ELECTION '96 - PIERCE COUNTY SUPERIOR CO... 09-04-96
News Tribune-Central Edition
Published: 09-04-96
ELECTION '96 - PIERCE COUNTY SUPERIOR COURT DEPARTMENT 2: VETERAN ATTORNEYS SEEK SUPERIOR COURT SEAT (CENTRAL, EAST PIERCE COUNTY EDITION) FIVE VETERAN ATTORNEYS SEEK SUPERIOR COURT SEAT (PENINSULA EDITION)
Byline: John Gillie; The News Tribune
Two deputy prosecutors, a Pierce County District Court judge and two experienced local attorneys are fighting for the Pierce County Superior Court Position 2 seat being vacated by the retirement of Judge Waldo Stone. Unless one of the five gets more than 50 percent of the total vote in the Sept. 17 primary - and that seems unlikely considering the relative evenness of the race so far - the top two vote-getters will go head-to-head in the November general election.
All five - private practice attorneys Ed Winskill and Nick Markovich, deputy prosecutors Ken Nichols and Doug Vanscoy and Pierce County District Court Judge Rudy Tollefson - are veteran attorneys with legal careers ranging from 15 to 24 years. All have been active in their community.
Two, Judge Tollefson and two-term Gig Harbor City Councilman Markovich, have held elective office. Two others, Winskill and Nichols, are no strangers to politics. Winskill's wife, Debbie, is a two-term Tacoma School Board member. Nichols ran unsuccessfully for the Legislature from the 27th District two years ago.

Ken Nichols
Age: 44
Home: Tacoma
Law school: University of Puget Sound, Tacoma, 1981
Occupation: Thurston County deputy prosecutor.
Legal experience: Nichols has had two months of experience as a private attorney, a legislative session's experience as an attorney for the Washington state Senate, nine months in the Pierce County prosecutor's office and 13 1/2 years as a Thurston County deputy prosecutor. He has prosecuted a wide variety of cases, from misdemeanors to murders.
Judicial experience: None
Civic achievements: Nichols has coached tee-ball and basketball at the Boys' & Girls' Club and has taught Sunday school at the Fellowship Bible Church. Why he's running for Position 2: Nichols said he has the court experience and patience it takes to make litigants feel welcome in court.
Quote: "I think I have the most in-court experience of any of the candidates. That experience would allow me to 'hit the ground running' as judge, especially in juvenile court or handling criminal calendars." Endorsed by: Numerous attorneys including Paul Battan, James Dixon, Joan Flowerbird, Ken Valz, Paul Watt, Les Ching, Gary Preble, Gary Tabor and Mark Thompson.
Notable: Nichols unsuccessfully ran for the Legislature in the 27th District in 1994.

Nick L. Markovich
Age: 48 Home: Gig Harbor Law school: University of Washington, Seattle, 1973 Occupation: Private practice attorney Legal experience: Markovich opened his practice in Gig Harbor in 1973 after graduating from law school. After a hiatus of a few years in Oregon, Markovich returned to Gig Harbor where he has maintained a broad general law practice with an emphasis on business and corporate law, real estate law, commercial law and domestic relations and probate law. Judicial experience: While in Oregon, Markovich served as judge of the City of Redmond Municipal Court. He has also served from time to time as a substitute judge in local courts in the Gig Harbor area. Civic achievements: Markovich has twice been elected to the Gig Harbor City Council. He has twice served as president of the Gig Harbor-Peninsula Chamber of Commerce. Markovich is a 22-year member of Kiwanis, past president of the Gig Harbor Kiwanis Club and a former lieutenant governor of the Kiwanis Club's Northwest District. He has served as an officer, chairman or board member of numerous other community organizations including the Peninsula Schools Tasks Committees, the United Community Council and Key Peninsula's Emergency Preparedness Committee. Why he's running for Position 2: Winskill says he believes a person of his legal experience and broad civic background is needed on the bench. Quote: "Judges should identify with the best kind of value system that exists in a community. I think I reflect that." Endorsed by: Gig Harbor Police Officers Guild. Notable: Markovich worked his way through the University of Washington as a laborer, commercial fisherman and longshoreman.

Rudy Tollefson
Age: 50 Home: Tacoma Law school: Willamette School of Law, Salem, Ore., 1972 Occupation: Pierce County District Court judge Legal experience: Tollefson was an assistant state attorney general for two years and a Tacoma assistant city attorney for four years before becoming a Pierce County District Court judge in 1979. As an assistant city attorney, he served as a prosecutor in Tacoma Municipal Court and as liaison attorney with the Tacoma Police Department. Judicial experience: Tollefson has served for 17 years as a district judge. District judges handle traffic, small claims, minor domestic assault cases and limited civil cases. As a district court judge in Pierce County District Court No. 1, the state's busiest, Tollefson has helped pioneer such innovations as work release, video arraignments and electronic home monitoring. He has served as presiding judge four times during his career. Civic achievements: Tollefson is immediate past president of the Bellarmine Boosters Club, president-elect of the West Tacoma Optimist Club and a past board member of Christmas House. He is a former president of the St. Patrick's Parent's Club and past chairman of the REACH auction at St. Patrick's School. Why he's running for Position 2: "I am running for this position so that I may continue to hold criminals accountable for their actions, institute new programs that make the court more efficient through new technology and protect victims and their rights." Quote: "Jurors are paid too little. I would urge the county to increase juror pay to the $25-a-day level as allowed by statute." Endorsed by: Pierce County Executive Doug Sutherland, State Reps. Shirley Winsley and Gigi Talcott, Pierce County Councilman Wendell Brown, fellow District Court judges Tom Larkin, David Kenworthy, Kip Stilz, Jim Riehl, Larry Moller and Robert Weisfield. Notable: Tollefson is a co-founder of the Greater Puget Sound Domestic Violence Conference. The conference educates attorneys, law enforcement officers, probation officers and others about domestic violence.

Doug Vanscoy
Age: 47 Home: Tacoma Law school: Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio, 1974 Occupation: Pierce County deputy prosecutor Legal experience: Vanscoy was a private practice attorney for two years in Columbus, Ohio, and then a senior assistant city attorney for the City of Columbus. He has worked for Pierce County as a deputy prosecutor since 1984. As a specialist in governmental law, Vanscoy has tried dozens of complex civil cases in both state and federal courts. In one particularly successful case, Vanscoy, representing Pierce County, won a $4 million judgment against the Air Force for its closure of Woodbrook Road across McChord Air Force Base. Judicial experience: None. But Vanscoy was a clerk for a federal judge following law school for three years. He has served as an arbitrator in Pierce County Superior Court. Civic achievements: Vanscoy has volunteered as a tutor for Tacoma Community House and as a lay counselor on the Comprehensive Mental Health crisis line and as a chaperone at Curtis High School. Why he's running for Position 2: Vanscoy says he's a seasoned and successful trial attorney and is concerned about the decline of legal ethics, the increasing lack of civility and respect in the courtroom and the increasing incidence of frivolous lawsuits. Quote: "I would say the criminal docket threatens to swamp the system, pushing civil cases to the back burner. The trend toward private judges for wealthy litigants is not a healthy one for the rest of us. We must find ways to expedite criminal cases and to dedicate more judges to civil litigation." Endorsed by: Pierce County Prosecuting Attorneys Association, the Washington State Patrol Troopers Association, Pierce County Sheriff John Shields, Pierce County Prosecuting Attorney John Ladenburg and former sheriff Chuck Robbins and former Tacoma Police Chief Ray Fjetland. Notable: Vanscoy believes his working-class background - he paid for college and law school with odd jobs, loans and scholarships - will serve him well on the Superior Court bench.

Edward Winskill
Age: 48 Home: Tacoma Law school: Willamette University, Salem, Ore., 1973 Occupation: Private practice attorney Legal experience: As a shareholder in the Tacoma firm of Davies Pearson, Winskill has tried more than 100 major cases in his career. Judicial experience: None, but Winskill has served as an arbitrator in dozens of cases. Civic achievements: He and his wife have cared for 23 foster children over the years. Winskill has been a board member of the Jesse Dyslin Boys Ranch, the Gonyea Boys & Girls Club, the Tacoma Actors Guild and the Tacoma-Pierce County Bar Association. He is now a Tacoma Youth Symphony board member. Why he's running for Position 2: Winskill believes the court needs judges with plentiful trial experience like himself. "My primary motivation is public service. I already have a great profession and career." Quote: "The qualities that make a good judge are to a degree intangible. All candidates consider themselves talented and qualified, and most are, to one extent or another. One must look above all to the object factors of life experience. Personal and professional reputation with bar and bench is a good touchstone. I am proud to be a lawyer and am happy to be judged by my peers." Endorsed by: Attorneys Ben Bettridge, David Bufalini, George W. Christnacht, Beth Jensen, Bertil Johnson, Frank Ladenburg, Ron Leighton, Don Meath, Jack Rosenow, Noel Shillito, Michael Welch and others. Notable: Before attending law school, Winskill was a Seattle postal clerk.
SIDEBAR
Specifics about judicial elections
Job Description: Superior Court judges rule over original jurisdiction trials involving most civil disputes, felony criminal charges, some misdemeanor cases, family law, probate law and juvenile court, including dependency cases.
Work Load: Officially, judges work 40 hours per week, but most put in more than that. They are allowed 30 "time away from bench" days per year, which they can use for legally required training, conferences, speaking engagements, military leave, sick days and vacation. Salary: $99,015 a year.
Judicial Elections: Judges are elected to four-year terms, starting the second Monday in January after elections.
In races with two candidates, the Sept. 17 primary decides the race. In races with three or more candidates, the primary can narrow the general election field to the two with the most votes. However, if a candidate facing more than two opponents wins more than half the votes, that candidate wins the entire election at the primary.
This year's election: In Pierce County, 18 positions are available but only six races are contested. Four of the contested races are for open seats. All 12 of the judges running unopposed are incumbents.
Of the 49 King County Superior Court bench positions available, only 13 races are contested. Thirty-one candidates are vying for the 13 positions. Incumbents are seeking re-election in all but two of the contested races. In the 36 noncontested races, all but one of the candidates are incumbents.
- Angela Galloway, The News Tribune

Below is an e-mail I received from a former Olympia, Washington resident.

From: ~~~~~~~~@aol.com
To: Louis Bloom manaco@whidbey.net
Sent: Wednesday, July 28, 1999 11:34 AM
Subject: OKBR
Just came across your pages and felt the urge to respond... In the early 80's (81-83) I was at the OKBR frequently as a young kid walking to/from school, I became friends with some of the boys. At one point a small boy confided to me that he was being raped by another boy in the home. The abusing boy talked about it openly!
Days later I walked the victim to OPD where we both gave statements. Later that evening I began to receive these incredibly threatening phone calls from a woman employee of the ranch who's name I believe was Paulette at my home. She kept calling over and over screaming at me calling me names. It was horrible. I thought I was helping someone. Nothing came of it. Then all these years later, it all comes out ... one of the boys that I had known there left as a young adult and still couldn't get it together, he eventually killed himself. As an adult now I don't often think back to those times but it still saddens me. All those boys that needed a safe nurturing place to be, and how many of them were better off for having been taken there? It's not about money. It cost these boys their lives, their souls, their trust. Those people who knew, who didn't care, they should feel such shame. Just my opinion.

From: louis a bloom manaco@whidbey.net
To: ~~~~~~~@aol.com
Sent: Wednesday, July 28, 1999 7:30 PM
Subject: Re: OKBR
thanks for your e-mail. from what i've read, dshs, the olympia police department, and other "authorities" didn't consider child on child rape to be against the law. it was considered "normal experimentation". The "paulette" you mention, may have been Collette Queener who was an assistant director at the OKBR. Collette, OKBR Director Tom Van Woerdan, and OKBR counselor Laura Rambo Russell were ineptly charged by Wa. St. with "criminal mistreatment for failing to stop abuse". The charges were dismissed by Thurston County Judge Daniel Berschauer on technicalities. The lawyer who represented Collette Queener said, (Nov. 14, 1996 Olympian), that it was a "witch hunt", and that " a more innocent person (than Queener) you could not have for a client. She's an ex-nun ..... I don't see how you could view her in an evil or negative light."
I congratulate you for doing the right thing, when all those adults looked the other way. I repeat on most pages that the " OKBR has cost the Washington State taxpayers over $35 million dollars (so far)", because I think most people don't care about the kids involved, but they may care that it has cost them (taxpayers) money.
louis bloom

manaco@whidbey.net