Wednesday, December 17, 2003
Page 4
‘Professor’ Designation Will Stand, Registrar’s Spokeswoman Says
By a MetNews Staff Writer
A deputy district attorney running for Los Angeles Superior Court judge will be designated as “Criminal Prosecutor/Professor,” the chief spokesperson for Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk Conny McCormack said yesterday.
“We can’t do anything” about the designation chosen by Deputy District Attorney Patrick David Campbell, Marcia Ventura told the MetNews. Any challenge to the candidate’s chosen designation should have been brought in Superior Court during the now-expired public inspection period, she explained.
Deputy District Attorney Daniel Feldstern faxed a letter of complaint to the registrar Monday. He accused Campbell, who teaches once a week at an unaccredited law school, of trying to “create for voters an inflated and misleading impression of [his] academic stature.”
He argued that Campbell’s “temporary, part-time teaching status and...relatively insubstantial time commitment” to American College of Law in Anaheim warrants no more than a “Lecturer” or “Instructor” designation.
The registrar’s office can only determine the legality, not the factual validity, of a proposed ballot designation, Ventura explained. Otherwise, she commented, “we’d be asking every single [candidate] to qualify his occupation, and that is not our function.”
The registrar, she elaborated, is required to accept any designation that meets the requirements set forth in the Elections Code and regulations issued by the secretary of state.
Campbell said he was not surprised at the decision, noting that the registrar didn’t ask him to respond to the complaint. “Professor is an accurate and acceptable designation,” he said, based on legal precedent.
Campbell’s campaign consultant, Fred Huebscher, said Feldstern’s complaint was neither legally nor factually tenable. “I don’t know why he wasn’t in court” over the issue, the consultant said, noting that Campbell filed his nominating papers, containing the designation, two weeks ago.
Neither Feldstern nor his consultant, Renee Nahum, were available for comment late yesterday.
Campbell and Feldstern are seeking the seat being vacated by Judge Marcus Tucker. The other candidates are Superior Court Referee Mildred Escobedo and Deputy City Attorney Miguel Dager.
Escobedo’s ballot designation of “Judicial Officer” remains under review by the registrar, Ventura said.
In another election-related development, Orange Superior Court Judge John Watson set a hearing for Tuesday of next week on Judge Dan Thomas Oki’s challenge to opponent Eugene Salute’s preferred designation of “Attorney/Temporary Judge.” Watson ordered Salute to respond by Friday to Oki’s points and authorities, and gave Oki until Monday to respond.
Copyright 2003, Metropolitan News Company