El Paso County Treasurer Sandra Damron is the first to file as a candidate for clerk and recorder in the 2010 election.

Damron, who filed Tuesday, is barred from seeking re-election by term limits. Clerk and Recorder Bob Balink will be forced from office in two years after he completes his second term.

Damron might face a primary if County Commissioner Wayne Williams, who has expressed interest in the post, also runs. Williams can’t seek another commissioner term in 2010 due to term limits.

There hasn’t been a primary contest for the clerk-and-recorder seat in decades.

“I want to use my experience with the county and experience in administering an elected office, and the clerk’s office is a good fit,” Damron said. “It fits my experience. It’s an administrative position, not a policy position.”

She said she hopes to make slight changes that will make taxpayers’ dealings with the clerk’s office more user-friendly.

“I enjoy the ability to just make small impacts on taxpayers’ lives,” she said. “Maybe it’s not a big deal if they can get a deed filed a little faster. But, sometimes, it can make your day go better.”

Damron, 57, who is a CPA, served as an accountant for a manufacturing firm, a nonprofit and a church, prior to being elected as treasurer.

Besides treasurer and clerk and recorder, county offices up for election in 2010 include commissioners in districts 1 and 5, sheriff, assessor, surveyor and coroner.

Mo Orosco rings up customers at CMH Liquors in Falcon on Thursday, June 11, 2009. He has had the new job for about a week now. He previously worked at Macy’s. He has worked for three companies in the last six years that have gone under. Photo by Bryan Oller, The Gazette

Bryan Oller