Candidate: Greg Harrell

Citizens of Marion County:

I am pleased to announce that I have filed to run for Clerk of the Court and Comptroller for Marion County in 2020, as our long-time Clerk and my mentor in the position, The Honorable David R. Ellspermann, plans to retire at the end of his current four-year term. 

The position of Clerk is a multi-faceted one that involves several different duties set by the Florida Constitution, Statutes, Rules of Court, and Governmental Standards of Accounting.  The Clerk does not make public policy.  Rather, the Clerk is a public servant who, among other things, is the docket manager and record keeper for our county and circuit courts, the summoner of jurors, the recorder of official records, the issuer of tax deeds, the processor of marriage licenses and passport applications, the County's chief budget and finance officer, and Clerk to the Board of County Commissioners.  

A successful Clerk cannot work alone.  Rather, he or she oversees and coordinates the work of many hard-working, well-trained, and experienced people who provide a wide variety of important services to the citizens of Marion County on a daily basis.  Helping identify, hire, retain, inspire, and consistently put dedicated and skilled people in positions where they can use their talents to succeed is crucial.  Ever-evolving technological developments and increasingly tight funding constraints also demand someone who can think and communicate well and lead others thoughtfully, efficiently, creatively, and compassionately as the Clerk's Office continues to maintain its past success, adapt to changes, and move forward into the future.  

I am well-suited to serve as the next Clerk of the Court & Comptroller for Marion County.  As General Counsel to the Clerk and part of his Senior Administration for the past six years, I have developed good working relationships with the dedicated and hard-working staff members of the Clerk's Office and Courthouse, the judges, lawyers, courthouse staff members, customers and citizens with whom we interact on a daily basis, the other constitutional officers and stakeholders with whom the Clerk's Office also regularly works, as well as other Clerks throughout the State and their respective staffs.  Relationships built upon performance, experience, and trust matter, and I am poised to continue working well with those with whom I already interact on behalf of our current Clerk and citizenry if and when I am elected.

I have been preparing for this type of professional service for a long time.  I am a member of the Florida Court Clerks and Comptrollers Best Practices Workgroup and Legal Panel and I have made substantive presentations to various Clerks and their staff members at clerk conferences and new clerk academies on issues ranging from evidence handling, storage, and disposition to remote viewing of court records.  I am on the Executive Committee, Governance Committee, and Board of Directors of the United Way of Marion County.  I am the Cubmaster of a local Cub Scout Pack.  I am a Past President of the Marion County Bar Association, a former Vice President of the Boys & Girls Clubs for Marion County, a past Chair of The Florida Bar's Grievance Committee for the Fifth Judicial Circuit (Group 05B), a two-time Senior Warden of the Vestry at Grace Episcopal Church in Ocala, and a past member of various other boards, including the Public Education Foundation of Marion County and the former Munroe Regional Medical Center Foundation.  I also am a graduate of both the Leadership Ocala/Marion Program (Class XXXI) and the Leadership Ocala/Marion Youth Program (Class I). 

I love this County and have never really considered anywhere else Home.   My Grandmother and Granddad Harrell moved here in the 1930s.  My dad and his five siblings grew up here, and my parents spent their 50 years of married life here.  My brothers, my wife, and I also grew up here and we are all proud graduates and products of the Marion County Public School System.  My wife is an accomplished local pediatrician; and, together, she and I are proud to be raising two wonderful kids here.  And I've essentially spent my entire life here, except for the time I spent:  attending and graduating Phi Beta Kappa from the University of Virginia; attending and obtaining my law degree from UF's College of Law, where I was a member of the Florida Law Review; and then starting my legal career in Tallahassee and Miami before coming home.  I practiced law for 13 years as a general civil litigator, obtaining the highest peer review rating possible and becoming a shareholder in a 30-member law firm based out of Orlando and Ocala.  I have spent the past 6 years and counting as in-house General Counsel to the Clerk; and, during that time, Clerk Ellspermann has been thoughtful enough to expose me to every facet of the job.  I know what the job entails, and I have significant inside-the-office, on-the-job experience.

None of us know for certain what the future has in store, and I obviously do not yet know whether I will be given the chance to serve the people of Marion County in this capacity; but I do know that it would be an honor and privilege to do so.  I am asking for your support.

Sincerely,
Greg Harrell