Wednesday, November 7, 2001
Page 1
Judge Reginald Dunn Won’t Run for Reelection, Sources Say
By Kenneth Ofgang, Staff Writer
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Reginald Dunn has told acquaintances he is not running for reelection in the March 5 primary.
The 70-year-old judge, who was appointed to the bench in 1989 by then-Gov. George Deukmejian, did not return MetNews phone calls. But the jurist is one of only five whose seats are on the ballot this year who hasn’t taken out or filed the necessary forms to run for reelection.
The filing deadline for incumbents and challengers is 5 p.m. today. No incumbent judge is currently being challenged.
Where the incumbent doesn’t file, there is an automatic extension through Tuesday of next week. Other judges not seeking new six-year terms are David Finkel and Michael Pirosh—both of whom plan to retire in January of next year—Michael Kanner, who said he will retire at the end of his term in January 2003, and Richard Spann.
Commissioner Glenda Veasey has taken out papers to run for Dunn’s seat. She said yesterday that she couldn’t comment on Dunn’s plans, but that she would run for the seat—and was hopeful of having Dunn’s endorsement—if he didn’t run.
In other election developments, Deputy District Attorney Craig Renetzky said yesterday he will run for Sann’s seat, bringing the field of candidates to five.
That race, the most crowded judicial contest in the county thus far, already includes Deputy District Attorney Richard Naranjo, Superior Court Referee Alan Friedenthal, Acton attorney Larry Layton, and Pasadena attorney David Crawford III.
Another possible candidate is State Bar Court Judge Michael D. Marcus, who has taken out papers to run for multiple seats. A bar court employee yesterday said that Marcus was hearing a case and was not available to talk to a reporter.
Renetzky, 34, is the son of Workers’ Compensation Judge Donald Renetzky, who has taken out papers to run for a number of Superior Court seats, including Spann’s. The younger Renetzky said he was sure his father—who didn’t return a MetNews phone call yesterday—wouldn’t run against him.
Craig Renetzky is a graduate of Colorado College and USC Law School. He said he and his father had each been thinking of running, and eventually decided to make a “family project” out of the campaign.
The Renetzkys are interviewing political consultants in the hopes of finding one willing to handle both campaigns, Craig Renetzky said.
Marcus, who became a State Bar Court hearing judge in 1995 after 17 years in the District Attorney’s Office followed by 10 years in private practice, took out papers to run for the Spann, Kanner, and Finkel seats.
Others who have taken out or filed the necessary documents to run for those posts include Deputy District Attorney Lauren Weis Birnstein for the Kanner seat and Deputy District Attorney David Gelfound for the Finkel seat.
Running for the Pirosh seat are Superior Court Commissioner Jeffrey Marckese and Santa Monica attorney Joseph Deering, who said yesterday he had settled on that race after pulling papers for several seats.
Another candidate who has taken out multiple sets of documents, former Superior Court Commissioner Richard Espinoza, will settle on a race today, his daughter-in-law, Amber Espinoza, who is working on the campaign, said yesterday.
A candidate may take out, and file, declarations of intent to run for any number of seats, although a separate, nonrefundable $1,330 filing fee or 5,320 signatures in lieu of the fee is required for each office. It is only during the nominations period, which runs this year from Nov. 13 through Dec. 7, that a filed and declared candidate must commit to a specific office.
Copyright 2001, Metropolitan News Company