The idea of putting a fresh face in an office held by a person for a long time may sound appealing. Yet, if that office has been run very well, and the person continues to earn great respect, stability can be a wonderful thing.

In the Sarasota County tax collector’s race, Democrat Barbara Ford-Coates has been the incumbent since 1975. She is faced this year by former three-time legislator Donna Clarke.

Clarke says she feels the office’s staff has not been doing enough to enable the public to understand all the services the tax collector handles, including options for quarterly tax payments. As a legislator, she says, she made it a practice to help anyone who walked through her door – regardless of whether her office was the appropriate one to respond.

Spend time with Ford-Coates and you cannot help but feel you are talking with a consummate professional who loves her work and does it even on the toughest days with a warm smile.

Clarke feels the office should have more satellite branches in this large county, but Ford-Coates notes that the more offices she has, the greater the expense, and “my budget doesn’t go up.”

The Internet, Ford-Coates points out, is the best option for expanded services. In fact, she says, the only service her office provides that a person with a computer cannot access these days is getting an initial driver’s license. For that, the person has to come in to have a photo taken.

Still, the tax collector’s office does have two branches besides its downtown Sarasota office, and it recently opened a driver’s license office in Venice to replace a state facility closed some time ago. Ford-Coates even plans to open a branch in North Port by 2010.

Clarke also feels the staff is not doing enough to safeguard identity theft and ensure the safety and security of citizens.

Ford-Coates recently saw an employee arrested after the woman allegedly sold driver’s licenses to illegal immigrants. However, she points out that that was the 40th such arrest in the state over the past few years, and the folks in Tallahassee have not acted in a timely fashion to help prevent such incidents. An upcoming state meeting of Florida tax collectors will address ways to improve procedures, she says.

We can find no fault with the professionalism and expertise Ford-Coates exhibits. She is what we consider an exemplary county official. For that reason, we recommend voters elect Barbara Ford-Coates to another term as Sarasota County tax collector.