Dems’ County Clerk Primary Pits Idoni Against Yonkers Councilwoman
County clerk is a position few people give much thought to – until a business license, passport or land record must be obtained or access to one of the hundreds of thousands of documents stored at its office is sought.
It is the oldest elected position in Westchester County, although in day-to-day practice largely a records management center.
That’s why it came as a surprise to some that four-term incumbent Timothy Idoni was challenged this year in a Democratic primary for his seat by Yonkers Councilwoman Shanae Williams.
But Idoni, who would become the third longest-serving clerk since the office was filled in 1684 should he win and complete a fifth four-year term, took the challenge in stride. He said the Democratic Party has become so dominant in Westchester that for many positions the only competition are intraparty challenges.
“You expect a primary these days. Everything is internal,” said Idoni, 66, a New Rochelle native and resident. “It you’re not getting primaried, you’re doing such a superior job or somebody’s looking to take you out. It’s the nature of the job.”
The primary challenge, Idoni’s second since becoming county clerk, comes from Williams, 32, who first became interested in government as a state Assembly intern while attending SUNY Albany. Born in Kingston, Jamaica, she immigrated with her family to Yonkers when she was nine years old.
But it was the green card process, and her fortuitously-timed internship, that opened her eyes to see how government can help average people She learned she needed her green card renewed after 10 years or apply for citizenship – she opted to become a citizen – and acknowledges she would have been lost had there not been people in Albany to help her.
“I realized that I was in a very fortunate situation because where I was, being in school and having access to folks who were able to help me through the internship that I did,” said Williams, who earned an online master’s degree in business administration from Walden University while working for six years in the Yonkers mayor’s office.
But she realized that there were many people, including many of Westchester’s immigrants, who did not have that access or have the rules explained to them straightforwardly.
Williams, who successfully ran for Christopher Johnson’s council seat after he moved on to the Board of Legislators, said her key goal if elected county clerk would be to make citizens, many from underserved communities, aware of the many services that the county clerk has to offer.
She intends to increase community outreach and use of the office’s mobile passport vehicle. Williams plans to include other services to that vehicle and to be consistently visible at events and street fairs throughout the county.
“That’s really my passion, that’s why I’m in government right now and that’s why I’m running for county clerk,” Williams said. “I know firsthand how important resources and information and having access to those can be for the average person throughout Westchester.”
Idoni has been a Westchester public servant for more than 30 years, although he never intended to run for public office. After earning a master’s in public management at NYU, his goal was to become a city manager.
While still in school, Idoni interned as an assistant to the Bronxville village manager, then got a job as the director of emergency services and deputy city manager in New Rochelle. From there, Idoni in 1985 became village manager in Ardsley for five years.
He then left the public sector for two years to work for a nonprofit affordable housing agency to gain housing-related experience, which is needed to manage larger cities.
But that’s where the opportunity for elected office emerged. Idoni was approached by a bipartisan group to run for New Rochelle mayor because the city was $1 million in debt. He agreed, got elected and his administration started making transformative changes, reducing staff by more than 20 percent, recruiting businesses and developers.
“I brought in the first Home Depot and the first Costco into Westchester, so that helped satisfy the financial aspects of (the city),” Idoni said. “They bring in a lot of money and still do. Then we started building tall buildings downtown like everybody else is doing these days.”
While still serving as mayor, Idoni ran and won the county clerk’s race in 2005, soon began making changes. Westchester was the first county in the state to electronically record mortgages and deeds and later court documents. He expanded the mobile unit from four trips a year to making it an almost weekly destination before COVID-19 hit. The office has also streamlined the processing of pistol permits.
In another term, Idoni plans to physically change the layout of the clerk’s office to make it more efficient for the public and safer for employees should the pandemic continue to affect society. Then he hopes to expand the types of court actions to be filed electronically. Matrimonial cases are still handled on paper.
“You can make change but it’s change within the scope of the job as opposed to social change issues,” Idoni said.
Martin has more than 30 years experience covering local news in Westchester and Putnam counties, including a frequent focus on zoning and planning issues. He has been editor-in-chief of The Examiner since its inception in 2007. Read more from Martin’s editor-author bio here. Read Martin’s archived work here: https://www.theexaminernews.com/author/martin-wilbur2007/