Youngstown Clerk of Courts forum introduces candidates Richard Hill, Jeff Limbian and Corrine Sanderson

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio (WKBN) – Monday night in Youngstown, candidates for the Youngstown Clerk of Courts faced off at a forum at New Bethel Baptist Church. They answered questions from a group of panelists and the audience.

Sarah Brown-Clark has been the Youngstown Municipal Clerk of Court since 1999 when she was elected. Three candidates are vying for that position and hoping to fill her shoes. They are Democratic candidate Richard Hill, Independent candidate Jeff Limbian and Independent candidate Corrine Sanderson.

Forum Question: “What changes, if you are elected, would you put into place to enhance the Clerk of Courts operation?”

Hill has worked in the Clerk of Courts Office for the last 23 years. He says he would modernize the technology used by the office to make it easier for people to navigate.

“We will be embarking on a $300,000 upgrade to our system that will make it more effective and efficient. It’s going to take someone who has experience to facilitate the implementation,” said Hill.

Limbian is an attorney and the current law director for the city of Youngstown. Limbian says he would use a “paperless” system, add more languages to the website and add an attorney to the staff.

“Legal issues come up all the time in Clerk of Court offices and there is not currently an attorney in that office. I believe it’s incumbent for the new Clerk of Courts to be an attorney and to have at least one other attorney on staff,” said Limbian.

Sanderson is a paralegal and Youngstown native, who previously served on the Youngstown City School Board. She says she would improve the office’s finances.

“I looked at other cities that have similar makeups to see how they were doing as far as salaries, expenditures, collection rate. Last time we checked, there was a 32% collection rate as far as any tickets,” said Sanderson.

Early voting starts on October 11 and the election is on November 7.