Getting to Know Warren Slocum,
San Mateo County's Chief Elections Officer &
County Clerk-Recorder-Assessor . . .
San Mateo County has its own
local leader at the forefront of reshaping governance in the Information
Age: Warren
Slocum, Chief Elections Officer & County Clerk-Recorder-Assessor has
served the Silicon Valley as a non-partisan elected official since 1987.
He holds the office
with the longest title and is responsible for the conduct of all public
elections and the registration of voters, the valuation of real and
personal property and for recording various documents related to the
private ownership of property as well as for birth, death and marriage
certificates. Warren's enterprise employs 120 to 2,500 staff and its
annual budget is approximately $24 million with $12 million in revenue.
A PUBLIC EDUCATION
Warren Slocum attended college using the benefits of the G.I.
Bill and graduated from San Diego State University with honors in history.
He was the President of Phi Alpha
Theta, an academic fraternity.
SERVED HIS COUNTRY
Warren enlisted in the Army and served in Vietnam during 1966-67. His unit
received a Meritorious Unit Citation and he was honorably discharged
after three years of
service.
WORKING TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE
Warren worked in private sector prior to launching his public sector
career.
He was first
elected in 1986 and today
is a recognized election’s expert with over twenty years’ experience in
the field. He currently serves as Chief Elections
Officer & County
Clerk-Recorder-Assessor in one of the
"most wired counties in America" and is responsible for the
conduct of all elections and voter registration activities in
San Mateo
County – located in the heart of Silicon
Valley."
He has been called the
county's highest ranking geek elected official. As a public service
entrepreneur and elected official, Warren uses his tremendous energy and
vision as he strives to deliver "good government" with a customer
friendly, common sense approach. He describes himself as an
independent problem solver, not a Sacramento insider or politician. Warren
Slocum and his organization were recently described as "an example of
responsiveness, efficiency and action by an elected official and
government office which should be the model for all public agencies."
In
1992 he converted the county's voting devices from old lever machines to a
modern, state of the art optical scanning system. Since then he has
completely changed the paradigm for elections in California and has set a
new, high standard of excellence in election administration.
Warren's
election office has consistently been praised for its efficiency and
innovativeness - a recent Grand Jury, for instance, said, "we commend the
staff of the Office of Assessor-County Clerk-Recorder for developing,
implementing and continually upgrading a system of safeguards to ensure
the integrity of the election process in San Mateo County."
INNOVATING FOR SILICON VALLEY AND CALIFORNIA
Warren Slocum has contributed to his community, the Silicon Valley and
to California in many ways. Here are some examples of his work:
Conducted California's first
Poll
Worker Academy - an intensive educational seminar for precinct
inspectors
Published web's first blog
devoted to the voting machine wars plus election reform, verified voting and democracy
Only California Registrar of Voters to speak in support of a verified
paper audit trail approach to touch screen voting before the Secretary of
State's Ad Hoc Task
Force on Touch Screen Voting
Past president of the California Elected Officials Association, a
non-partisan association of elected department heads and other
locally elected officials
Co-founding
partner and continuing participant,
Smart Voter
which provides electronic sample ballots and
enhanced voter education on the web
California Internet Voting Task Force, Secretary of State's Office,
Committee Member
Member,
Election Resource and Review Commission,
International Association of
Clerks, Recorders, Election Officials and Treasurers
Conducted California's first Internet Voting Demonstration Project that
had 1,200 participants in October 2000
Appointed by California Chief Justice to serve on two statewide trial
court reform initiatives
Creator,
Wedding Cam, a
unique award winning Internet based wedding broadcasting system that
allows couples to broadcast their civil wedding ceremonies over the
network so that family and friends from around the world could attend
the ceremony in cyberspace
First California Recorder to implement
electronic recording
Mentor,
Frontiers in Leadership program that provided role models for young
minority youth to become active in civic affairs with the idea of
becoming civic leaders
Civic Net Conference Co-founder, this conference brought together
technology professionals, citizens and government professionals
interested in building community
Served
as a
member of the Board of Directors of the
California County Clerks
Association; Past President, Bay Area Assessors'
Association and legislative
committee member; past Chairman of the California
Assessors' Association, Technology Committee;
Founded
a
LeaderAcademy
at Stanford University as well as the California Trial Court Training
Institute which received the prestigious Ralph Kleps Award for
innovation
Past
president of the Redwood Shores Rotary and the
Mid-Peninsula Boys and
Girls Club
A GREAT FAMILY WITH TWO ELECTED OFFICIALS
Warren is married to
Maria Diaz. Born in Moroleon, Guanajuato, Mexico,
Maria is a community outreach specialist with the Biblioteca Fair Oaks and
is active in the education and advancement of Latino children in the
Redwood City area. She was elected to the
Redwood City School Board in
November 2001. Their family includes two boys who attend public school
in the area.
PROVEN LEADERSHIP IN SERVING THE PEOPLE
Warren is best known for producing, using the latest technologies, the
fastest election results in the Bay Area. Local election administrators as
well as foreign governments have sought his elections and vote counting
advice. In 1997 he was selected as a member of the "US Election
Observation Team" (through IFES)
charged with the responsibility of evaluating presidential elections in
Albania. Most recently Warren has lead
the fight to make touch screen voting systems more secure (watch the video
"High Tech Voting" on the
Lehrer News Hour).
Warren has lobbied for
legislative changes that would reduce the potential for voter fraud in the
absentee balloting process and has suggested several other election reform
measures like verifiable paper audit trails
for touch screen voting systems.
VISION, OPINIONS AND EXPERTISE
In addition to holding elective office, Warren Slocum writes on topics
related to the strategic uses of the Internet in the public sector. His
articles have appeared in publications like
Campaigns
and Elections and the California County.
Annually
Warren addresses many groups and professional associations on the topic of
election reform and reshaping governance in the Information Age. He has appeared on TV and
radio and is often quoted in the national media including the Wall Street
Journal, New York Times, NPR, MSNBC
and CNET.
Contact Warren Slocum
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