Improving customer service and technology are two main goals which Winnifa Clark hopes to achieve upon taking office in January.

Clark defeated Lisa Mizell, Orangeburg County’s two-term clerk of court, in Tuesday’s Democratic primary. Because Clark faces no Republican opposition in November, she is likely to become the county’s new clerk of court.

Votes in all of the primary races now have to be officially certified. A certification hearing is set for 11 a.m. Thursday at the Orangeburg County Council Chambers.

Howard Jackson, the county’s director of voter registration and elections, said the hearing should not last very long.

“It depends on if there are any challenges or opposition. It could be as short as an hour, and it could last a few hours, depending on the number of challenged ballots or opposition to the election,” Jackson said. “As of now, we’re not foreseeing any issues with the election results.”

A deputy clerk of court for eight years and an employee of the clerk’s office for 17 years, Clark resigned from the clerk’s office in December 2007 to run for office. She defeated Mizell by a vote of 5,989 to 5,031.

Now, “I will be working on my initiatives,” Clark said.

The development of an online child support payment system is one convenient way in which service will be improved, she said. In that way, she said, citizens won’t have to worry about the office being closed when they’re ready to transact their business.

“I want to allow those who pay child support to be able to pay their child support online by using their credit or debit card,” she said. Clark also wants to make pro se forms available online for citizens who can’t afford an attorney.

“We’ll have forms available with instructions, and that will allow them to be able to access forms online. One of my other initiatives is public education. There are so many folks that don’t understand the procedures and the functions of the office,” she said, stressing that her office will offer seminars and workshops to help citizens better understand its role.

Clark also wants to develop a volunteer work program for troubled teens.

“During the summer months, they’d volunteer with the court system and build up their morale. I would allow them to work with the civil and criminal clerks, and I want them to go in the court system while juvenile cases are going on to see other troubled teens and the results,” Clark said.

“At the end of the program, we will award them for their services. This is a way to let them know there’s a better life ... than drugs and gangs. I want to make them better citizens,” she said.

Clark says she also wants to improve customer service.

“We definitely have to embrace customer service. My staff will be a working staff that is going to have ethical standards, be professional in work standards and offer each customer (quality service) regardless of race or gender. I want them to be treated with first-class service. I just want to make the office user-friendly,” she said.

She said she is not going to wait until she gets in office to begin her work.

“I will be working hard so that when I take office in January, I will be ready on day one. I will have a lot of things organized when I hit the office. It’s going to be a lot of stuff already in order,” she said, noting that she thanks God, her family and the voters for their support during her campaign.

“I’m grateful to God, and I’m thankful for my family, campaign committee and the voters who made this possible. They supported me, voted for me and just believed in me. Continue to keep me in prayer,” Clark said. “I pray to be the best clerk of court in the state of South Carolina.”

T&D Staff Writer Dionne Gleaton can be reached by e-mail at dgleaton@timesanddemocrat.com or by phone at 803-533-5534.

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