County clerk candidate profiles

One of the starkest differences between the two women running for Douglas County clerk lies in their views on the filing of liens by the Internal Revenue Service.

Challenger Loma Wharton, the owner of Loma’s Hair & Gift Gallery in Roseburg, says the federal tax agency does not follow the law or even its own rules in submitting the paperwork needed to perfect a lien that could be used to seize a home or property to pay off an outstanding tax bill.

County Clerk Barbara Nielsen, on the other hand, believes that the IRS has followed the proper steps when it provides her office with lien notices that the agency seeks to have attached to property owned by Douglas County residents going through a delinquent tax collection process.

She said the procedures followed by Douglas County are no different than those used by Oregon’s other 35 counties. Legal opinions sought by the county have also backed up Nielsen’s contention that the IRS is following the rules on lien filings.

“Just because they’ve done something out of habit doesn’t make it correct, doesn’t make it right, legal or lawful,” said Wharton, who had a lien filed by the IRS in January against her home in Winston, according to Clerk’s Office records.

That’s not it at all, Nielsen said of Wharton’s assertion.

“It’s not just a matter of playing follow the leader. It’s a matter of following the law,” Nielsen said.

In order to follow the federal Fair Debt and Collections Practices Act, Wharton said, the IRS has to take a taxpayer to court, prove the debt is valid and obtain a judge’s order before it can attach a lien.

The IRS follows a lengthy process to collect outstanding tax debts before it moves to obtain a lien. Taxpayers have the right to a hearing during that process to have the IRS prove the debt is valid. Nielsen said she hasn’t seen any court rulings that strike down that process as incomplete.

A legal opinion obtained by Douglas County from Portland attorney Nena Cook said the IRS is following all of the proper procedures when it files lien notices with the county. Nielsen said she will continue to record those documents as presented.

“Unless a court tells me to change what I’m doing, I’m not going to (change),” Nielsen said.

Wharton heads the Oregon Lawmen ad hoc Steering Committee, which for the past year has complained about the IRS lien process and pressed the Board of Commissioners to pass an ordinance that would stiffen the requirements for the tax agency in filing its liens.

Commissioners declined to pass the ordinance and told the group to take the county to court if it thought it had a valid case.

If elected, Wharton said she would not record liens filed by the IRS unless they’re accompanied by all of the documents she said are necessary.

“Any notice or claim of lien that comes into the Clerk’s Office that has the missing documents will be stamped “non-negotiable instrument” and put into a sub-folder within the lien index itself,” said Wharton, who said she would then send out a letter asking for the missing documents to be submitted.

The IRS has threatened to sue the county if it imposes new restrictions or fails to record the liens as presented.

Nielsen has worked for the Clerk’s Office since 1987. She was hired by then-Clerk Gay Fields as a deputy elections clerk. Ten years later, Nielsen was promoted to elections supervisor, a post she managed under Fields and Doyle Shaver, who succeeded Fields.

Nielsen was appointed clerk by the county Board of Commissioners in early 2003, following Shaver’s retirement. She defeated David Jaques, Commissioner Marilyn Kittelman’s campaign manager and adviser, by a 3-to-1 margin in the 2004 general election.

Nielsen said she is proud of her office, which she said has a long history of outstanding service. She said the elections office has always maintained a neutrality that has won praise from people of all political stripes.

“This office has got to stay neutral,” Nielsen said. “People of all parties, or nonparties, need to know that if they come in here, they get equal treatment.”

Wharton began studying federal laws and the U.S. Constitution after her father had a lien placed on his home in California. Originally, Wharton set out to prove him wrong in his anti-government rhetoric that the IRS hadn’t followed the law, but the more she researched the issues, she came to agree that he had been wronged.

Wharton considers herself a constitutional scholar and has spent thousands of hours researching issues and court decisions. She’s able to quote state and federal statutes at length and is a stickler for demanding government agencies follow the letter of the law.

Wharton would like to see hearings of the county’s Board of Property Tax Appeals recorded and placed online and on the government access cable channel. That, she said, would help promote property owners’ rights to contest their property assessments.

“Everybody needs to know that this is a service available to them because it puts money back into their pockets (if an assessment is lowered upon appeal),” Wharton said.

During her time in office, Nielsen said she has expanded the amount of information that can be found on her department’s Web site. Deed and lien records, candidate filings and information on obtaining marriage licenses and passports are available online at www.co.douglas.or.us/clerk.

Nielsen said she considers herself a public servant, not a politician. She said she’s committed to doing the best job she can for the public.

“I’m confident I’m doing what the public wants me to do, to be fair and honest and to protect the records in our office,” she said.

If either candidate receives more than 50 percent of the vote in the May 20 primary, she will advance to the November general election with only her name on the ballot.



• You can reach reporter John Sowell at 957-4209 or by e-mail at jsowell@nrtoday.com.

Candidate biographies <b>Barbara Nielsen </b> (incumbent) <b>Age:</b> 58 <b>Education:</b> Graduate, El Cajon High School, El Cajon, Calif. <b>Occupational background:</b> Douglas County clerk <b>Public service:</b> Court Appointed Special Advocates; member, Oregon Association of Clerks <b>Loma Wharton Age:</b> 58 <b>Education:</b> Graduate, Willits High School, Willits, Calif.; business certificates from Heald Business College; graduate, Ukiah Beauty College, Ukiah, Calif., licensed in Oregon <b>Occupational background:</b> Owner and operator, Loma’s Hair & Gift Gallery, Roseburg <b>Public service:</b> Secretary, Douglas County Women’s Slowpitch Softball; chairperson, Oregon Lawmen Public Interest Group; coordinator, Southern Oregon Lawmen; chairperson, Lawmen ad hoc Steering Committee