EDITORIAL

Re-elect Bowman-English

Her record warrants a return to office

10/21/2013

Toledo Municipal Court hears misdemeanor and traffic cases from Toledo, Ottawa Hills, and Washington Township. Last year, the court processed 116,000 filings and collected $17.5 million in fees, fines, and court costs.

The court’s clerk oversees its administrative duties. Incumbent Vallie Bowman-English, who has held the job since 2003, has earned re-election.

Ms. Bowman-English, a Democrat, is president of the Ohio Association of Municipal and County Court Clerks. She cites her work in digitizing Municipal Court records: What used to take up to two weeks to put on paper is now recorded instantly, she says, because she assigns an employee of her office to each courtroom to update a case as soon as the judge acts.

Toledo’s municipal court was the first in Ohio to have an application for mobile devices. Ms. Bowman-English says she plans to introduce electronic filing of cases next year. She notes that her office had 80.5 full-time equivalent employees in 2012, compared with 89.5 in 2005.

Her opponent in next month’s election is Constantine Stamos, a Republican who ran unsuccessfully for Lucas County Clerk of Courts last year and for Toledo City Council four years ago. Mr. Stamos criticizes the clerk’s office for lagging on e-filing, but he does not make a persuasive case that he would do a better job than the incumbent.

Vallie Bowman-English’s record warrants a return to office.