Friday, November 26, 2004
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Voting Underway to Elect Groman’s Successor as Court Commissioner
By a MetNews Staff Writer
Voting is underway to elect a Los Angeles Superior Court commissioner to succeed Judge-elect Donna Groman.
While the court normally does not hold commissioner elections until a vacancy actually exists, Assistant Presiding Judge William MacLaughlin explained yesterday, the vote was expedited because there is no doubt that Groman’s seat will be vacant at the beginning of the year and the early election will allow her successor to take office at that time.
Groman is one of five incoming judges who won runoff elections on Nov. 2. Their terms begin on Jan. 3.
Ballots in the commissioner contest will be counted Dec. 17, MacLaughlin said. A runoff will be required if no candidate receives a majority.
Referee Anthony Trendacosta is the top-ranked candidate on the ballot. The rankings by a judicial panel are not binding on the judges who do the voting, but every vacancy in the last few years has been filled by the highest-ranked candidate.
The order of rankings, after Trendacosta, is Munger, Tolles & Olson staff counsel Anthony B. Drewry, Referee Steff Padilla, Santa Monica attorney James N. Bianco, Century City attorney H. Jay Ford III, Referee Pamela A. Davis, Lancaster attorney and former Referee David Bianchi, Court of Appeal attorney Mary Lou Katz, Alliance for Children’s Rights attorney Amy M. Pellman, Los Angeles attorney Graciela Freixes, Santa Monica lawyer Susan Weiss, Referee Alan H. Friedenthal, Los Angeles attorney David J. Cowan, Long Beach attorney Tamila Ipema, Murphy, former Referee Laura Hymowitz, Covina attorney Rocky Lee Crabb, and former Referee Joel Wallenstein.
They are followed by Deputy County Counsel Catherine Pratt, Deputy District Attorney Cynthia Zuzga, Deputy District Attorney Lori Jones, Los Angeles attorney Robert Harrison, Referee Stephen Marpet, Deputy District Attorney Lia R. Martin, Los Angeles attorney Paul Ted Suzuki, Manhattan Beach attorney Michele Flurer, Deputy District Attorney William J. Woods, Los Angeles attorney Adrienne L. Krikorian, and Referee Jacqueline H. Lewis.
Referee D. Zeke Zeidler, who had been ranked between Hymowitz and Crabb, will be joining Groman, Deputy Attorney General Gus Gomez, Referee Mildred Escobedo, and Deputy District Attorney Laura Priver when the newly elected judges are sworn in.
Copyright 2004, Metropolitan News Company