.
Republican Gary Jenkins was able to successfully challenge incumbent Gail Alley, Democrat, with 17,057 votes to her 12,187. Alley had been Recorder for twelve years and had 30-years of experience in the office.
Jenkins campaigned on party and issues he had within the office, including a greater need to focus on speedier digitalization of records.
“Two years ago, I was tracing my family lineage through genealogy research,” Jenkins explained days before the election. “I was looking in Scioto County and all across Ohio, tracing my roots. It frustrated me that neighboring counties, and counties across the state, had easily accessible websites for their Recorders Offices, property records are digitized back to 1910 and even 1850 in some counties. In contrast to Scioto County, we only have our property records digitized back to 1980 and we are not currently digitizing plot maps or cemetery records at all online. Most counties across the state have easily accessible cemetery records and they are assisting their townships and villages to help digitize their cemetery records. This is a big reason I started digging into the office.”
Jenkins said that he began looking more into the office and discovered other issues he had with their practices that gave him a desire to pursue the seat and instigate change.
“As I began digging into the office, and investigated, I was stunned to learn our current recorder has never applied for grants in 12 years of being in office, while neighboring counties, like Adams County, have brought in hundreds of thousands of grants for their office, which is why their years ahead of us in record digitization,” Jenkins explained days before the election. “As I strive to bring this office into the 21st century, I will be applying for grant funding.”
According to Jenkins, he has had thousands of conversations with elected leaders, officials, and voters. In these conversations, change has been a frequent topic of conversation in the majority of these conversations.
“There is a need in Scioto County, and we have heard this need continuously. We have spoken to folks who have lost their investments here in Scioto County, because they’ve purchased cemetery plots, and the records have burned to the ground in township facilities because they don’t have the funds or resources provided to them to properly record these records. The Recorders Office is built to report land documentation, and it isn’t being done,” Jenkins claimed before the election. “We keep hearing this over and over again. I think the campaign is going exceptionally well and people want change from Donald Trump and Sherrod Brown, all the way down to Gail Alley and Bill Ogg. I think we’re going to see a red wave. I’ve knocked on thousands of doors across Scioto County and they’re screaming for that.”
These party politics aren’t overly focused on in these types of seats, historically. Incumbent Gail Alley said, prior to the election, that this seat isn’t one built on policy making and that party affiliation doesn’t mean much for a position such as this one. Jenkins disagreed with her stance, although he said he thinks it is an unfair reality that must be considered.
“Absolutely. Partisan politics do play into this role. It is not about the hot topic issues like gun rights and abortion, what it is about is being able to pick up a phone and work with neighboring officials who are Republican. We have great relationships with our commissioners, state rep, and senator; they’re all Republicans. We have a supermajority in the house and senate. I am promising to bring money here for the Recorder’s Office and it is going to be a whole lot easier for me to go to Columbus and come back with support, because I’m a Republican,” Jenkins said. “That’s just the sad reality of it. And I want to emphasis that I believe this to be a sad reality. The reality is, a Republican can get more done with Republicans than a Democrat can. It’s just the truth. We have Republicans all over the state that I’m excited to work with.”
Jenkins said that he already has some idea as to what he will be tackling first, as he looks at starting his work.
“One of the biggest things we plan on addressing immediately is cemetery record keeping reform. We have a big task ahead of us, trying to assist township trustees and municipalities across Scioto County,” Jenkins said. “That is one issue we heard over and over. These improvements aren’t going to be free, but we are going to be pursuing is grant writing, which will be done aggressively so that we do not put any additional cost on citizens. Nearby counties have received hundreds of thousands in grants for this type of work and we will be doing that now ourselves.”
Jenkins was temporarily sworn in early last week by Commissioner Bryan Davis, after an office vacancy, which gave him an early head start in tackling the job. He was then sworn in only days later to officially start the term voters gave him.
He says he is now focusing on a plan to update the recorder website within the first six months, digitizing records back to a 50-year period, working on digitalization of plot maps, engaging Veterans to record ID cards, and has already outlined methods of saving money without impacting services or staffing that he says he will elaborate on later, once a more concrete idea is established.
Jenkins has moved on from running for office and has now settled into a role of doing the job. He says he is now striving to work for the people, whether they voted for him or not, eager to prove himself to all residents. He comes armed with a knowledge of running a business. Additionally, after working with other state recorder offices since his victory, has new ideas to bring to the table. However, he wants to also focus his time on honoring legacy and tradition.
“Working in office is different that running, because you’re working with everyone—Democrats and Republicans alike. The auditor, who is a Democrat, has been easy to work with, as well as the current treasurer. We are working across the aisle, with all community leaders, to serve the community. Looking back, there have been around four Scioto County Recorders in nearly 100 years and I don’t take that lightly. It is an honor and I plan on making improvements that also maintain legacy and tradition.”
While Jenkins ran on issues and party, he spoke after the election that he wishes to be a Recorder for all of Scioto County, regardless of party, and will be working hard to earn every voter’s trust.
“I’d like to thank the voters of Scioto County for entrusting me in this important task. We are going to be working very hard over the next four years to gain the trust of those folks who didn’t vote for us.”