Interview with Tiffany Moore Russell

Interview with Commissioner Tiffany Moore Russell – Candidate for Orange County Clerk of Courts

Conducted by: West Orlando News Online

Date: June 9, 2014. 

WONO: You were first elected as the District 6 Orange County Commissioner in November 2006 and then re-elected four years later. You are now running to become the next Orange County Clerk of Courts. Why? What experience as a Commissioner do you bring to this position?

Tiffany Moore Russell: I was looking at the Clerk’s office because, as an attorney and a trial attorney in Orlando I’m very familiar with the Office. I was actually preparing to run for the seat in 2016. I had information that Lydia Gardner wasn’t running another cycle, but unfortunately, as we all know, she passed in May 2013. So, because there is a special election I decided to go ahead and run. It is an open seat and it coincided with the end of my term on the County Commission. I wasn’t leaving my seat early to pursue this new opportunity.

I think, as a commissioner my skills are transferable – balancing a budget, being accountable to the citizens and understanding the importance of working with other agencies. The Clerk’s Office has to work with the State Attorney, Public Defender, judges and even Orange County government, when one looks at other offices and other services. So, having that experience of working with other agencies, developing public/private partnerships, being accountable to the citizens, public disclosure and the overall understanding of how the government works and governance structures generally – all these things, I think, make me even more qualified to serve in the role as Clerk in Orange County.

WONO: Over the last seven years, you would have dealt with and taken policy positions on a number of matters – the Venues, more recently Orlando City Soccer Stadium – you name it. As I understand it, the Clerk of Courts, to put it simply, serves as the keeper of official records and court records for the 9th Judicial Circuit Court. Won’t this be a huge adjustment for you? If successful, do you have a pro-active agenda you will be implementing?

Tiffany Moore Russell: Yes, the two roles are totally different. You are exactly correct. The Clerk is the keeper of evidence, keeper of the most important information from birth to death. So, I would have the responsibility of maintaining the integrity of our court system – the documentation and protection of evidence, protection of documents, files such as Social Security information and personal information.

As Clerk I want to adopt a three-pronged approach, one of which is to continue and expand Customer Service. No one goes to the Clerk’s Office intentionally. The average citizen is going to the Clerk’s Office because either they’re paying a ticket, they’re having to deal with a legal matter, or responding to a legal matter. The only people who go to the Clerk’s Office intentionally are those who are getting married or filing to get a marriage certificate, or they’re getting a passport because they’re traveling some place. Everyone else is not going there because they want to go there, even the folks having to respond to jury notices. So for me, I want to ensure that at least while you’re there you have a positive customer experience, we’re addressing your needs and improving the on time service. In other words, it’s not taking two or three hours to respond to whatever your issue might be. And this is so whether you are telephoning the Clerk’s Office or are there in person.

The second is technology – improving the Clerk of Courts website. The website should be user-friendly as much as possible so when people visit, it directs them to go where they need to go for the services they need. The State of Florida has gone to mandatory e-filing now. What is happening is, you have a lot of residents who don’t have lawyers and they may not have access to computers. So how do they respond to and access the court system with the mandatory e-filing? There is need to balance that technology with ensuring that people have access to the courts. I would like to create an app that can communicate with lawyers and bondsmen – the people who provide service, – so that service processors can access information and know the status of what’s going on, what matters in the court system.

A third prong is access to the courts. I was a legal services attorney before I got elected as County Commissioner, and my clientele was low-income families, people who could not afford an attorney. One of the things that I’ve noticed – and we’ve move away from this – we used to be able to waive the fees to access the court system. Currently, you have to pay – it’s $400 to file for a divorce and $400 to file a small claims matter – and you’re pricing people out of our court system. So, I want to advocate particularly for low-income families on this issue.

The State creates the filing process, but I can be an advocate with my relationship with the legislature and our local delegation to see how we can move back to waiving those fees for low-income residents who can’t afford to pay. As you know, one of our fundamental constitutional rights is access to the court system. Just to give you an example, people are staying married because they can’t afford to pay for a divorce. That should never happen. I am aware that payment plans are allowed, but if a woman has to decide between paying for a divorce or paying the light bill, she’s going to pay the electric bill and then just take care of the divorce later down the road.

I would also like to improve and expand upon the forms on the website so people can complete those themselves. Right now the only thing offered is Dissolution of Marriage. There’s nothing for Small Claims, or Landlords/Tenants, or things that normally come up that you’re not going to pay a lawyer for, that has to be resolved in the court system. So, I would like to expand on the forms that are on the website, making them more user-friendly. We have two great law schools here in Orlando that we can work with and even though I’d love to see Pro se, perhaps something more like a clinic where you can be guided. To be clear, I am not talking about representation, because we don’t want to do unauthorized practice of law, but a clinic that guides people through the process. You see, what’s happening is, at the counter or on the phone, someone who has received a notice or writ and doesn’t know what it means or don’t understand it, the first number they are going to call is the County Clerk’s phone number.

WONO: You mentioned e-filing and I have noticed you can, for example, pay traffic tickets on-line and pay child support on-line. Should you be the next Orange County Clerk of Courts, what will you do differently? What might be your top one or two priorities?

Tiffany Moore Russell: Well, the way the e-filing works is, you have to comply with the State’s rules, but there are things we can do better. Let me give you an example. On the campaign trail, I have met people who pay their tickets online, or take a class and then upload the certificate, and still their license is suspended. For me, that’s between agencies -agencies not talking to each other and that’s efficiency or lack of it, that’s customer service. So, we have to make sure that the folks who are handling the e-filing documents which are uploaded or those overseeing online payments are communicating with the DMV and those who are changing the information on file, so that license is not suspended when you have fully complied with all the requirements.

I’ll give you another example. My sister is a great one. She had a ticket and took the class. Now, you can email your certificate, which she did. But several days later, she got a notice indicating that her license was suspended. She did everything she was supposed to do and still received a suspension notice. The upshot is, she is nervous about responding electronically again, because she doesn’t trust the system. So, she gets into her car and goes downtown and spends two hours trying to resolve something that should have been fixed four to five days ago.

And here’s yet another one. Deputies have told me that they have had to arrest guys they have pulled over whose names have popped up for non-payment of child support, only to find out later that in fact those payments were made.

So, with e-filing we still have to make sure, in-house, we are making the correct notifications and changes and that we have the technology in place that registers this and communicates with the correct agency so these errors do not occur. We must have in place systems that are talking to each other and that’s a priority for me because, it impacts citizens’ day-to-day lives.

WONO: The Orange County Clerk of Courts puts a lot of store on being known as “Clerk in the Sunshine.” You sit on a Board of Orange County Commissioners where there wasn’t much Sunshine regarding the “sick pay” issue. Are you concerned about this? Do you think this might be a reflection on you?

Tiffany Moore Russell: No, I’m not concerned at all because, I was the one commissioner who was not involved in the texting situation. When the court ruled, I was removed from any type of citation or fine. I wasn’t even discussed, I didn’t have to pursue a lawyer because I was not listed as one of the violators. So, I’m not concerned about that.

I think when it comes to the Clerk’s perspective, when it comes to “Clerk in the Sunshine” we’re in a different dynamic regarding access to information.

When I was practicing earlier in my career – and I have talked to lots of lawyers – I will tell you this, Orange County was one of the more advanced counties for filing electronically. We were ahead of the State by ten-years. In the past you used to be able to pull up a case to see what arguments attorneys were making in their motions. Based on your name or the case, I would be able to pull up the file and see what you filed. You can’t do that anymore. Now, I am not suggesting that everyone should have access to this information, but certainly lawyers and those involved in the particular case ought to have access. It’s part of how growth and new learning takes place. You don’t get to see personal information but you are allowed to see what arguments have been made and that enhances knowledge, because that’s how lawyers learn. They learn from each other. They learn from other cases. It’s still access to information, but access to court documents is a little different under Sunshine because, you can’t see everything. So, balancing that access to information is key.

There are things we should be able to file; lawyers have bar numbers, we have a bar license number. I’m not a tech person, but let’s just say we have an app where we sign in with our ID, which is our bar license number that follows you. Your bar license is like your Social Security for the practice of law. It allows you to see motions, memos, and legal writings for cases you want to see. I liken it to procurement matters at the County. You can check whatever future notices you want to receive. So if you want to receive construction, paint, mechanical, you received those notices and if you don’t check legal work you will never know there is a legal job out there.

As I said earlier, the Clerk’s Office is the keeper of some of the most private, personal and valuable information and we must balance the right to privacy with access to information. The Clerk’s Office is the keeper of evidence from criminal cases to custody matters with children. So, how do we protect Social Security numbers, protect IDs? One of the things I would to do is get together with some very smart tech savvy folks. I believe there are software and data programs that would allow us to redact personal information, redact vital information and keep it secure from the public. I don’t want my social security number to be public knowledge just because I filed for divorce. Or, we certainly won’t want what happened last summer to be repeated where those two inmates filed false documents and were wrongly released from jail. How do we protect against that type of thing? How do we protect signatures, and very personal information while at the same time access the court system?

We also have to get the balance right regarding those folks who physically come to the courthouse. Anybody that comes and asks for a file, that file is pulled, but is that the most efficient way nowadays? They may be people who live in Christmas, Zellwood or Hunters Creek – they shouldn’t have to physically come to the courthouse. So, we have to get the balance right and also try to stay ahead of the curve because the troublemakers are ahead of us.

WONO: Some of your critics have said that after 7 years as the District 6 Orange County Commissioner, you haven’t really delivered for the community. There are still many problems that plague the area’s residents – inadequate educational opportunities, lack of affordable housing, relatively high crime and other ills. How do you respond to that charge? And what are some of the things that you wanted to do, but just have not been able to get done?

Tiffany Moore Russell: First, you will never silence the critics. But my response would be that it’s unrealistic to think in eight years I can eradicate 50 years of societal ills. I’m not Jesus, and I don’t have a magic wand. I think for anyone to expect that in eight years you would get rid of the systemic problems in the community is unrealistic. I’m not elected to eradicate crime – we have a Sheriff who is elected to do that. It’s an unfair burden to put on a county commissioner; that’s not what I am elected to do. On inadequate educational opportunities, well, there’s an Orange County School Board that’s elected. So if you have an issue with what’s happening in our school system, then Kat Gordon would be the person to speak with. Everybody has their roles and responsibilities and there are lots of people who do their jobs.

Regarding the County, one of the challenges that I’ve noticed and seen in my eight years is the lack of funding and the high costs that go along with renovating an older community. They just don’t mesh. One of the frustrating things that I’ve bumped my head on is, I’ve served on a very conservative board. No one wants to raise taxes. They brag about not raising taxes. Take Pine Hills as an example and let’s do a comparison. When Mable Butler was on the Board of County Commissioners she got the Board to approve the Retrofit Project for Holden Heights. Now, that cost $1 billion and it’s still not finished. The reason is, there are many phases and it requires so much money from Community Development Block grants; the residents were taxed as well. Monies also came from the County General Revenue Fund. They’re onto Phase 4 now and it will finish during my term. So it went through Homer’s term of eight years, and eight years of my term. That’s 16 years of getting a community off of septic to sewers and that’s $1 billion from 1997. This is now 2014 – sixteen years of pricing difference.

So, we have a very fiscally conservative Board that’s not going to raise taxes. And let’s just be honest – Pine Hills is one great example of a community on septic. Pine Hills and Orlo Vista are on septic. When we started pricing what it would take for individual residents to get off septic you will be pricing people out of their houses. It would add another $400 to their tax bill. For the County to do it we would have to raise the millage to pay for it and there’s not enough votes on the Board who will go along with that. So, if there is anything that I was frustrated about, that would be it. How do we care for our older communities, because District 6 is not the only one. There’s District 3, Azalea Park, a sister community of District 6. It looks just like it. If you drove through Azalea Park it’s like Pine Hills. No curbing, you’d think – ‘oh my gosh.’ They built these communities at the same time and when it rains the streets flood.

I would say the County has to do a better job of caring for our urban core that’s older; there’s outdated infrastructure and the only way to do that is to pay for it. And we don’t want to pay for it. We don’t want to increase taxes. I will say that was one of the biggest disappointments for me in my eight years, not being able to get the support needed to pull it off. It takes three other votes.

I think this will be the biggest challenge for the next commissioner. How do you get three more votes to vote with you and agree to have the county pay. Then, if you do it for Pine Hills, Commissioner Clark will say, “Hey, what about Azalea Park?” And they are going to say what about Bithlo and Christmas, what about South Apopka? You don’t realize how many communities are still on septic; many communities considered urban remain on septic.

So I appreciate critics, because they keep you on your toes. I just think half of the critics are not really knowledgeable about the process, what it takes, and how government works. Let me give you another example. This past session we worked with the Little Egypt community. Senator Geraldine Thompson and Representative Bruce Anton got money in the budget for Little Egypt to get off septic. It’s not enough, it’s only $350,000 and the county still has to match that. So now what’s my next step? I have to get ready for July to get some money. Last year, interestingly, the governor said no. I have to tell you, a lot of what I’ve learned in my eight years is strategy. Being astute enough to know when to pull the plug, when to play your next card and how to get that money.

Another great example is the cricket field at Silver Star. The Caribbean community had been coming to Homer Hartage, Senator Siplin’s office and Commissioner Daisy Lyman for years, and in my first three or four years they were coming to me. The opportunity came when it was time to build those Magic gyms and District 1, Dr. Phillips, didn’t want their Magic Gym. So, Commissioner Boyd said, “Okay then let’s move it to Winter Garden, the City of Winter Garden will pay for it.” So, $2 million went back into the budget. And this is where strategy comes into play. I didn’t put out a memo because, staff would research and try to kill it. That happens and it’s okay. Or another commissioner will try to do the same thing. So you can’t reveal everything you want to do. So I waited until the day of the hearing and I asked for funding for the cricket field at the existing Silver Star Gym that, at the time, wasn’t in my district. I wasn’t trying to do anything for my district, but I knew there was a community that was close to Pine Hills that wanted a cricket field.

So, again, I take the criticism, I’ve got a thick skin. But a lot of this stuff is strategy and knowing when to pull the trigger, when to unveil what you want to do and sometimes you know what, you take some loses. You have some wins and you have some loses; that’s part of what this is. I believe I’ve made a great impact in the eight years that I’ve been here.

WONO: You will have taken hundreds of votes as a Commissioner. Are there any votes that you regret taking that you might have voted differently on, in hindsight? And if so, what are they?

Tiffany Moore Russell: Actually there aren’t any votes. I will say the one vote that I did, I’m glad I failed and that is on the Evans High School relocation. I voted with the community, I voted to move the high school. But my gut said it was a bad move because in my head, I said – why would anybody want – why would you not want to go to school in your community? Why move the high school down the street for kids to have to catch a bus or drive, and it is outside the heart of Pine Hills. We would never move Jones High School. We would never move Edgewater, West Orange, Apopka, Colonial High School. Those schools are in the heart of their communities.

That was one of those votes where I was glad that it failed. Now, we have a new high school, a beautiful one and there’s the potential of redevelopment of that corridor. So I’m glad that it failed. I’m glad that I was wrong per se. That was one of those votes that I couldn’t go with my gut because the community would have said that I sold them out and I didn’t support them. I’m glad the Board got it right and I got it wrong.

WONO: What are you most proud of in terms of your accomplishments? What’s the Tiffany Moore Russell legacy? How do you want to be remembered?

Tiffany Moore Russell: I want to be remembered as the commissioner that empowered her residents. What do I mean by that? When I was elected I got several phone calls from neighborhoods. One of them in particular was Washington Park.

“Commissioner, are we still going to do Family Hope Day?” And I said, “What are you talking about?” Commissioner Hartage never told me about it in our transition meetings and they said, “We had this event we do with Commissioner Hartage and we want to do it again.” And I said to Bobby Watson who was the president, “Mr. Bobby, how about this, we’re going to equip you to run your own event because, commissioners come and go but this is your community.”

And one of the things that I wanted to do as commissioner is, to empower the communities to move forward, despite who may be in this seat. The reason is, these seats have term limits, but this is their community, they live here, and they should be vested with the knowledge, the power, and the know how, to get things done.

And now eight years later, he plans his own meetings, he notifies my office when he is ready to get started, he notifies my office if they need help for sponsors for their event, they plan it and they put it together.

There is also the Pine Hills Neighborhood Improvement District. When I got elected some of the regulars came to visit me and they were angry, they were upset because of the changes taking place. So, I said let’s modify how we do this, because administrations change, people come and go and priorities change. Now, I’m proud of the fact that we’ve put a foundation in place that will eventually give them a funding mechanism. They have a board that can decide their own agenda and to me, that’s what we’re supposed to be doing as commissioners – equipping residents on how to go about getting things that they want for their community, ensuring that they understand the process, giving them the knowledge and the voice to move forward on issues. That’s what I’m most proud of.

Yes, there’s the Magic Gym, we got the cricket field, we got the dog park at Barnett Park, a splash pad – those are brick and mortar, but a lasting legacy is residents who have knowledge because, that’s going to go way beyond brick and mortar. It goes way beyond me. It’s essential that they understand the process and how things work.

The other aspect of my legacy is, I’ve been known as the commissioner for tourism. I’ve been a champion for tourism, but from a different perspective. I was criticized for caring about what happens with residents and businesses on International Drive. The truth is, half of the residents on I-Drive live in District 6, so if tourism isn’t flourishing they don’t have a job. So, I thought if I could bring investment here, keep the Convention Center busy, then my folks are working, my folks have jobs, my folks can get to the hotels and take care of their families. In other words, if you are working for Mr. Rosen who is giving you full benefits, that means that you have employment. You know if we’re slow on I-Drive and we have no business, they can’t work. So, that was important to me, being a champion for tourism, being a champion for I-Drive, which is the economic hub for my district. You know, people don’t want to necessarily talk about I-Drive, but that’s a very profitable portion of the District that really subsidizes the rest of the County. During one of the worst recessions ever, people were working in the I-Drive area; that’s where the construction craze was taking place, on I-Drive. So that’s what I’m proud of, being a champion for tourism, pushing for the development of our hotels and our entertainment district.

We have some new things coming in before I leave. I-Drive Live; there’s the Peabody’s now, rather high-end and now the Hilton which opened during my tenure – two flag-ship hotels. We won one of the largest conventions, plastics, which we were able to take from Chicago. It happened under Mayor Crotty’s leadership, working hard at that time with Gov. Charlie Crist to get that convention here. That opened the flood gates and other major manufacturing events and conventions began coming to Orange County. So, that’s what I want my legacy to be. It’s empowering the residents of District 6, and as well, being a champion for tourism, making sure that this major economic engine for our County is flourishing and competitive.

WONO: There have been murmurings that the position of Clerk of Courts should be appointed by the Mayor, rather than elected. What’s your view on this? And do you have other political aspirations?

Tiffany Moore Russell: I will say I think the Clerk’s position should continue to be an elected one. It is separate from the State and Mayor’s office. It is not a branch of Orange County Government. It is a separate branch which provides support to the judiciary and should remain as an elected position, right along with our sheriff, our tax collector, our property appraiser, and our comptroller. We have 67 clerks in the County in the State of Florida. They are elected, legally elected. I think voters should decide if they want to change it. There are some matters within the Clerk’s Office that are policy oriented – for example, issues surrounding access to the courts. I won’t want the Clerk of Courts appointed by the mayor and having to take direction from the mayor on such matters. Maintaining the integrity of the courts is paramount and best left up to someone who is independent and duly elected by the people.

Regarding other political aspirations, I don’t know. Right now I want to be the Clerk. Sometimes, I have thought about running for mayor. I don’t think I’ll ever run for Congress, but I don’t know just yet. I have small kids and I don’t think Washington D.C. is the life right now. I like living in Orlando, I like being in Florida. So I really don’t know. I would think that if I ran for anything else it would be mayor, at some point down the road.

WONO: In January, Gov. Rick Scott appointed the current Clerk of Courts following the death of Lydia Gardner. The incumbent is in the race; this is a special partisan election with 3 Democrats (including yourself) and 2 Republicans. How do you distinguish yourself, particularly from the incumbent who will have been in the post for several months?

Tiffany Moore Russell: First and foremost I have more litigation experience than the incumbent does. He had never been in the courthouse until he was appointed because, he is a transactional attorney. So his practice of law didn’t require him to go into the Clerk’s office. There are lots of lawyers who never go to the courthouse because that is not their practice.

For me, as a customer of the system for years, being licensed since 1999, I’ve been to different clerk’s offices. I know what is working, what is not working. I’ve been a user of the system. When you are a user of the system you understand the functionality of an office. He is learning the job, I know the role of the Clerk. He’s been there a couple of months. He is still learning the job.

Also, I’ve have more experience from a governing perspective. I’ve been elected eight years, I’ve passed seven budgets and it will be my eighth one this summer. I’ve gone through public hearings on our budgets, answered questions on our budget. For example, as a commissioner, you understand the importance of having an open procurement process. Right now the Clerk can choose whomever he wants to work for him. There was no competitive process regarding who he hired as his new attorney. I’ve learned from the County you create a procurement process where people can submit their bids. You have a panel that reviews all applicants. That’s the experience that I bring to the table that sets me apart from others in this race.

WONO: Quickly on that point. So that’s not the situation now at the Clerk’s Office.

Tiffany Moore Russell: The Clerk can choose who he or she wants without necessarily having an open process. When you come from the County side it is something that is so ingrained and it shields you from picking somebody you want. It’s not left up to you to give this or that person the job or this contractor the job. If you have an open procurement process then you can say, this is the procedure, this is the panel that scores the applicants and the individual or firm will be selected from the top three.

WONO: How is your campaign going and why should voters elect Tiffany Moore Russell as their next Orange County Clerk of Courts?

Tiffany Moore Russell: The campaign is going very well. We have been canvassing and knocking on doors since October. We have been raising money, we have raised almost $130,000 and that is just for the primary. We will be able to start over for the general election.

We’ve been holding community conversations in different homes from Christmas to Dr. Phillips. We’re covering the entire County, continuing to educate voters on what the Clerk does; the role of the Clerk and the Office of the Clerk. And we’ve received lots of positive feed back. We’ve been to parades, to festivals and we’re everywhere.

Voters should vote for Tiffany Moore Russell because I have the knowledge and the experience that is needed to run an agency the size of the Orange County Clerk of Courts. The Clerk has four branches, 600 employees. We need someone who is able to get in there and run this office with the experience and the knowledge to make sure it continues to run effectively and efficiently. And that’s why people should vote for me.

First, I have a Democratic primary on August 26, and I need the Democrats to secure my vote, and then I face the incumbent on November 4. Whether it’s the primary or the November election I think, hands down, I stand above the rest as far as my eight years of governing experience, knowing the process and knowing the procedures. I understand the importance of public/private partnerships and how to work with the different law divisions – family law, criminal law, among others – making sure that each is functioning properly and where they are not, determining what improvements can be made. I think with all my knowledge and experience, I’ll be a great Clerk. And that’s why voters should elect me as their next Orange County Clerk of Courts.

WONO: Thank you, Commissioner.

Tiffany Moore Russell: Thank you, too.

MORE ON TIFFANY MOORE RUSSELL

Commissioner Tiffany Moore Russell is a native of Orlando, Florida. A product of Orange County’s public school system, Commissioner Moore Russell is an alumna of Dr. Phillips High School. Upon graduating from high school she went on to receive her BA in Political Science from the University of South Florida and a Juris Doctorate from Florida State University College of Law. She was elected to the Orange County Commission to represent District 6 in November of 2006. She made history through becoming the youngest County Commissioner that has ever been elected to serve on the Orange County Commission in charge of a budget exceeding $5 billion and more than 8000 employees.

Commissioner Moore Russell is committed to remaining accountable and accessible to each and every constituent, increasing recreational and career opportunities for the area youth, creating stable and viable neighborhoods, and strengthening Orange County’s economy by increasing the availability of jobs and minority business opportunities. Commissioner Moore Russell has been a community advocate for many years, both as an elected official and a private citizen. As a lay person she served on the Orange County Community Action Board, where she was elected Chairman and Vice Chairman while also accepting volunteer appointments to both the Orange County Board of Zoning and Adjustments and the Orange County Citizens Review Board.

As a Commissioner, she’s gained additional experience through providing service on boards such as Orange County’s Commission on Aging; Value and Adjustment Board; Youth and Family Services Board; OBT Development Board; the Downtown Orlando CRA/DDB Board; African American Chamber of Commerce; 2008 Electoral Canvassing Board; International Drive Master Transit and Improvement District; METROPLAN; and the Florida Association of Counties.

Commissioner Moore Russell is a member of the local chapter of the NAACP, a member of the Florida Bar, the Orange County Bar Association, the Virgil Hawkins Chapter of the National Bar Association, the Paul C. Perkins Bar Association, the Central Florida Women’s Lawyer Association, Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc., Psi Theta Omega Chapter and the Life Center Church of Eatonville, Florida.  In addition to serving on the commission she is an Attorney at Emeritus Law Firm in Orlando.  As the Commissioner’s term is coming to an end, she has launched a campaign to become the next Orange County Clerk of Court.  Commissioner Russell is married to Anthony K. Russell, Jr and they are the proud parents of Anthony K. Russell, III (4) and Aiden K. Russell (2).