Thursday, July 31, 2003
Page 3
Superior Court Sets Vote to Fill Commissioner Vacancies
By a MetNews Staff Writer
The Los Angeles Superior Court has scheduled an internal election to fill two commissioner vacancies, a spokesman said yesterday.
Ballots will be mailed to all of the court’s judges on Aug. 13 and will be due back Sept. 5. The winners, after a runoff election if necessary, will replace Commissioners Joseph Biderman and Robert McIntosh.
Biderman was appointed a judge of the court last week. McIntosh is retiring Aug. 11.
The election will utilize the current list of eligible candidates, as ranked by the court’s evaluating panel two years ago. The court is in the process of completing a new list, with the application deadline having passed last month.
The highest-ranked candidate is Dennis Mulcahy, a Woodland Hills sole practitioner who lost a runoff in March, the last time the court filled a commissioner vacancy. The other candidates, in ranked order, are Riverside Superior Court Commissioner Gretchen W. Taylor; Deputy Public Defender Lisa Brackelmanns; Referee Brian Petraborg; Long Beach attorney and onetime Antelope Municipal Court candidate Joel Wallenstein; Torrance attorney and “as-needed” Referee Steven Lee Berman; Referee Anthony Trendacosta; Downey lawyer Daniel Wilson; Los Angeles attorney Joseph Sheehan; Santa Monica family law specialist Susan Weiss; Beverly Hills attorney Marilyn Nelson; and Santa Monica criminal law specialist Steven Hauser.
The rankings are not binding on the judges, but the order of election has consistently followed the rankings since the current list was released.
Copyright 2003, Metropolitan News Company