I wasn’t going to take my vacation in the US likely as I planned to meet with women who are truly inspiring and leading in various ways and when I learnt of the woman gracing the page this week, I knew she had a story to tell.
Nothing felt so convincing like the cards that stuck on her door which were from her staff who showered her with love seen through the words on the cards that were beautifully positioned for all to see.
As busy as her schedule is, she made time for this interview in her office. She is Debra E. DeBerry, an active Democrat and a resident of DeKalb County with over twenty years of experience in the public and private sector. In 2003, her career in DeKalb County began as Chief Deputy Clerk of Superior Court. In her current position as Clerk of Superior Court, DeBerry manages about a hundred employees who provide services to the citizens of the county and she also manages an annual budget of over $6 million dollars. She serves as secretary of NewPower, an organisation that encourages women of Georgia to achieve leadership positions in their communities and this is derived from their belief that women transform politics in essential ways that are deeply meaningful for the future of American politics. Debra also serves on the Board of Directors of DeKalb Community Service Board.
In the United States, a county is a geographic subdivision of a state or federal territory, usually assigned some governmental authority. The term “county” is used in 48 of the 50 states.
Prior to working in the government sector, DeBerry worked at General Motors for 20 years. In her position at General Motors, she managed a team of over 100 employees, in addition to balancing a multi-million dollar daily budget. Most importantly, DeBerry excelled in establishing work flow processes and in increasing efficiencies
“I am a community servant; I am passionate about people, I was raised that way. I was properly tutored by my parents, I am a product of them. I think about making my family proud every day.” Debra explained as the interview took off proper, when she was asked about her voyage into politics.
“I grew up in New York where my parents demonstrated service to others. I have such a rich background in history but its rich with love, culture and the closeness of my family. I grew up during the civil right movement, It taught me I had to work harder than my male counterparts but because it is said that you are limited because you are a black woman, you know you have to work harder but you cannot let that be an excuse, never stop!”
“I joined the political process from the community level. I have always enjoyed the political process from a community side. I started in the community side, you can affect what happens in your community and our justice system affects us, we were more community based, but as time progressed you had to have the political side. The policy and law makers, what goes on affects us, it affects how we make a living, how we live, our entire quality of life depends on legislature and the policy makers. So to affect that, you have to become part of it either as a candidate or as a voter, part of your community activism has to be that ‘I can control that vote’. We have a voice, you can either use your voice for nothing and go nowhere or you can use your voice for change and that change has to happen in the political process.”
What then are her duties as the clerk of the superior court I asked her and she tells it all “All of my duties are mandated by code. The Georgia constitution dictates what my duties are. The clerk is charged with the quality and control of the records in the county. I must maintain them, itemize them, duplicate them, make them available for inspection, that’s what the law says. The other duties are prescribed by the Georgia constitution because everything is mandated by law.” Debra narrated adding that “for me, it’s both constitutional and state. If you look at the history of what a clerk is, in this country, the clerk is the second oldest municipal occupation, second to the sheriff. In the penning of the US constitution even in the Madison papers that were also included in the constitution, one of the reasons this country succeeded in getting out of the British system is the clerk. The clerk acts as the checks and balance system. You have jailers, persecutors, attorney’s defendants, you have all these entities and I as the clerk, I am part of that, but I don’t have a dog in the fight. I am a neutral entity and everything that each one of those entities does, come here. I file them and keep the records. That in a nut-shell is my job”
Talk about challenges on the job and Debra will readily inform you that top on the list is-Budget!, she tells more “another challenge is how to maintain and successfully run this office and satisfy all of my statutory and mandated commitments. Funding is very key and it comes through our annual budgetary deposits, like many other municipalities, Dekalb County has also suffered from economic fallout. We have in this county, certain pocket that have created their own cities if you will and that deteriorates our revenue in the county. My office is a revenue generator; I believe I am the third highest county revenue generator. We have a significant deficit, you have to be political with how you juggle with the other agents within the county to be funded, that’s my main challenge.”
“My second challenge is maintaining the employees, we have over a 100 employees providing exceptional customer service. This is public service so we have to make sure employees understand that we are servants and we must give people respect and dignity, no matter what brings them here and that becomes tougher, we are not the highest paid and it’s not like people can go somewhere else and get this service, they have to come here and typically people believe that when they come here they are going to be mistreated, they are going to have a lot of red tape and by virtue of the things that are mandated by law that is not the case, I take personal responsibility for changing that perception.”
Debra is not given to laziness as she revealed that during her days of campaigning she assured the people they will not outwork her. “The process is a lot of work and if you intend to win, which was my focus, you must work hard. One of my very first campaign meetings I made it clear to my volunteers that they would never outwork me nor will my opponents either. There were five people in my race and I won by over 60%, they thought we would have a runoff, I was the incumbent, I had some bad press sometime ago for something that was not of my doing but that’s the way it goes, they thought I was vulnerable, but one thing you learn coming from a community background is that everyone is important, I never took anyone or their votes for granted. People would ask why I was working so hard and I would say ‘I want to earn your vote’…I let people know I am humble enough to ask you for your support and vote. I worked seven days a week, it was a hot summer,
I was out on corners, I had an amazing group of people.”
“When you help people, they don’t forget you, they came back to help you… Now with that said, there is a real strategic side and I understand the strategy, numbers are important, like we saw with our president, he knew where to go for votes. Raising money is crucial, I did not raise enough, but I raised probably 80% more than my opponents. This County has approximately 800,000 Voters County wide, you cannot get your message and story out unless you raise money to do so. I needed to know where my votes were coming from, I was filled with anxiety, I was nervous, I was scared, but I was also energized tough and proud to do what I was doing. I told every one of my campaign people we have a great story to tell. Let me worry about what we hear and what we have to address because we can’t address everything we just have to tell our story, I had four opponents that were attacking me, I never attacked one of them. I stayed on message and was focused, never getting distracted by naysayers or other candidates, I knew what my mission was and I am very proud of it, I never let anyone take that away from me. Focus is key in life; there are distractions here and there but you must never lose focus-Never!”. An awesome interview I am sure you agree with me. From Debra, I have learnt that gender is not an excuse for remaining stagnant and in life; if you are determined and focused, you can indeed achieve what you desire…an inspiring story indeed!
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