With every climactic superhero-archvillain showdown there is much more than that particular battle at stake - some trifle like all of humanity or the fate of the Fourth Dimension.

The stakes aren't quite that high in the 2008 county clerk's race, but there is a lot more going on than you'd get from a quick look.

This contest should go to Republican incumbent Cheryl Dinolfo. She's got the money, the name, the connections, and the bragging rights from standing up to former Governor Eliot Spitzer when he was still the shine on the Big Apple - and winning.

But national sentiment is running against the Republican Party in general and locally, Monroe County Republicans haven't won any popularity contests of their own lately. They tried to manipulate the public defender search - and succeeded. They tried to rig the MCC presidency search - and failed. Or were at least put off for awhile. They snatched millions from the schools to try to pay off their own debt, only to be slapped back by the courts.

If history has shown us anything, it's that Monrovians love to relive their own embarrassments.

So while the outrage over those controversies has died down, voters may still be thinking it's time to let a little blue sky shine through that solid-red curtain. Clerk is the only countywide race this year, so if voters are looking to sock it to the GOP, Dinolfo is the first and last stop. Republicans practically admitted as much when they started running Dinolfo TV ads five months before an election that should be a cakewalk.

Dinolfo's Democratic opponent, Tom Hasman, is a young upstart with an impressive background in records management and computer security - an indisputably fitting résumé for a 21st century county clerk. He's gotten some traction - not nearly enough, he'd tell you - from a mini-scandal involving Social Security numbers and the clerk's office.

Both Dinolfo and Hasman are intelligent, articulate people who seem genuinely interested in making the clerk's office the best it can be. Where they differ is priorities - Dinolfo says it's customer service. For Hasman, security is first and foremost.

And security is where Hasman is coming from when he criticizes Dinfolo's handling of the Social Security number incident. Hasman learned from the media over the summer that Social Security numbers were available on the clerk's website. The numbers were found primarily on bankruptcy-related documents, say county Democrats. Social Security numbers are golden tickets for identity thieves.

"The safe and secure stewardship of information is the clerk's paramount duty, and this lapse raises serious questions of competence and professionalism," he says.

Hasman obviously thought he had a winning issue - and the revelation did garner some media attention - but the widespread indignation he anticipated never materialized.

"I cannot believe that people aren't more outraged," he says.

Late last month, Dinolfo announced that a redaction effort had removed nearly all of the Social Security numbers off the clerk's online database but that "no tool is perfect."

Hasman criticized Dinolfo for leaving the database live while the redaction took place - especially since it had essentially been advertised in the media that the numbers were out there.

Dinolfo says that shutting the website down during redaction would've caused great harm to the real-estate community and to the economy.

"To shut the website down certainly would have brought the real-estate community to a screeching halt," she says.

Hasman accused Dinolfo of putting the real-estate community's needs over the security of the public.

One of Dinolfo's signature accomplishments is the Renew Monroe program, which encourages residents to renew their vehicle registrations locally.

The state gets 12.7 percent of the money from renewals done through the Internet or the mail. Prior to the state taking over that work, people did their business with their local offices and that money stayed in the communities.

"In these tougher economic times especially, the county should be pushing for really what is their work and their due," Dinolfo says. "It would be better for the residents of Monroe County to keep that 12.7 percent working here locally."

Dinolfo says that keeping the renewals local, coupled with encouraging residents to process their passport transactions locally, would earn the county about $500,000 annually.

Hasman says Dinolfo's approach is shortsighted. Everything will be online eventually, he says, so the clerk should be working with the state on a partnership and a revenue-sharing agreement instead of asking people to make a trip to the local DMV or to scratch off the Albany address on the renewal forms and replace it with the address of the Henrietta DMV.

"The Internet is not a fad," Hasman says. "It just seems so backward. The clerk is going to be in rough shape when 80 to 90 percent of the renewals are online."

In response, Dinolfo says that given the state's financial situation, she's not so sure that state officials would jump at the chance to share DMV money with Monroe County.

The New York State Association of County Clerks has repeatedly asked the state commissioner of motor vehicles for permission to do online transactions and has been denied, Dinolfo says. The clerks will keep making the request - and Dinolfo says the commissioner seems more receptive lately - and if that doesn't work out, they may seek legislation granting them permission to do online DMV transactions.

While most of us have infrequent contact with the clerk's office, there are those - like lawyers and employees of abstract companies - who must use the office regularly.

An abstract company employee contacted by City Newspaper praised Dinolfo as smart, accessible, and responsive. She said that she is particularly grateful for the free copy service and free and widespread Internet access at the clerk's office.

She does have a complaint, however: adjusting to the clerk's new computer system hasn't been a joyride.

Dinolfo says there were many opportunities for the abstracting community and others to come in, learn the system, and make suggestions for changes.

And a Rochester-area attorney and dedicated Mac user says that since the upgrade, she no longer has access to the clerk's online records - a major inconvenience.

"You talk to any programmer, and you will find that it's not that complicated to program for both - PC and Apple," she says. "Any good programmer can do that. It's not a big deal. You're talking about making change."

Dinolfo says that Mac users only need to download an emulator program to use the database. But the lawyer - who did not want to be identified - is worried about the effect that could have on her computer.

Lawyers like herself use the clerk's office so frequently, she says it would be a good idea to have a satellite office for the county clerk at the courthouse. She's brought the idea to Dinolfo and former County Clerk Maggie Brooks, but says she's gotten no response.

Dinolfo is running on her record of accomplishments, she says, including Renew Monroe, online learner-permit testing in area high schools, and bringing passport services to people in their communities by partnership with schools, churches, and other groups.

"We have been bringing government services to the people of Monroe County and they have really been, I think, appreciative of those efforts," she says.

Hasman says his background in records management and his experience in computer security make him the best candidate for the job.

"The clerk's office needs to be run by almost like a CIO - chief information officer," he says. "Kodak, Xerox, big Fortune 500 companies all have them now on the understanding that you have an individual who's in charge of protecting information. A lot of these companies now, that's their asset - information."

Dinolfo also cites her opposition to former Governor Eliot Spitzer's plan to issue driver's licenses to illegal immigrants as one of her major accomplishments.

"I did what was right for this community and I think in a very responsible way," she says.

Hasman, too, was against the policy but says Dinolfo is giving herself too much credit.

"The thing was kind of dead on arrival and she stands there and says, ‘I led the fight against Spitzer's driver's licenses for illegals,' Hasman says. "And it's like, if that's your biggest accomplishment in four years, then you haven't been a very good clerk."

Tom Hasman

Age: 35

Residency: Rochester

Party: Democratic, Working Families

Education: Master of arts in government, Johns Hopkins University. Bachelor of arts degrees in political science and sociology from SUNY Oswego.

Occupation: Senior information assurance analyst for SRA International Inc., Arlington, Virginia. Current project: Deputy project manager on contract for the United States Department of Treasury.

Cheryl Dinolfo

Age: 47

Residency: Irondequoit

Party: Republican, Independence, Conservative

Education: Graduate of Cardinal Mooney High School, LeMoyne College, and the University of Buffalo Law School.

Occupation: Monroe County Clerk, elected in 2004. An attorney and partner in Connors and Corcoran LLP for 14 years.