that is very interesting. I am reconsidering my vote! Thank you!! And, actually, Larry Kestenbaum is the creator of the Political Graveyard website. >>> mhendersona2@yahoo.com 10/21/2004 2:01:44 PM >>> Hi, all! If you do any research in Washtenaw Co. you probably know that it's not an easy county to do genealogy in, due to the County Clerk's refusal to let people look at the "public" records. You have to pay for a certified copy - you can't just look at, say, a death certificate and write down the information. There was a long thread on this topic on this list in March and April 2002. I had volunteered to help someone on this list by looking up a death record, and was met with all sorts of resistance, to put it mildly, by the County. Anyhow, if there are any Washtenaw County voters on this list, you might be interested to know that the long reigning County Clerk, Peggy Haines, is finally being challenged for this elected position by Lawrence Kestenbaum. Mr. Kestenbaum seemed to take an interest in the genealogy issue back in 2002, and I would have to believe he would make more of an effort to assist genealogical researchers. You might want to keep this issue in mind when you vote for the County Clerk if you are a registered Washtenaw Co. voter. To reinforce my point, I find it of note that the Randon Acts of Genealogical Kindness site (raogk.com) lists only one lookup volunteer for Washtenaw Co., and that volunteer specifically states "I will not do look-ups at the Clerk's office as they will not let me make copies for folks." It's a pretty sorry state of affairs when a county like Washtenaw, home of the University of Michigan, can boast only one lookup volunteer, and one that has to plainly state that they can't do any courthouse lookups. Mary __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com

Hi, Ann! Thanks for your response! If you want to know more about why I feel the way I do, you can go to the archives for this list at: http://archiver.rootsweb.com/th/index/MIWASHTE/ and then look at the March and April 2002 threads. It shows the specific issues I ran into with the County Clerk, as well as her e mail response, and, interestingly, the response of Larry Kestenbaum, who was on the Board of Commissioners at the time. Yes, Larry created the impressive Political Graveyards site, indicating his interest not only in genealogy, but also using technology to share information, so, as a genealogist, I think he's perfectly suited to being the Washtenaw County Clerk. Mary --- Ann Garvin <GarvinA@michigan.gov> wrote: > that is very interesting. I am reconsidering my > vote! Thank you!! > And, actually, Larry Kestenbaum is the creator of > the Political > Graveyard website. > > >>> mhendersona2@yahoo.com 10/21/2004 2:01:44 PM >>> > Hi, all! > > If you do any research in Washtenaw Co. you probably > know that it's not an easy county to do genealogy > in, > due to the County Clerk's refusal to let people look > at the "public" records. You have to pay for a > certified copy - you can't just look at, say, a > death > certificate and write down the information. > > There was a long thread on this topic on this list > in > March and April 2002. I had volunteered to help > someone on this list by looking up a death record, > and > was met with all sorts of resistance, to put it > mildly, by the County. > > Anyhow, if there are any Washtenaw County voters on > this list, you might be interested to know that the > long reigning County Clerk, Peggy Haines, is finally > being challenged for this elected position by > Lawrence > Kestenbaum. Mr. Kestenbaum seemed to take an > interest in the genealogy issue back in 2002, and I > would have to believe he would make more of an > effort > to assist genealogical researchers. You might want > to > keep this issue in mind when you vote for the County > Clerk if you are a registered Washtenaw Co. voter. > > To reinforce my point, I find it of note that the > Randon Acts of Genealogical Kindness site > (raogk.com) > lists only one lookup volunteer for Washtenaw Co., > and > that volunteer specifically states "I will not do > look-ups at the Clerk's office as they will not let > me > make copies for folks." It's a pretty sorry state > of > affairs when a county like Washtenaw, home of the > University of Michigan, can boast only one lookup > volunteer, and one that has to plainly state that > they > can't do any courthouse lookups. > > Mary > > __________________________________________________ > Do You Yahoo!? > Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam > protection around > http://mail.yahoo.com > >

On Thu, 21 Oct 2004, Ann Garvin wrote: > that is very interesting. I am reconsidering my vote! Thank you!! > And, actually, Larry Kestenbaum is the creator of the Political > Graveyard website. Yes, that's me. :-) And I have been a member of this list for some time. Larry --- Lawrence Kestenbaum, polygon@potifos.com Candidate for County Clerk/Register, http://KestenbaumCampaign.com The Political Graveyard, http://politicalgraveyard.com Mailing address: P.O. Box 2563, Ann Arbor MI 48106