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San Luis Obispo County, CA November 5, 2002 Election
Smart Voter

One Judge can make a Difference

By Jacqueline Frederick

Candidate for Superior Court Judge; County of San Luis Obispo; Office 4

This information is provided by the candidate
Summary of Experience
There is no more important position of trust in our system of government than that of a Judge. You have the rare opportunity to choose and elect the best choice for your next Superior Court Judge of San Luis Obispo County.

How can you know the lawyer who possesses the true judicial heart, who will be fair, patient, and have the courage to make the tough decisions?

For you to know, I must open my life to you so you will know not only my professional qualifications, but the caliber of my person.

As the first American child of immigrants, I stand here living my parents dream of the opportunity to achieve. I graduated as valedictorian from high school and then worked two and three jobs to put myself through college and law school.

As a trial lawyer for 21 years I have been afforded the opportunity to help people and because I have represented hundreds of people from every walk of life, I believe I have the ability to understand people and to respect differing viewpoints.

I have litigated over 500 cases in our courts in nine counties in 20 area of the law. A few examples are:

The senior citizen defrauded of her home and life savings by her young trusted friend.

Farmers sued over the right to use the water under their land.

The single mother who while on her first real vacation was raped by the resort security guard who entered her room with a pass key.

The parents of an 18 year old boy and his uncle blown up in front of the father as they welded on an oil tanker someone neglectfully did not clean.

The beautiful 24 year old woman burned and scarred for life when a defective 42 gallon pressure cooker exploded in her face.

The baker killed from carbon monoxide poisoning due to a defective venting system in the oven and bakery.

The firefighter whose waterproof turnout gear did not repel the scalding water that caused him to suffer third degree steam burns.

Real estate, land use, environment, agriculture, education, business, labor, contracts and family law.

These are the issues that bring people to our courts every day; and my 21 years of cumulative experience in these diverse areas of law will be an asset to our court.

Currently, 7 of our 11 judges come from the DA's office where only one of over 20 areas of law is practiced. We simply do not need another district attorney on our bench.

I began my service as a settlement officer with the court in 1985 and have since served as an Arbitrator and mediator, distinguished as fair minded, a good listener and decisive.

My 19 years as a businesswoman and manager of our family farm affords me the experience to understand the issues that our business and farming community face and I have the administrative skills to operate the business of the court.

I am proud to be endorsed by numerous judges, in particular, Judge Teresa Estrada Mullaney, the only one of our sitting judges who was elected by the people of this county and Judge Miral Ichijikian, a distinguished judge who teaches new judges criminal law.

In addition , I am also proud to be supported by community leaders countywide:

Fire fighter and law enforcement personnel, including Fire Chief Terry Fibich, Sgt. Larry Davis and Police Chief Pete Syzak.

Mayors Rudy Natoli, Mike Lady, Pete Dougal, Kathy Novak and 4-term Mayor of SLO, Ron Dunin

Councilpersons Bill Rabenaldt, Mary Ann Reiss, Dee Santos, Richard Neufeld, Sandy Lubin.

Bill Senna, Oceano CSD, Dr. Renee Bravo, Tom and Noreen Martin, Jeff Buckingham, disabled veteran, Dick Barkley, Dave Romero, Frank Arciero, Tom Baron, Chet and Lynn Dotter, Ed Tascona, Fred Strong, Dwight and Alma Panter, Barbie Butz, Betty Cousins and many more.

The San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara Building and Construction Council and the Tri-counties Central Labor Council, AFL-CIO representing over 78,000 union members have also endorsed me.

And I am most honored that Dr. Grace Mitchell, president emeritus of Cuesta College is serving as the honorary chairperson of my campaign.

And most importantly I have appreciated the support of my colleagues and the hundreds of wonderful people I have personally met in the past ten months.

My husband, Gary and I, and our four children, live our lives to the highest of ethical and moral standards, and we are dedicated to improving and giving back to our community.

As a Rotarian, I believe in public service. I seek this position because I have a passion for the law, a passion for helping people and a passion for truth and justice.

I know that I can use my extensive and diverse professional experience, my education and my life-long integrity and character to make a difference.

These are the promises I will make to you.

Your safety and the safety of our children will always be my first priority. It is the crime victims who will receive top consideration in my courtroom, and no judge will be tougher on criminal predators.

I will be one of the hardest working judges on our bench. And to our distinguished judges, when you have the opportunity to know me and work with me, you will find me to be collegial and a positive contributor to the work you do.

I will look for ways to improve our justice system to make it more accessible to you, and in keeping with the mission expressed by California Chief Justice Ronald George for judges "to provide the leadership... that will keep the (court) strong, independent, accessible , and ready and eager to serve the people of our state."

In serving you, the truth, fairness, respect and integrity will always be my goal.

One judge can make a difference.

I want to thank you for the wonderful support I have received from people throughout this county and I look forward to serving you as your next superior court judge. Please cast your vote for me.

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ca/slo Created from information supplied by the candidate: November 3, 2002 18:09
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