The League of Women Voters asked the candidates: Do you have specific suggestions for improving the effectiveness and efficiency of the office for which you are a candidate?

Monroe County Controller

Vote for one 4-year term.

Democratic Party

Christine Craig

Mailing Address: East Stroudsburg

Campaign Phone: 570-730-0318

Website: http://ChristineCraigCampaign.com

Campaign email: ccraig4pa7@gmail.com

Education: B.A., Pace University; Masters degree, ESU (12/2019) political science

Current Occupation: Full-time student at ESU

Qualifications: An accountant for over 20 years; oversaw billions in revenue for both publicly traded and private companies; involved in over 70 company audits; streamlined functions for best processes and efficiency; saved companies thousands by reviewing vendors, negotiating better prices and eliminating duplicative vendors.

A: Monroe County’s GDP growth has a negative impact on Monroe County citizens. Clear vision and leadership is needed to develop business opportunities that will pay living wages to our citizens. The biggest complaint of our citizens are the high property and school taxes, yet our schools are underfunded and the disparity of student learning needs to be addressed, so that our children benefit. How can we get better results and lower taxes? A cost/benefit analysis is needed to determine if current policies are fiscally sound. This would impact our budget, shifting money to programs that help families and seniors enjoy a better life in Monroe County. Securing funding through grants for programs will be a priority, and implementing policies that will cut expenses will help lower taxes. By combining shared services, using preferred vendors, eliminating some third party vendors, we will save money. Researching alternative expenditures for major projects is needed to ensure people won’t see increased taxes.

Luna Mishoe

Mailing Address: East Stroudsburg

Campaign Phone: 973-493-6308

Website: http://m.facebook.com/lunaforcontroller

Campaign email: l.mishoeii1@gmail.com

Education: Sociology, B.A., Master’s degree, city and regional planning, MCRP Diplomas: forensic science program monitoring and evaluation

Current Occupation: Retired

Qualifications for Office: I am educationally qualified with: 1.) many years of success as an administrator, director and leader; 2.) many years of effective and creative grantsmanship and procurement; and 3.) many years of program monitoring and evaluations.

A: Yes, I do have specific suggestions for improving effectiveness and efficiency of the Controller’s Office. Essentially, I will start with an independent third party audit of the Controller’s Office. The audit will extend beyond financial assessments, but will additionally include programs where allocations of Controller funds have been made. I will look for new ways, which are more efficient and more cost effective ways of doing business. We will monitor on a regular basis and make adjustments accordingly. Allocations may also be adjusted. We will operate much more transparently and inclusively and we will become more assessable.

Republican Party

Marlo A Merhige

Mailing Address: Cresco

Campaign Phone: (570) 977-3976

Campaign email: Merhige@ptd.net

Education: Graduated Cum Laude, College Misericordia, B.S. Accounting

Current Occupation: Monroe County Controller

Qualifications: I became controller in 2000 and have been overseeing all aspects of the Controller’s Office since 1997. With my leadership skills and on-the-job training, I am a strong advocate for the people of the county.

A: The mission of the Controller’s Office is to provide independent oversight of the financial affairs of Monroe County as prescribed by law, with the aim of promoting accountability and efficiency in our fiscal operations. I will continue this mission while expanding the scope of programs examined and implementing new procedures, all while doing so with “full disclosure.” A few of the things we have done over my years in office have been; converting to a time and attendance system for payroll, posting of all the county’s bills on the website, auditing of the hotel establishments to ensure that they are collecting the 3% hotel tax and scanning of all backup documentation. There is still much work to be done, improved upon, which I have set the wheels in motion toward making happen. I am currently the second vice president of the Pennsylvania State Association of County Controllers, which through this network, will strengthen my ability to continue to serve as your Monroe County Controller.

Register of Wills and Recorder of Deeds

Vote for one four-year term

Democratic Party

Anita Peterson

Mailing Address: East Stroudsburg

Campaign Phone: 570-350-3473

Campaign email: Campaign Peterson 1 @gmail.com

Education: Graduate of the National Center for Paralegal Training in Atlanta, Georgia

Current Occupation: Real Estate Paralegal for Newman Williams, Mishkin, Corveleyn, Wolfe & Fareri

Qualifications: 45 years of experience in title insurance and title searching, along with my legal and paralegal experience

A: Yes, I plan on moving back the documents and maps that were taken out of the office in the last three years, that are crucial to the use of the office. The office needs to be more customer friendly, and the Register and Recorder needs to be present in the office on a daily basis.

I will obtain input from the professionals that use the office everyday, and try to improve the workings of the two offices.

I plan to put into effect efforts to prevent fraud, and examine e-recordings for security. In this day and age, the office should be able to accept debit cards as payment for recordings, instead of making customers purchase money orders.

Republican Party

Josephine Ferro

No response

Monroe County Prothonotary and Clerk of Courts

Vote for one 4-year term

Democratic Party

Beth Rodriguez

Mailing Address: East Stroudsburg

Campaign Phone: 570-807-5749

Website: http://facebook/bethrodriguezpa

Campaign email: bethrodriguez118@gmail.com

Education: University of Delaware, B.S., dietetics and nutritional sciences

Current Occupation: Housekeeping Supervisor MasterCorp Inc. East Stroudsburg

Qualifications: Experience providing exceptional customer service skills. Ability to work well under pressure. Ability to handle multiple tasks at once. Great interpersonal skills. Excellent time-management skills. Ability to adapt to multidisciplinary environments.

A: I wish to increase the transparency of the office by explaining to the public what the roles of the two offices are and hold information sessions to do so. I would like to modernize the office by allowing county business to be done online, make more services available digitally, create a system to answer questions and accept cash and credit for payment. To be able to allow the office to become more accessible by using the county website and physical office easier to use for those with disabilities, introduce satellite offices and create a presence in the community.

Stacy Stewart-Keeler

Mailing Address: Mount Pocono

Campaign Phone: 914-841-1174

Campaign email: stacyforprothonotary@gmail.com

Education: Cazenovia College A.S. degree elementary education; Syracuse University, elementary ed/psychology; DeVry University, business management sales & marketing

Current Occupation: Senior manager at LegalShield

Qualifications: Monroe county resident for 13 years. Councilwoman for Borough of Mount Pocono, Committee Woman for Borough of Mount Pocono, Board of Director for Pocono Mountain Public Library, Secretary Mount Pocono Rotary Club for 11 years

A: I would evaluate the processes of the office to make more consumer friendly. Improve customer service 100%. Make payments more convenient by taking credit/debit cards. Improve the process for getting PFAs. Filing with speed and accuracy.

Republican Party

George Warden

Mailing Address: Stroudsburg

Campaign email: wardengeorge@hotmail.com

Education: Stroudsburg High School; Penn State University

Current Occupation: Monroe County Prothonotary, Clerk of Courts and Clerk of Orphans’ Court

Qualifications for Office: Prothonotary and Clerk of Courts 19 years; Owner of PetroCheck, 10 years; Director of Conference Services for a University, 4 years; Coast Guard Auxiliary, 24 years; volunteering and board membership, various organizations, 30 years.

A: It has been an honor to serve you, the people of Monroe County. I’ve brought my business experience, computer expertise, and principles of customer services to these Offices, whose major functions are to ensure that all Court documents are properly filed. I am proud of the work we have done to help domestic violence victims, improved customer services and the application of frontline technologies to better serve the Court and people of Monroe County.

Monroe County District Attorney

Vote for one 4-year term.

Republican Party

David Christine

Mailing Address: Stroudsburg

Education: 1975, Stroudsburg High School; 1979, Lafayette College, B.A.; 1981, Southwestern University School of Law, Juris Doctor

Current Occupation: District Attorney of Monroe County

Qualifications: I have been the District Attorney of Monroe County for 20 years. I previously was appointed an assistant district attorney for a total of 12 years.

A: As the current District Attorney nearing the end of my fifth term in office (a total of 20 years), I have learned to never be satisfied with the status quo. Public service requires diligent and continuous self examination and self improvement. I believe that this philosophy has resulted in the office of the District Attorney being held in high regard by the Monroe County law enforcement community and the citizens of our county that we have sworn to serve and protect.