Everett Herald

Endorsement

Wilson is well-prepared

Sunday, October 11, 2009 — The untimely illness, retirement and death of Snohomish County Superior Court Judge James Allendoerfer has created an unusual five-way race for an open seat in the Nov. 3 general election. The top vote-getter, even if short of a majority, will serve the final three years of Allendoerfer's term.

Superior Court is the highest trial court in the state system, hearing felony criminal cases and a variety of civil matters, including difficult family law and custody cases. Judges carry a demanding workload; the best bring a deep and varied well of legal and community experience, a demonstrated work ethic, and a keen knowledge of and respect for the law.

In this race, we think the candidate with the best combination of those traits is Joe Wilson. We were impressed with him when he ran for the bench two years ago, and would have endorsed him then if George Appel had not also been in that race.

Wilson, an Everett native, has been in private practice for 16 years, where he has tried a wide variety of criminal and civil cases in Superior Court, and has made successful arguments before the state Court of Appeals and state Supreme Court. As impressive is his record of service for community organizations, particularly his work in support of crime victims and on the board of Snohomish County Domestic Violence Services. He also has served as a pro-tem judge at the District Court level.

Wilson's struggle with alcoholism has come up during the campaign, appropriately. He has three alcohol-related driving convictions on his record, a serious matter. To his credit, he has owned up to his record publicly, and says that with the help of family and friends, has been alcohol-free for more than 10 years. We commend him for dealing forthrightly with a troubling part of his past.

Next to Wilson, we think Rico Tessandore has the best potential to be a good judge. He is well-regarded by former colleagues in the Snohomish County Prosecutor's Office, and has worked as a pro-tem judge in the Superior and District courts. He is currently a civil law attorney, working as in-house counsel for Farmers Insurance. At age 38, Tessandore has time to gain even more valuable experience.

David Hulbert is a former Superior Court judge who lost his seat in 2004 to Eric Lucas, then lost a rematch last year. He touts his 12 years of experience on the bench as his biggest advantage, but that experience included having an overwhelming number of affidavits of prejudice filed against him — representing a lack of confidence in him by attorneys who try cases in Superior Court.

Scott Peterson is a private-practice attorney who primarily represents consumers. He says his success in appealing Superior Court rulings shows that much time and money is wasted on poor decisions at that level, something he would work to improve. We think Wilson and Tessandore both offer a wider range of pertinent experience.

Scott Lord works in the Family Support Division of the Snohomish County Prosecutor's Office and owns an Everett restaurant. He's a passionate advocate for increasing the reach of the county's successful drug court, but his depth of experience doesn't match his opponents'.

VotingforJudges.org, P.O. Box 1460, Silverdale, WA  98383
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