Here’s a look at the new Linn County Clerk’s Office in the Wheelhouse Building. At the counter: Deputy Clerk Derrick Sterling.
The Linn County Clerk’s Office is making its long-awaited move to the Wheelhouse Building on the Albany Riverfront. On a bike ride Wednesday afternoon, I stopped in and saw that the office is already in operation there.
As of Wednesday the clerk’s office was doing business at both the wheelhouse and the old office in the courthouse. But on Friday, the move will be complete. Starting that day, Aug. 29, you’ll want to head to Water Avenue if you have business with the Linn County clerk, like registering to vote or getting a marriage license, .
The Wheelhouse address is 421 Water Ave. N.E.
You might miss the tradition of going to the courthouse now and then. On the upside, though, unlike around the courthouse, there is plenty of parking at the Wheelhouse. And no climbing of stairs; the clerk’s office is on the ground floor.
What happens to the courthouse space the clerk’s staff is leaving behind? “The space will be used for the surveyor’s office, payroll and HR offices and additional meeting space,” Alex Paul, the county’s communications officer, told me. (I assume by HR he meant “human resources.”)
Paul put out a press release about the clerk’s move from the courthouse. Here, in italics, is the whole thing:
Beginning Friday, August 29, the clerk’s office will be located on the first floor of the Wheelhouse at 421 Water Avenue NE, Suite 1300, Albany. Linn County Clerk Marcie Richey said the new office will be open from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday. Recording activities and marriage license applications will be available from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., Richey said.
Richey has worked in the Linn County Clerk’s Office since 1993. She was appointed county clerk in 2023 after the death of long-time county clerk Steve Druckenmiller. She was elected to office in November 2024. Derrick Sterling is the chief deputy clerk.
The new office includes a large reception area, staff offices, a ballot counting room complete with an area for observers and a vault room to store counted ballots. The clerk’s office joins Linn County Health Services administration and Information Technology (IT) staff in the building that was purchased by the county in December 2023. Some of District Attorney Doug Marteeny’s staff have been working out of the Wheelhouse until remodeled offices are completed in the courthouse. The county attorney’s office and property manager’s office will move into the building in the future.
“We’re excited about the move,” Richey said. “It is a beautiful building and we were included in the layout of the new office space since day one. We believe the new space and the many security measures we have put in place will ensure secure elections now and in the future.”
Including Richey, the clerk’s office has 10 staff members.The clerk’s office has numerous responsibilities including issuing marriage licenses; recording deeds, mortgages, liens and mining claims; property value appeals; official storage for minutes of Board of Commissioners meetings; working in conjunction with the Linn County Sheriff’s Office on lost and found items and conducting elections, from maintaining voter rolls to mailing and counting ballots.
To contact the Linn County Clerk’s office, call 541-967-3831, or visit http://www.linncountyor.gov/clerk.
The next time I need anything from the clerk’s office, it will be an easy errand to run, since the bike takes me along the Dave Clark Riverfront Path several times a week. (hh)
They’ll need a new sign before long.
At least you’ll be able to park now. Parking at the courthouse is ridiculous.
Are they going to make a drive up at that location? One of the advantages of the Bank location was to use the existing drive up for business.
Well, the bank building being sold to the County didn’t happen, did it. The Council/CARA, in all their wisdom :-), would not sell to the County and instead tore down the bank building on First Street and took a considerable loss after buying it with taxpayer’s money!!! It is now a gravel parking lot, with Lepman (of course, with Lepman!) having an option to build something on the lot.
It is great that Linn County Clerk’s office is now in The Wheelhouse Building. With Hasso’s help, I remember CARA giving a grant to the builder of The Wheelhouse to put in the fancy rail crossing at the intersection on Water Street…..fancy crossing paid for with taxpayer’s money that leads to only the Wheelhouse Building. And, Wheelhouse never got their dream anchor tenant….that is, never lured a pricey restaurant to open there.
So, Linn County bought the building. Good one on CARA, as Linn County does not have to pay property taxes! The homeowners get to pay most of the property taxes. Let the Wheelhouse Building be a reminder to citizens to never vote in another urban renewal district (another CARA, that is)…URDs are a scam perpetrated on ordinary citizens.
100%. The millions of $$$ CARA has doled out has caused the City of be “short” of funds for ongoing needed upkeep, like the neighborhood roads.