2021 DEMOCRATIC CANDIDATES
Chester County Row Offices
CLERK OF COURTS
Yolanda Van De Krol (incumbent) (endorsed)
A native of Massachusetts, with degrees from Hamilton College and the University of Delaware, Yolanda spent 22 years as a bank executive in the Philadelphia region. Her long list of volunteer work includes Board President of Tredyffrin Township Libraries and Assistant Treasurer of West Chester Rotary. She ran successfully for Clerk of Courts in 2017 to ensure that taxpayer dollars are being spent wisely and to streamline services to ensure that the administration of justice is efficient and accurate. As Clerk of Courts, she has implemented e-filing and other technological improvements. Her overall philosophy is that accurate records provide the basis for fair trials for victims and defendants alike.Working with the DA, the President Judge and Juvenile Probation, she is expunging records for non-violent, low-level juvenile offenders who qualify but have neglected to expunge their records before they turned 18; thus “because of our collaboration on juvenile expungements, a mistake will no longer define a person’s life and limit their opportunities.” As a Board member of the Friends Association, Yolanda has been instrumental in setting up Chester County’s Eviction Prevention Court program.
The County Clerk of Courts manages paperwork for criminal court filings and records in the Chester County Court of Common Pleas, handling 6,000 cases each year. The office also staffs all criminal, juvenile and dependency hearings for the Chester County Court of Common Pleas. It assesses fines, costs and restitution and collects fees in conjunction with the Chester County Adult Probation and Parole Department. It collects bail money and returns it upon completion of court action; and it maintains records and dockets for a variety of matters including constables and private detectives.
CONTROLLER
Margaret Reif (incumbent) (endorsed)
Margaret holds a degree in Economics and Finance from the University of Scranton. She was controller for a Malvern-based non-profit, managed a family-owned small business for over 25 years, and worked as investment liaison at Vanguard. She has been a community activist for issues such as maintaining open space and child advocacy. She has provided transparency, accountability and efficiency to the residents of Chester County by bringing a fresh eye to precious taxpayer resource allocation. As Controller, she has found ways to improve and streamline processes within the County leading to significant cost savings for the taxpayers.As an educational researcher, I have deep knowledge and expertise regarding how educational decisions – from curriculum to teacher professional development to school climate – impact our students and their ability to thrive. I want to apply over 20 years of expertise to the School Directors’ conversations to pose thoughtful and challenging questions around important decisions. If elected to the School Board, I want to ensure the health, mental health, and wellbeing of our students and teaching faculty is properly addressed in the coming years and remains a consideration in every decision we make as a community for the GVSD.
CORONER
Sophia Garcia-Jackson (endorsed)
Sophia Garcia-Jackson, the County’s Chief Deputy Coroner, works closely with incumbent Christina VandePol, who has decided not to seek reelection. Sophia manages and oversees all functions of the office: administration, investigations, transportation and morgue-related duties. She has supervisor-on-duty responsibilities and is the direct supervisor for the investigators. Her achievements include streamlining the budget process and changing how payments are made in order to enhance transparency. She sits on multiple task forces throughout the County, coordinating with local law enforcement and other agencies. With the Coroner she shares duties including signing death certificates by providing cause and manner of death. Previously, she worked for the State of New Jersey as a Death Investigator for 6 years. She holds a master’s degree in Forensic Medicine from the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine and a bachelor’s degree in Anthropology from California State with a certification in Forensic Identification, and has completed several internships and training programs. Sophia is certified with the American Board of Medicolegal Death Investigators and is working on the next level of fellowship and certified with the Pennsylvania Coroner’s Education Board. She will be prepared to lead the office on day one and will keep pushing for a modern forensic facility that provides the proper safety mechanisms for the office to work in the most important of circumstances, like a pandemic.
TREASURER
Patricia Maisano (incumbent) (endorsed)
Patricia holds a RN degree from St. Francis School of Nursing and a Doctorate in Health Sciences from Sheffield University. She was sole founder and CIO of IKOR International Inc., providing patient advocacy and professional guardianship services to the profoundly disabled and seniors, a company that from Chester County has grown to more than 70 offices in 20 states. She has served as board member for the YMCA of Brandywine Valley and the Kennett Senior Center. She has the financial experience of successfully running a company and the assets of other individuals for many years. She has conducted her entire business career guided by the core values of integrity, transparency and trust, which she brings to County government. Patricia uses her corporate experience to ensure the Office of the Treasurer maintains tight accounting controls and the ability to innovate to improve services.
*The Willistown-Malvern Democrats wishes all candidates to have a fair chance to make their case for election. Before each primary election, posting of information on this web site or other Willistown-Malvern Democratic social media sites does not imply endorsement, support, or approval of any candidate. We do, though, indicate candidates’ status with regard to incumbency or endorsement by the Willistown-Malvern Dems, the Chester County Democrats or the PA Democratic Party. Candidates for each office are listed in alphabetical order by last name, except endorsed and incumbent candidates, who are listed first in their section. We are grateful to all who, by running for office, strengthen the process on which American democracy depends.