Westchester, Explained 12: Inside the County Clerk's Office and the Records that Shape Westchester

As an extension of our weekly "This Week in Westchester - The Podcast" we welcome you to Westchester, Explained. In this special long-form series we take you deeper into the headlines, decisions and policies shaping Westchester County and their impact on your family, your neighborhood and your future. Here we slow it down, dig in and bring in the people doing the work, and we explain not just what the County is doing, but why it matters.

Because government should be clear. This is your County. 

And this is Westchester, Explained. 

In this episode, we sit down with Westchester County Clerk Tom Roach to explore the many services provided by the County Clerk’s Office – from passports and property records to county IDs and court filings. We discuss efforts to modernize operations, expand mobile services, protect homeowners from deed fraud and make government more accessible and convenient for residents. 

We also take a look at the history behind the office and the important role it plays in preserving public records while embracing new technology. Join us as we break down how these services impact everyday life and why it matters to Westchester residents.

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Transcript

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Hi, Westchester. I'm Westchester County Government Communications Director Catherine Chaffee. And as an extension of This Week in Westchester, the podcast, we welcome you to Westchester Explained. On this episode, we're taking a dive into the role of the Westchester County Clerk with our newly appointed Westchester County Clerk, Tom Roach. We're discussing the important services the Office of the County Clerk offers, recent improvements to look out for, and their community outreach efforts. Also, what are his goals for the office as he moves forward? And as always, we'll get into why these things matter and why you should know about them as county residents, because this is Westchester explained. So let's begin. Well, we have an exciting guest today. Someone who is no stranger to politics, no stranger to government, no stranger to Westchester, but who is in a new role. Very exciting. So welcome, County Clerk Tom Roach. Well, thank you very much. I'm happy to be here, and I'm happy to be county clerk. So how long have you been in office now? Just about it's uh five months. Five months? Yeah. Wow. So you're almost at the half-year mark. Yeah. And how's it been so far? It's been great. I mean, I uh I had 15 years as mayor, and um, I've been a lawyer. I just was doing the math in my it's been almost 40 years, I've been a lawyer. So I've I've uh I've been out and about with different uh fields, but uh but everything seems to come together. And one of the things I've learned as a lawyer is how to listen. People think lawyers just want to talk, but you learn how to listen. And um as a mayor, um just talking to the people who do the work about what they need and why we do things a certain way, I think is very helpful. So when I came in as county clerk, the first thing I did was I asked that they set up um meetings for me one-on-one, just the two of us with each um employee in the office. So it was about 55 or 60 meetings and um spent about half an hour with each person. Some people were a couple of people were like five minutes. There's just nothing they were cool, and that was that. But um, what what I was able to do is hear from people about um what they like about their jobs and how they what could be done to help them do their jobs better. And the message I got from everybody in the department really was a focus on the customer, which I I found very positive. That's very encouraging to hear. Yeah. Because sometimes that gets for for not for our government, but sometimes for governments because that does get lost, that we have customers. Right. And those are constituents and those are taxpayers. So let's start, um, let's kind of break it down a little bit further. Because you were talking about you're the county clerk, you have 50 people who work for you in the department. Uh, what does the county clerk do? Some people probably don't know. I'm sorry. I am sorry to say that. No, no, no. That uh the two questions I was asked when I was running, most most the most common questions were um, what does the county clerk do? Question one. Question two, that's an elective office. So yes, it is. It's the oldest elective office, I guess, in the in the county. So what the county clerk does is they're the repository of records for the county. So that includes all the court records. We're the clerk to the court here in Westchester, Supreme, and uh county courts. And so we have the motions and the files and all the all the documents that go along with that. Um, and my time as a lawyer, I plenty of time before e-filing, filing here in this clerk's office. And then they they're also we have the licensing division, which does passports. Um, we are an agency that's permitted to process passports. Um and they also handle the pistol permits, and we have land records where all of the records for uh all the properties in the county are kept and the mortgages that are on them. So when you buy a property and you have a title search done, what they're looking at is is there a clear title? And they're getting that information from us. So it's uh it's that that data goes back very far. It's fascinating because you can search it too. You can search it and and um and and a homeowner can also check on their own uh file and things like that. So there's a lot of uh records there. Um we try and make sure that our we get our services out as much as possible to the public. We're working hard on expanding the mobile office because uh people are busy and it's a lot to come in, and so we're trying to bring the services to them now. So so let's talk about what are some of the you've been in office almost six months, you've you've had the opportunity to talk to your staff. Um what are some improvements that you put into place in these very short six months? I mean, some a lot of the things that we have worked on and achieved might not be readily um uh it might not be noticed by the public. For example, the um the cashier system we have in place, which is the computer system that accepts payments, is is badly outdated, and it's I think 16 or 17 years old, and they had been working on bringing a new one in. But um, what does that mean? So you could we we can pay now with Apple Pay? Like what does that exactly mean? Yes, you can pay with Apple Pay, but you also uh it makes it better for um our side of the counter as well, because the process they had in place involved unplugging something, plugging something back in, issuing two receipts, stapling them together. There was copying involved. It's it's not it's not a good place to be. Um when when we had a demonstration from one of the vendors and they showed how uh a transaction could be processed, and the receipt just popped out of the uh printer. Uh the people in the room gasped, you know. And a good, a positive gasp. So uh again, we had I wanted the people that were going to use the systems to be part of the process of determining who we would uh bring in to do it. And we're very close to the end of that process. And hopefully once that happens, we should have the new system up and running in about six months. A very physical and basic thing that six months seems like a long time, but is that Yeah. Well, by the time he by the time he they this is what they tell you to try and manage your expectations, but the um there's there's stages into it when we're fully up and running. I think that's what we're looking for. Okay, okay. That's that makes sense. So um one of the other things that came up when I was uh talking to everyone is we are different than other departments because we are directly serving customers. We have three desks, um, licensing land and and legal that are having different customers come in all day. And the gates open up at 8:30, and and um we have to be there ready to serve people. One of the things that came up um so frequently amongst the employees was that the plexiglass, when they did the renovation, they put plexiglass barriers on the counters um that people didn't like it. They couldn't hear the customers, they had to raise their voices, it just wasn't a good climate. Um Was that a COVID protocol? It was it was at the time when they did the renovation, COVID was uh was was part of the conversation, and that's why I believe they put it in. Okay, that makes sense. So I was surprised it was nearly universal that people wanted it out. Um, so we actually got it taken out, and everybody's happy. And we left a little bit. So if someone really feels like they want to, you know, get behind stay behind the glass, they can. But for the most part, especially in legal, the echo chamber that was the waiting area, um, if you go in there when it's busy, you couldn't even hear. And now it's better. And also the airflow. This is basic stuff. But you know, um, this is why you talk to people that worked there though, because in land records, if people if you put papers down on the counter, they would fly away because the air current coming under the plexiglass was so strong. Wow. So this is basic stuff, but it's um but it improves the overall experience for someone. If you can't hear somebody and you can't put your papers down, you're not gonna have a positive experience getting your your filings complete. Right. Right? And people are discussing sensitive matters. You don't want to be yelling that. Yeah, we don't want to be and and also I think uh people are friendly to each other when they're not when the voices get raised, everyone's everyone's blood gets up a little bit. Right, right. Um so so those are great improvements in sh a short six months, more to come, I'm sure. Right. Yeah, we've got another thing we're working on is um electronic notification on property uh changes in title. So if um This is a this is a fascinating topic. So explain to me the explain to the listeners the issue. You own a home, you have title to the home, but then people don't really sit around checking title to their home. Right. Like I haven't checked mine since I got it. Right. But there could be problems if you're not checking. Right. Well, what can hap what's happening now is you're you're um seeing a wave of deed fraud, and a lot of it is overseas. And they're they monitor certain telltales and then they try and jump in and acquire title to a property on paper. They don't actually own it. It does not actually transfer ownership, but then they sell it to someone else. And um and that's the that's uh that's a terrible situation. So right now, under state law, we send a letter with uh about within three days of the transaction um to the last known property owner just to say, hey, um, this is not the language, but this this uh say, hey, um, you just sold your house, right? Um and Imagine if that's what the letter really said. I mean, it probably people would certainly get their attention, yeah. So um I think you know one out of 10,000, the answer is gonna be what? And that the sooner that people act, the better. So um what we're trying to do now is working with IT, we are in beta testing now to have uh an electronic alert that would happen the same day. So again, just shortening the you know, closing, tightening the window. So the sooner you know, the sooner that action can be taken. And so that's something that um we've been working on. Um does that happen a lot in Westchester, or is it just generally it's not a wave, but it has happened. And there's different types. So you have the type of someone who files a deed that's just false, that purports to transfer property to them or to an entity. Uh, and then you have the person who says, Oh, yes, just sign right here to get your new aluminum sighting, and maybe you're signing your deed, or um convinces people that there's a reason they should uh sign this deed, but don't worry, I won't file it. There's that aspect too. But um it's gotten a lot of attention at the state level and at the local level. Prosecutions are happening. So I think this is something that's gonna be brought under control. But in the meantime, we want to do everything we can to alert people when there's a change so that we can head things off at the pass. Absolutely. So you had mentioned that something that you're very focused on is community outreach. Right. You have these mobile units. Talk to me about the mobile units and what they do. So we have uh a mobile van that um goes out to communities. We can uh we we offer uh a bevy of services. So you have um passports are very popular. Yeah, especially now. Summer coming. Yes, and um, but we also have notary services. Um we had someone, we were doing an outreach in Yorktown at the John C. Hart Library, and it was not a passport day. Um, it was uh just general services, and and people come in for different things, can they get a copy of my deed, things like that, and we're able to do that. Uh, but someone came in and said that they had uh their mortgage had not, I believe that the mortgage had been recorded but not discharged, and they've been meaning to get down to the county clerk's office to iron it out, but they just thought they would stop it and see what's the best way for them to do that. Well, within a few minutes, we were able to actually take care of it for them. Um, and that he never even had to go into the uh into our main office. So that's the goal is to try and make things a lot easier for people. Um, we went to um the attorney general's office, did a presentation on uh deed fraud, and um they had they invited a number of entities to to take tables outside of where it was going to be held in the White Plains Library, and we set up that night for the first time with a with a printer that we can issue certified um copies of people's deeds. 82 people like lined up to get that. So we were proud to have the longest line out of all the entities. Bragging rights for sure. And so it's something that um I think people get a lot out of. And um the the passports become complicated because um towards the end of last year, they started to they they started to say um what they denied a lot of our requests to to have a passport uh have the mobile go out. Um the feds. So um the issue was if there's another place for the person to do it, like a post office, then they're gonna clamp down. But what it really boiled down to is instead of just sending 40 requests to them, which in the past had been yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, now it became tell us why. And so that's what we're doing now. We're telling a story. And um why somebody needs the passport? Well, why we need to do this particular outreach. So, for example, this week I'll be going up to Jefferson Village. Um, we're gonna be doing passports there. Um, and I'll be doing um um uh a presentation on defraud. But uh part of that is um, you know, we're we're explaining to them this is a large community of seniors. So for them, four miles is not necessarily across the street um to take care of this type of thing. So we'll bring it to them. Of course, when we do that, anyone in anyone in Westchester can come once we have that set up. So so that is what we do now is try and make a uh a pitch on those grounds. Other the basic thing is if we do it outside postal hours, because the post offices can do it, um, uh, then we're gonna get approved. And we actually have started doing that at the right in front of our office with the mobile van. So security issues of leaving all these buildings open for us is is is an issue. So we're doing it outside. And uh we've got two more coming um on uh June 23rd and uh July 21st. They run from four to seven. So for people who have a busy um workday schedule, they'll be able to get uh come out and take care of there. And right here. Tell them where the where's the van gonna be? Let them know. It's gonna be on Martin Luther King, uh uh right in front of uh right past the bridge. So June 23rd is a great day because it's primary day. It's my birthday. Now you can get your passport renewed. Well, that's why we set it up. Yes, exactly. Thank you. Thank you. I appreciate that. What a way to celebrate my birthday. Um, but but it's you know, even coming to your office to get your passport done. I know I did it for myself, I did it for my kids. It's the easiest thing in the world. It's really just a wonderful service, as you mentioned. It is, and we try, and I get I do get a lot of compliments on the way all our departments interact with the public. I just just happened today. We were at an event at the county center, and um and uh someone mentioned to me how professional it is and how they felt that you know people were really trying to help them. So because it's not, you know, it's not a complicated process, but it is there is a lot of paperwork, and you have to take the picture, and the picture has to be done a certain way. And we don't do this every day, we do this once every 10 years. So it's nice to have someone who does do it every day walk you through that process. I took the training to become uh a a passport uh agent and uh passed it. So I can do it, but but uh but I mean I did it largely to fully like I've done with other things, to fully understand the process to try and make it better for our people. But it is the complexity with which you would you put these things together, these applications together, it really does help to have someone uh help you with that. So so we're happy to do it. Yeah. And I think it's I really love that you're highlighting that um you're meeting residents where they are. You're recognizing that residents work, they can't get somewhere maybe at three o'clock, it has to be after hours. Um again, why is that important for your office to do, especially in 2026, where often both parents are working, kids are doing something else, you're running around all over the place. Why is that important? I mean, I feel, and this is something I I I felt when I was working as a mayor, is is that it's very important that we do what we can to make people's lives a little easier. How do where even it just if it eliminates a little bit of friction because there's so much going on, running children to childcare, um, taking people to doctor's appointments, doing your own job, all these things. How do we make things a little bit easier for people? And that's something that we've you know, we're trying to do with these programs is just take a pain point out um and make things go easier. And that's exactly what people say to us sometimes. I can't believe how easy that was. And that's what we're going for. What has surprised you the most these past six months? What surprised you the most about the office of the county clerk? Um I would say, first of all, the offices are beautiful. That was surprising. Oh, they are beautiful. Yeah. They were redone before I got there. Um Take credit for it, say yeah. That was really nice. And I wouldn't say surprise, but I was pleased that um the the positive attitude of the people that work there, the service-minded attitude, how do we make this thing easier for people? Because one thing that uh people talk about bureaucracy. And if you're gonna talk about bureaucracy, it's a clerk's office, it's kind of what we do. Uh but uh I think it's nice to surprise people when it goes easily and you feel heard and helped. And and we've had people, we've had people stay late to help someone with some issue they're having. You know, people often are representing themselves in very personal matters, um, and they need help filing a paper, so we can't give legal advice, but we can guide them and take the time to uh to help them through it. And uh I think our staff finds that rewarding, and I know that people appreciate it. Absolutely. What are your goals for the office the next six months, the next few years? What's your what are some of your goals? Pretty much what we've been talking about. Um, get our outreach out to people, um, look for new ways to do things that are more efficient. We are um, you know, look we always have to watch the budget. It's something I did a long time as mayor, it's something I do here. How do we provide better service, but still manage the taxpayers' funds like it's not our money, it's their money. How do we we're responsible to use it in an efficient way? And that's something that we're always looking at. And often the two merge together efficiency and um and cost savings can can work together. And it seems like you're really focused on modernizing, just making everything. I think that's never gonna end in any department, but particularly in a place like the clerk's office. When I was a young attorney and I was going to court, they would give me an addition to the four cases I was covering. Here's six things that need to be filed. I would get online with the other lawyers, whether I was in the Bronx, Westchester, Putnam, wherever, um, and uh stamp, stamp, stamp, and they hand you it back. And um then came electric filing, e-filing. Now e-filing is coming to criminal, and again, Westchester led the way in uh on the civil side. And other than New York City, we'll be leading the way again on the criminal side. And so um the technology keep but keep it keeps growing, keeps changing, and we uh oh yeah, and and we need to we need to work through that. So it's something that um is never gonna end. Because as things become more efficient, um we'll be able to do more. We're working on things like um having people be able to file more things online, not even come into the office. Right. We are actually something that's gonna be in place, it's in place now, is uh translation services. So it's uh when I was when I was over as mayor, we brought in Wordley to do our council meetings. So they can translate into 80 languages, 80 different languages, and it's simultaneous translation. So now at our uh windows, if someone comes in that doesn't speak English, um we're able to use a tablet, simple tablet, and communicate with them. And it's very accurate and very and it works really well. That's terrific. So uh technology can help us in a lot of different ways. So you're moving towards having things become um more electronic, you're moving things online, but you also have that really amazing room, and I don't know what it's called, but I pass it when I walk through your building where all the old bound records are. Does that room have a special name? Can you tell people all about this? Because it's fascinating to me. Aaron Powell So the old okay, I I can travel back in time to when I was a lawyer and we used to be able to my my office was in the bar building, and when it rained, I would cut through the county office building, over the bridge, to the clerk's office, right? And no security anywhere, not in the courthouse, not in the room. Different time. Yeah, different time. But you could just walk through. And and then as you came down that hallway, you would see where the title guys were working. They had a payphone, one of the guys is still there. Wow that I remember, and he's still there. But um, they would pull out those big books, and that's how they would search titles. It's all electronic now. But so but those big title books, those are the records of every every transaction of property in the county from from when? From the beginning. From the beginning. And and handwritten. And handwritten. I mean, they're beautiful. They're like works of art. They're beautiful, and and they still exist. They're in Elmsford, and uh and I visited them. Yeah. They seem to be doing well. Uh when I was when I was a law student and I in Buffalo, my I had I worked for a lawyer, a solo practitioner, who would have me check title on every real estate. He wanted me to check it too, in addition to the title company. So I would go over and I would pull out those big books and you just keep working your way back. And it's like a history lesson. Um and it it can take you back pretty far. But they're not, we don't really use them anymore. It's it's all now it's all. But through the if somebody wants to see them, they could see them. Yeah, sure. They're beautiful. Yeah, they are. It's fascinating to see. There's a lot as you said, there's a lot to learn from just looking at who's buying and selling property in the county. I mean, you could see what groups have, you know, what different um uh groups have immigrated to the country. I mean, there's just so much to find out from that. And there's all kinds of records like that, like name changes and things like that. And it is uh if there's something it's hard to even describe of seeing handwritten records from 1840. And whoever was writing that, it was important for them to do that. They're not here anymore, but we're still relying on it. And it's a kind of a message to us as electronic as we get, because we have to remember that what we're doing while we're on this planet um is something that other people are gonna rely on in the future if we do our jobs right. So um, whatever your job. So the lesson is to always keep good records. Yes. That's part of it. That's part of it. Okay, so um, where can people, where are you located? But people, if they want to come see your beautiful office, uh the mobile units, tell us where you're gonna be, where you are, typically, all those things. So our office is uh located in the low rise building, um, which I guess means something to all of us, but not to other people. But nobody else. I like to think about the b- I say you know the bridge over Martin Luther King Boulevard. A lot of the clerk's office is right in that bridge. Um but it's 110 Martin Luther King uh Boulevard. You have to come in. In White Plains, yep. In White Plains, you have to come in through the courthouse uh at this time for security purposes. And you you you know, there's signs that will guide you over to our office. But we are doing, as I mentioned earlier, we are doing um visiting different communities. What we do is a robocall out to that community when we're coming. We also alert the uh county legislator whose district it is because they put out newsletters uh and we alert the local officials. They usually ask us to come so they know about it, but they also uh put out that information and we get nice responses when we go out. Terrific. And the mobile unit is gonna be where in June? In June. Uh, well, it's gonna be outside our office on June 23rd and July 21st from 4 to 7. Um, our next our next visit is gonna be Yorktown, which it was just Thursday. Okay. Um terrific. And at Jefferson Village. Tomorrow, Thursday. Uh today is Tuesday. Oh my God, today's Tuesday. Goodness. I'm so proud of myself. Well, don't mind me. Thursday this week. Let's say that. Thursday this week. Yeah, Thursday this week, um, up at Jefferson Village in Yorktown. Okay. Um uh so uh but we will always notify people that we're coming. And it is look, it's a great you have people, you know, you have something you need to get notarized, and you just don't get around to it. We do that because that's a tough thing because every once in a while you do need to get something notarized. And I know for for me personally, I start to think like, okay, who who am I gonna see in the next 24 hours that's a notary? You not everybody has that luxury. You know, it is sometimes you need you need the service. So that's terrific. And and we do we also do uh county IDs and things like that. All of that can happen on on the on the truck. We updated our uh printers. What's the county ID for those of people who don't know? So Westchester County can issue a government identification. Um we require four points of identification, which is similar to what New York City does. And it's it's a way for people to have an ID that don't have a driver's license and for whatever reason can't get um the non-driver ID or don't want to or don't want to. We had a situation, we were working with somebody who was um had a one of the there was a fire in Yonkers who lost all their identification, trying to help them get some kind of identification. And um uh people coming out of uh the jail. Um, we're working with the re-entry people to try and uh make sure that's easy for them to get an identification because um, you know, it's trying to help people who might be in intimidated by the bureaucracy to try and make it smooth for them so that they can they're entitled to these things to help them, to help them get them. Yeah, absolutely. You do a lot of stuff there, do a lot of stuff at the county clerk's office. Busy. Yes. You thought, you know, being mayor was busy, but this sounds like it's just as busy. It's different busy. Different busy. Very different busy, but it is um, it is, it's it's important work. I knew that before I took the job, having been an attorney um who uh was in the clerk's office. Very full circle for you. Yeah, very much. So um if people want to find out more about your office and services you provide, website, phone number. Okay, okay. Our our phone number is 914-995-3082, and the website is Westchesterclerkny.gov. All right, terrific. Thank you so much for joining us. No, thank you. It was it was great. And uh, and you know, and anyone who has a question, they can feel free to reach out to me directly. We try and um, I still have the mayor, you know, jeans floating around. And uh, and I I like getting involved. Um, we try and make sure that everybody who comes receives good services and um and gets what they need.