The decision to become a public official requires significant soul-searching and thought. Karen Rushing, who describes herself as a person who shuns the spotlight, faced this decision in 1987 when the then Clerk of Circuit Court decided to retire. She knew she had two choices—work for a new Clerk of the Circuit Clerk or run for the office herself. Appointed to the position in 1987, she entered and won the election in 1988.

As an officer of the court with responsibilities for implementing laws and procedures, the Clerk of the Circuit Court and County Comptroller is also essential to the operations of county government by serving as Sarasota County’s Treasurer, Recorder, Auditor, ex-officio Clerk to the Board of County Commissioners, and custodian of county funds. Her staff of almost 300 responds to needs from “cradle to death” by recording almost 200,000 documents and transactions every year related to birth, adoption, marriage, purchase or foreclosure of a home, domestic violence, and death.

With over 30 years of court management experience in both Florida and New York, she feels she's “self-motivated to do the right thing, help people, and help others help themselves. I do what’s right every day for the public that I serve. I'm compassionate, yet strong and steady. This combination is needed or the various tasks would be very difficult to deal with every day.”

As a high school student, Karen worked Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays in the court system in her native New York. She credits her strong work ethic to her mother and grandmother, both of whom worked while raising their children. “My mother always said that you can protect yourself through education. She has always been very supportive of my pursuit of a dream or a career.”                                                  
Armed with a degree from the University of South Florida in social and behavioral science, she thought about attending law school, but became pregnant after seven years of marriage. She went on to earn an MBA and completed post-graduate work at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University in 1998, and received Clerk Certification from the Supreme Court of Florida in 2006.

For 20 years Karen's office has received the distinguished Excellence in Financial Reporting Award, the highest recognition a county can receive for financial reporting. In addition to managing the $22 million budget of her office, she annually collects over $180 million in fines and fees, oversees investments of over $855 million, and audits the County’s budget (now over $1.1 billion) every year.

She is passionate about serving the public with exceptional customer service.  Feedback cards are in every office that provides services to the public. She reviews a weekly report of the comments and she is proud of the 96% satisfaction rating. Karen smiles as she says that even convicted felons fill out the cards.

She will personally talk to constituents to resolve issues that her staff cannot, and calls persons who have said they received customer service that didn't meet their expectations.

Sitting in her office with its pecky cypress ceiling in the Historic Courthouse in Sarasota, she talks about her daily routine. “Every day I look at the financial markets to see where vulnerabilities are and how to protect against them,” she explains. “The historical investment wisdom has been to diversify. However, County funds are invested only in bonds. Now there's a new challenge in the bond market. This is nerve-racking and high stress—constantly looking at whether to move funds.”

An ongoing challenge is the pace at which needs are addressed and resolved. “In collaborating with others, the pace is slower than I would like, but I also recognize that it's necessary to bring about change.” One of Karen’s current goals is the widespread use of technology to reduce the cost of storage, retrieval, and transportation of the huge volume of paper governmental records.

When Karen became the Clerk, there were few female Clerks in Florida. Now there are female Clerks in almost half of Florida counties. As President of the Florida Association of Court Clerks and County Comptrollers, she is, however, the only female on the board.  

Her expertise has gone far beyond Sarasota. From 2002 to 2007, Karen served as an advisor to the U.S. Department of Commerce on a project in the developing democracy of Angola in Africa. “The judicial reform project dealt with integrity, principles, and guidelines for the court system. It focused on respect for the court and its systems.” The judicial reform project was supported by the Ministry of Justice in Angola and was designed to provide substantial reform to their current court system. On a table in her office is evidence of her sustained interest in the project—photos of her and senior government officials on her trips to the African nation.

Closer to home, Karen is a member of the Board of Directors and Chair of the Community Impact Committee of the Sarasota United Way. It's there that she focuses on one of her passions—the care and nurturing of children in the hope that they’ll get involved in their community as adults. She is also passionate about decreasing the number of homeless children—some of whom, she notes, are living in cars—and the availability of quality childcare. About giving back to the community, she exhorts, “The community needs good volunteers. Be a good neighbor and donate your talent to the community.”

Karen is married to Frank Strelec, a retired attorney, and has one son Matthew, a graduate of Riverview High School. She speaks with pride of Matthew’s wellbeing and success in the treasury management department at SunTrust Bank in Atlanta.

In her leisure time, she enjoys outdoor activities—tennis, horseback riding, hiking—and learning Italian, the language of her heritage.

Always up to a challenge, and perhaps more relaxed than she was 20 years ago, Karen is running for reelection to another four-year term this year. When her dedicated public service eventually comes to an end, she wants to be remembered as a person who truly gave her heart and soul to the community. 

Story: Carol Darling
Photo: Barbara Banks