Reforms

ROD Reforms and Accomplishments  

✅ The first elected Latino and Out LGBT Constitutional Officer in Wisconsin’s history.

✅ Was awarded two citations from the Milwaukee County Board of Supervisors for his service to Milwaukee County and its Latino and LGBT communities.  

✅ Elected 2nd Vice President of the Wisconsin Register of Deeds Association and serves on its Board and Legislative Committee.

✅ Serves on Milwaukee County’s Diversity Equity and Inclusion Council and completed the County’s Racial Equity Ambassador Training program.

✅ Made the ROD Office one of the most diverse and inclusive offices in Milwaukee County.

✅ Took immediate action and completed all the recommendations made by the County’s Audit Division resulting from the prior Register of Deeds who was charged with federal crimes. 

✅ Redrafted all existing software and technology contracts with Fidlar Technologies to protect Milwaukee County residents and Milwaukee County real estate data. All software contracts are now fully compliant with ordinance requirements and operational rules from the County’s Information Management Services Department, Corporation Counsel, the Comptroller and Procurement Offices.

✅ Issued the Office’s first Request for Proposal (RFP) for its land records software program and negotiated a five-year contract saving Milwaukee County $150,000 for the contract term period. 

 ✅ Protected deed records by moving millions of deeds and real property instruments to the County’s cloud based electronic storage program and rejecting instruments that do not affect title to real property. 

✅ Reduced real estate document recording times from several weeks to 1 to 2 days.  

✅ Saved taxpayers over $250,000 a year by cutting wasteful costs and redundant spending.

✅ Spearheaded an almost one-million-dollar redesign and remodel of the entire ROD Office which will increase efficiency and provide county residents with better access to services. 

✅ Implemented a reorganization plan that cross trained real estate service staff  to perform document examination and real estate research and eliminated unneeded supervisory positions that did not contribute to the efficient functioning of the Office. 

✅ Collaborated with the University of Minnesota and University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee to provide access to records containing racially restricted covenants so that these deed documents in Milwaukee County can be mapped for historical and research purposes. 

✅ Installed the State’s first and only Vital Records kiosks which expedite the processing of vital records for county residents. 

✅ Developed an OnDemand process for customers to order vital records on smart phones, tablets and computers and then pick up the records at the ROD Office within an hour. 

✅ Instituted fiscal procedures relating to the payment of invoices and the handling of disbursements to conform with Procurement, Comptroller and Treasurer requirements. These procedures provide a checks and balance on current fiscal procedures that did not previously exist.

✅ Collaborated with the County Treasurer and Comptroller as well as Corporation Counsel to assure sure that the ROD Office is complying with all State laws and County ordinances and that its operations are responsible and transparent.

✅ Updated and revised the cashiering procedures to make sure they are compliant with Treasurer directives. These rules provide a “checks and balance” on current cashiering procedures which did not previously exist.

✅ Completed a vital records project in less than a year after assuming office which the Wisconsin State Vital Records Office had mandated.  This project had languished under the prior Register of Deeds for several years.

✅ Developed and promoted the ROD Office Property Fraud Alert Service to the public and drafted written materials in English and Spanish to County residents to help them avoid property fraud.

✅ Conducted workshops for title companies and real estate agencies to introduce them to new ROD software products such as Loredo Anywhere, IRIS, SWIFT and Property Fraud Alert.

✅ Developed instructional brochures for County residents relating to recording of deed instruments and ordering of vital records. 

✅ Required that all staff complete Racial Equity Training, participate in Protected Class training. 

✅ Required that all staff comply with mandatory County training relating to safety procedures, internal procedures, and racial equity training.

✅ Instituted mandatory customer service training for Office staff so that they are accountable and that Milwaukee County residents are treated in a professional, helpful, and courteous manner.

✅ Developed a customer satisfaction survey in English and Spanish to assess the level of staff service to the public. All Office staff are required to wear visible ID name tags when assisting the public and each customer is encouraged to provide their feedback on surveys once they have been serviced.

✅ Installed a language line with over one hundred available languages for customers whose primary language is other than English to assist them in conducting business with the Office.

✅ Installed a Voter Registration Kiosk in the Register of Deeds Office to make it easier for County residents to register to vote or check their registration status.