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February 29, 2012 By Wayne Hanson
When Debbie Conway became Clark County recorder in 2007, she stepped into a troubled office. Morale was low, equipment antiquated, and customers waited as long as three hours to record a document and another six months to get the document back. It took all day to open the mail with old-fashioned letter openers. A three-year backlog in property fee assessments meant millions in lost income.
Conway, who had private-sector experience bringing multimillion dollar projects in on time and under budget, sat down with IT and department managers and went to work outlining about 40 things needing quick implementation to get the office back on track. “I looked at it like one big project and broke it into phases,” she said.
First came new computers, faster scanners and an upgraded recordation system. Next Conway streamlined processes. Boxes of title company documents were entered into an electronic system by an outside company, allowing staff members to access documents on computer screens to review and record. Conway also instituted a system to reduce waiting time and linked it to the Assessor’s Office.
The changes Conway made serve her customers well, even during the economic downturn — which didn’t reduce workload, since the recorder handles foreclosures and as many as 1,000 liens a day for default of such things as sewage fees or child support.
Now the backlogs are gone, wait times are a few minutes, and those letter openers? Tossed out; an automated opener does the job in minutes.
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Morale is still low, FYI.
You should check out these people before you post this kind of article. Debbie Conway is good at campaigning and marketing herself, and spending millions of dollars doing it. But that is very different from making real achievements in technology. She undoubtedly nominated herself, as she has all of the other awards she's received.
Why don't you talk to the employees in that department and learn the truth. They are treated like dogs.
Would you work for someone who sneaks behind your back to see what you're doing? And would you work for someone who has implemented cameras to keep an eye on employees? What saved her was a smart techie (albeit lacking people skills as well) who did the work and made DC come out smelling like a rose.
Morale was indeed low when she took office, but is even lower now. What kind of “boss” would stay until 8 or 9 p.m. and go through an employee’s cubicle to check if anything was left out on their desk. Nepotism is at it’s finest in the recorder’s office, she has hired her best friend’s daughter, another church friend’s granddaughter, etc. and these are special employees, who could not be reprimanded without feeling the wrath of Debbie Conway. Her motto is “my way or the highway”. In the past few months, 2 long time employees passed away, one with 33 years and the other with almost 18 years. Debbie did not even attend the funeral services for either one of her employees. So much for morale. Employees’ computers are monitored by management while recording, indexing and emails. Each keystroke is monitored live time. Security cameras were implemented for the protection of the employees while on the front line, however, the cameras are not directed towards the customers, but towards the employees and monitored by the assistant recorder in his office. A new technology system was already in the making under Fran Deane, and not the brain child of Debbie Conway. The customer service “queue system” is a system used by DMV, so where are the innovative ideas that she brought to the recorder’s office??? The letter opener is a shared equipment from the Treasurer’s office which has been used since we moved to the new building.
Really Debbie??
Strike Six, Debbie Conway! If this was baseball, you'd be out TWICE. Do we see a pattern here? rational people on your staff DO NOT LIKE YOU! Rule by fear and intimidation does NOT make you a great leader. Nor are you a great technological visionary either--you just plucked and used others' ideas. What you have really done is disgust and alienate virtually your entire staff. You are NOT a fair and balanced person in the least sense. Your vile ways and heavy-handed style forced many good (and wise) County workers into early retirement. Was that part of your cost-cutting plan? The people that are still working for you are either hopelessly stuck there, juiced in, or just trembling sycophants. You do not deserve ANY praise, Debbie Conway!
Since the public is unaware of the real facts, let me share some: the Queue system was not Debbie's idea. The cameras were not even her idea, however they were to be facing outward in an effort to assist with mortgage fraud dilemmas. Seems like she decided to focus it on those that are under the thumb instead. The backlog was nowhere near the lies told above. Ask for the "stats" for that time frame. They still have them. The interim Recorder Charles Harvey had the office staff work even harder to have everything caught up for her to start fresh. The morale is much worse under this woman than in the decade before. If she says it often enough that morale has improved, she might really believe it, but no one else does. Ask any county employee you know if they have heard anything about the Recorder's office. It's the snake pit. The new recordation system was unnecessary. The other system was almost fully customized to the specifications of the office needs. It was a waste of money. And the system that allows for electronic recording was a poor decision that led to the fraudulent recordings of over 30,000 loans in Clark County as reported several months ago. Nice job, Debbie. Do you need help patting yourself on the back? Nope, looks like you know how to do that one just fine.
Debbie is a horrible boss, when she walks around the office looking down her nose at everyone, should you say hello she just gives you this up and down look and walks away. I have no idea how she gets the county to keep letting her spend millions every few years on yet another new system. The county lays off employees while allowing Debbie to spend millions. Something is very wrong with this picture.
Debbie Conway has tried to come off as an ethical breath of "fresh air" for the beleaguered County Recorder's Office but in addition to running the office like a gulag or concentration camp, she also brought along the unfortunate baggage of unresolved skeletons in her considerable closet. She probably will get re-elected because the sheepish and ignorant voters of Clark County know no better but here is something to chew upon: (if this link does not work here, simply cut and paste it into your browser). http://www.lasvegascitylife.com/articles/2010/04/27/opinion/knappster/iq_35480946.txt
The multi-million dollar projects in the private sector with "Yvonne Atkinson-Gates have they not gone "bankrupt"??
After reading all the comments on this site I have been assured that Ms. Conway must be doing her job because the many negetive comments about her tells me that you are people who have no sense of Team Work. She is your supervisor and these comments seem to me to be office politics. Been there, done that bought a T-Shirt and have a mug. The men or women that are not wearing the shoes can always see what others are not doing. When given the opportunity you find that you are no better than the person you replaced. Think about this old saying, "Every dog has his day, and a bird dog has two."