Recorder faces Republican challenger
Debbie Bardella did not have a Republican challenger in the May primary, but the incumbent Democratic recorder of deeds wound up with one in the general election after a successful write-in effort by Nancy Carr.
The two women will face off in the Nov. 5 election for the seat, which Bardella has held for four terms.
Bardella is campaigning on her experience and her office’s performance, while Carr is taking her to task for voluntarily taking on the additional role of tax revenue director, in which she oversees the tax assessment and tax claim offices.
The recorder of deeds records all deeds and documents relating to real estate and collects real estate transfer taxes.
Bardella said when she became recorder almost 16 years ago there was a backlog of deeds that had not been recorded, but she has turned the office into an efficient operation, where deeds are scanned and recorded within a few minutes while the person is in the office. In addition, she leads the state in the back-scanning of old documents, with deeds, mortgages and othe records needed to search titles available in electronic form back to 1791.
For more than eight years, she also has served as the tax revenue director, receiving no additional compensation. Bardella said she volunteered to take on the job after the former director retired. She is the only recorder in the state who serves in the dual role.
“There is a lot of back and forth. The deeds automatically go over to the tax assessment office. It all intertwines, so it just made perfect sense,” she explained.
But Carr, who said she has had personal dealings with the office, called it “dysfunctional” because it “gets one-third of the time it is due.” She said she would make changes from the top down to upgrade technology, process information more quickly and improve customer service.
“The voters are electing a full-time recorder of deeds who will devote time to that office,” she said, adding she would do the job on a full-time basis and would not take on the dual role.
Bardella explained that she serves as an administrator and works from 7 a.m. until past closing while her staff does the processing. She took exception to Carr’s claims her staff is not helpful. She also pointed out that she has saved taxpayers about $150,000 a year by overseeing the other two offices and said Carr would cost the county money.
Carr said she did not run in the primary because of family issues that prevented her from circulating nominating petitions. She pointed to her management experience as making her the most qualified candidate. Before working at Pittsburgh International Airport, she was the officer-in-charge at the South Hills 911 center, she said, and prevously served in other management positions.