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04/24/2007: "SJC & New Judge Implementation"

(CC discusses busy Tuesday agenda at Monday Staff meeting -Ranker temporary out of room)

The County Council will take up the question of the “Superior Court Judge Implementation Process” at their Tuesday (4-24-07) meeting, now that the Governor has signed a bill allowing San Juan & Skagit counties to elect their own Superior Court Judge. (original story ) The question is, how do we get a judge prior to the next election. The law clearly states the Governor will appoint, and then at the next election the voters decide -assuming there are more than one candidate for the position; but what happens now?

The problem results from the filing period for the office cannot take place for 90 days after the legislator has adjourned, and that means the filing period will have come and gone. And there is the requirement that the counties must fund the position, and this would normally be completed no later than January of 2008.

So the Governor would appoint a judge. Is this a problem? Depends on who one talks to. What does the Governor know about the counties? Certainly not as much as the voters; but the process for appointing relies heavily on professional research and recommendations to the Governor from the legal community, both at the local and state level, so why be concerned.



One concern is that one may assume the appointed person will have a clear advantage in the upcoming election; so the question has been asked: is that fair? And just how does one keep politics out of the process, at any level, but especially when the Governor is a Democrat, the County Council is (by 5 to 1) comprised of Democrats, and current prosecutor Randy Gaylord, one of the two remaining contenders for the position, is a Democrat, and former Judge John Linde, a Republican, is the other one.

Given the review and recommendation process, perhaps this is not a problem; and anyway, if state politics were to be at play, a good argument -all other things being equal- can be made for the Governor to appoint a “Republican” judge. It is not as if the county voters are going to abandon the Governor for supporting a respected former county judge, and would sends a message to the rest of the state that the Governor is willing to appoint outside of the party.

In any case, the Council is in a bit of an odd position on this issue. The Governor wants a recommendation, and the Council could simply make their recommendation, and let the process proceed; but given the fact that the current SJC Prosecutor, Randy Gaylord, is on record as wanting to be the next judge, and if the Governor were to appoint him, then the Council would have to -yup, you guessed it: appoint a successor to the vacant position of Prosecuting Attorney, who then would have to run for the office in the next election.

Sounds familiar, Sounds like one problem has been substituted for another: same problem, but different players. Should be an interesting discussion today. The Council expects that members of the county Law and Justice community, as well as members of the local Bar Association may show up for the discussion.

Gene Knapp, a former SJC Prosecuting Attorney, and now a member of the County Council, expressed the importance of the general public also being heard, and has encouraged anyone interested in the process to attend today’s meeting. It is expected the discussion will take place shortly after the 10 A.M. starting time in the Council Chambers in the court house.