Election 2026: Clark County Clerk

0:00 Election 2026 Clark County Clerk, July 5, 2026. Clark Vancouver Television invited all candidates running for Clark County Clerk to participate in this program. We have been unable to schedule candidate Scott G. Weber at this time. Please tell us about your background. My name is Rachel Shapiro and I earned my Juris Doctorate from the University of Massachusetts School of Law in Dartmouth, Massachusetts. I decided to attend law school after personally navigating the court system as a self-represented litigant. That experience gave me first-hand insight into the challenges many people face and inspired me to pursue a legal education so I could better understand the law and help others professionally.

0:58 I have owned and operated businesses giving me extensive experience managing financial budgets, customer service, and daily operations. My background also includes experience in forensic accounting where I developed strong analytical skills by examining complex financial records, identifying discrepancies and ensuring accuracy and accountability. These skills translated directly to the clerk's office of maintaining precise court records and safeguard public trust. Throughout my career, I have learned that success comes from organization, attention to detail, transparency, and treating every person with respect and those are the values I will bring to the clerk's office. My qualifications come not only from education and professional experience but also having

1:54 experienced the court system from the public's perspective. I understand what people need because I have been in their shoes. Why should the voters select you for this position? The voters should select me because I bring a unique combination of legal education, business experience, and financial expertise. My first-hand experience navigating the court system as a member of the public, I understand that the clerk's office is about much more than maintaining records. It is often the first place people turn when they are going through one of the most difficult times in their lives. Every person deserves to be treated with professional respect and compassion. When elected, my focus will be on making the clerk's office more accessible, efficient, and customer focused.

2:52 I want to improve access to the court information, expand resources for self-represented litigants, and work towards creating a self-help center so people can better understand the court process. I also believe in using technology to improve public access while protecting the accuracy and integrity of court records. As a business owner, I understand the importance of accountability, responsible financial management, and providing excellent customer service. These are the same principles I will bring to Clark County's office and the courthouse. Most importantly, I am running because I generally care about the people of Clark County. My goal is to build a clerk's office and a courthouse that is efficient and transparent

3:47 and committed to serving every member of our community with integrity and respect. If elected, what will be your top three priorities? When elected, my first priority will be creating a court self-help center for self-represented litigants. I know from personal experience how overwhelming the legal system can be without an attorney. While court employees cannot provide legal advice, they can provide information, resources, and guidance that help people better understand the court process. I want to make sure everyone has access to those resources. With that, I also want to implement a self-help section where volunteer attorneys and paid paralegals will give you legal advice and help you fill out the forms. My second priority will be making the Clark County Clerk's Office the best in Washington

4:46 State. I believe we should always strive for excellence. I plan to study successful court systems, including King's County, identify their best practice and implement ideals that improve services here in Clark County. My goal is not to simply to match the best. It is to make Clark County the standard that other counties look to for excellence. I also want to introduce a program called Lunch with the Clerk, where every first Wednesday of the month, members of the public can bring a sack lunch and meet me in an informal setting to ask questions, share concerns, and learn more about the services the Clerk's Office and the courthouse provides. I believe government should be accessible and listening to the people we serve is one of the best ways to improve public service.

5:45 My third priority will be improving customer service and efficiency. Every person who comes into the courthouse or the Clerk's Office should be treated with professionalism, respect, and compassion. I also want to continue improving technology, streamlining processing where appropriate, and ensuring court records remain accurate, secure, and accessible. Together, these priorities will create a Clerk's Office and a courthouse that is more accessible, more efficient, and more responsive to the needs of the people of Clark County. What are the primary responsibilities of the Clark County Clerk? The Clark County Clerk plays a vital role in ensuring our judicial system operates efficiency accurately and transparently. The Clerk is responsible for maintaining the official records of the Superior Court and

6:45 the District Court, preserving these records for future generations, processing court files, collecting and accounting for court fees, managing court documents, and supporting the judicial process while ensuring the integrity and security of the court records. Beyond these statutory responsibilities, I believe the Clerk also has an important responsibility to serve the public. The Clerk's Office is often the first point of contact for people navigating the court system, many of whom are experiencing some of the most difficult times in their lives. They deserve to be treated with professionalism, respect, and compassion. The Clerk's Office should also continually look for ways to improve customer service, expand public access to the court's information, embrace technology and increase efficiency,

7:43 and provide resources that help self-represented litigants better understand the court process. That is the kind of leadership I bring as your Clark County Clerk. What experience do you have overseeing the processing and retention of records for a large organization? Throughout my career as a business owner, I have been responsible for maintaining accurate financial business records, ensuring documents were properly organized, retained, and available when needed. My experience in forensic accounting also requires meticulous attention to detail. Continuing complex financial records for accuracy, consistency, and accountability. I understand that the Clerk's Office and the courthouse has even a greater responsibility because court records are official public records that must be protected, preserved,

8:41 and maintained with the highest level integrity. Accuracy is essential because judges, attorneys, and the public rely on these records every day. As Clerk, I will ensure our office follows all legal requirements for records management while continuing to improve efficiency through technology. Strong internal procedures and commitment to excellence. My goal is to protect the integrity of the court's records while providing the highest level of service to the public. What experience do you have overseeing the collection of fees for a large organization? As a business owner, I have been responsible for managing budgets, overseeing financial transactions, maintaining accurate accounting records, and ensuring that revenues and expenditures

9:39 were properly documented. My background in forensic accounting further strengthens my understanding of financial accountability. Internal controls and accurate record keeping. The Clerk's Office is entrusted with collecting accounting for the distribution court fees according to the Washington law. The responsibility requires integrity, transparency, and precision. My financial background has prepared me to oversee these responsibilities reasonable while ensuring that public funds are managed with the highest level of accountability and public trust. Final question, what makes you the better candidate? I know I am the better candidate because I bring together legal education, business leadership, legal expertise, and personal experience navigating the court system.

10:39 These experiences have given me a unique understanding of both the responsibility of the Clerk's Office and the courthouse and the need of the people it serves. I am not simply running to maintain the status quo. I have a vision for making the Clark County Clerk's Office and the Clark County Courthouse the best in Washington State by expanding resources for self-help litigants, creating a court self-help center, improving customer services, embracing technology, and learning from the best practice of successful counties like King County, which has a self-help center which is manned with volunteer attorneys that will give you legal advice, a paid paralegals that will help you fill out your form, and you can find your documents online or you can come in for your documents.

11:37 Most importantly, I believe public office is about serving people, every person who walks through the courthouse doors deserve to be treated with professionalism, dignity, and respect. If elected, I will lead with integrity, transparency, and commitment to making our courts more accessible, more efficient, and more responsive to the people of Clark County. For more information, contact Rachel Shapiro, P.O. Box 5912, Vancouver, Washington, 98668. Phone number 310-707-1837.

12:22 Email info@voterachelchapiro.com, I-N-F-O @V-O-T-E-R-A-C-H-E-L S-H-A-P-I-R-O dot com. Website is voterachelchapiro, Rachel like in the Bible and Shapiro like O.J.'s attorney, voterachelchapiro.com. Please tell us about your background. I was born in New York City. I grew up in Orange County, New York, went to college with a degree in accounting at Fordham University, went to law school at Pepperdine University, passed the bar and decided to join the Navy and see the world. First I was in San Diego, then I was stationed in the Philippines, and then later they sent me to Guam and I stayed there for a while. Then I came back to New York.

13:16 Now I've been out here because two of my sons live out here in the state of Washington and I love it here. My wife is a member of the Pacific Island community, very active in it. And I have eight grandchildren here and my roots are here now. Why should the voters select you for this position? They should select me because as an attorney, I have appeared in many courts and I see the viewpoints of four groups which need to be accessed. The judiciary, the members of the bar, the members of the public, and the people who work for me, but I prefer to say they work with me. The clerks that are already lifetime civil servants have a wealth of knowledge and anybody who comes into any office with arrogance thinking they know more than them, well, they've got something bad coming to them. Things won't work out.

14:15 So I'm going to value all those four groups and keep their wishes, not their whims, their wishes and their suggestions in mind. If elected, what will be your top three priorities? Well, the top three priorities would be engaging those four groups. The second one would be to set up formal meetings where I could meet with those groups, talk to them, get their input, and then go forward. The last one would be keeping the County Clerk of Clark County as an elected position, not an appointed position. I think the voters, the people of Clark County should have the biggest say in who holds this office. What are the primary responsibilities of the Clark County Clerk? The County Clerk is a Washington State constitutional officer responsibility for managing and preserving

15:12 all legal records and proceedings for the Superior Court. This includes dockets for felony, criminal, civil, domestic, family law, probate and juvenile cases. The core responsibilities include court administration, attending court proceedings to process documents, enter orders, judgments and decrees, and issue legal instruments like subpoenas and warrants, records management, serving as the official custodian for court files, maintaining optical imaging, scanning and indexing systems for public and legal access, collecting statutory fees and fines while holding, investing and disbursing litigant and court trust funds. What experience do you have overseeing the processing and retention of records for a large organization? Well, the large organization that I insisted from time to time and had to do those duties

16:10 both in San Diego and the Philippines was called Navy Relief. It's the lifeblood for many families, the lifeline for Navy and Marine Corps members and their families when they need a loan, when they've experienced a disaster. It serves them very well. It's a very honorable, decent organization, and I had to handle a lot of records as a volunteer. What experience do you have overseeing the collection of fees for a large organization? Well, when I go back to Navy Relief, I say fees, but they were contributions. If you want to call that fees, you can. So in my children's soccer leagues, I would collect fees to it as I would help for a volunteer, was a pretty large operation, entry fees and things like that. And many times I had to assess when collecting those fees if there could be a waiver for children like from a poor family or something like that.

17:10 And many times we waived the fee. Sometimes we didn't, and sometimes people would make even contributions to the league. Final question, what makes you the better candidate? What makes me the better candidate is my perspective as a lawyer, as I've said in the beginning of this interview, liaisoning with the court, i.e. the judiciary, the lawyers, the public and the employees. As lawyers, many times we would talk and commiserate about what the court was doing right or wrong. And we were able sometimes to approach the judiciary and get things changed. Also, I vow to keep this with all my might if I can as an elected position. The charter commission is meeting next year, that proposal to see whether they adopt it.

18:06 And if it is, it'll go to the general public and I will continue to campaign to let the people of the county, of Clark County, Washington to decide. For more information, contact Gerald E. Gray, 11716 Northeast 49th Street, apartment Q2, Vancouver, Washington 98682, phone number 360-553-5250, email graylawus@gmail.com.