Monday, March 14, 2005
Page 3
Balloting Underway to Fill Commissioner Vacancy
By a MetNews Staff Writer
Balloting is underway to fill one of the Los Angeles Superior Court’s vacant commissioner positions.
Ballots will be counted March 30, a court official said. There are three vacancies at the present time, but local rules give the presiding judge discretion as to how quickly slots will be filled.
Candidates are listed in ranked order, according to the evaluations of a judicial panel. While the rankings are not binding on the judges, the highest ranked candidate has been victorious after every election for the past several years.
The top-ranked candidate on the current ballot is Referee Steff Padilla, who sits at Los Padrinos Juvenile Court in Downey. Padilla, a graduate of Mt. Holyoke College in Massachusetts and Indiana University School of Law, is a former Arkansas deputy attorney general.
The rest of the field, in ranked order, consists of 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 Childrenís Rights attorney Amy M. Pellman; Los Angeles attorney Graciela Freixes; Santa Monica attorney Susan Weiss; Referee Alan H. Friedenthal, who is Padillaís husband; Los Angeles attorney David J. Cowan; Long Beach attorney Tamila Ipema; Murphy; former Referee Laura Hymowitz; Covina attorney Rocky Lee Crabb; and Joel Wallenstein, a former referee who now works for the State Compensation Insurance Fund.
Also Deputy County Counsel Catherine Pratt, Deputy District Attorney Cynthia Zuzga, Deputy District Attorney Lori-Ann 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.
Copyright 2005, Metropolitan News Company