Our choices for elective offices of law

Two judicial clerkships, two judgeships and one of the two elective law enforcement positions feature contested races. Each involves an incumbent, three of them plaintiffs in the ongoing lawsuits against the city.

One of those plaintiffs is longtime Municipal Court Clerk Vivian Creighton Bishop, who touts major progress in efficiency and citizen service. This, she says, despite understaffing and underfunding. Her opponent is no newcomer: Bishop’s longtime employee Sylvia Hudson pledges to restore “trust, confidence and integrity” to the office, qualities she says have eroded in terms of both morale and citizen perception. She says she will work within the budget and would not pursue the lawsuit if elected. We have maintained from the outset that this legal challenge to the city is ill-conceived and a legitimate political liability to plaintiffs on the ballot. That said, we do not believe it negates the job Bishop has done in her career, nor do we believe her challenger has made the case to replace Bishop in office. With reservations, we endorse Vivian Bishop for reelection.

Pastor Ann Hardman challenges another veteran incumbent, Linda Pierce — also a plaintiff — for Superior Court clerk. Hardman had business and administrative experience before her ministry, and stresses accountability and customer service. She said she will continue in her ministry if elected to the post. Pierce, whom we have endorsed in the past, said there are still things she wants to accomplish in the office, especially in the area of modernization. She said she “had no choice” in the litigation — one of several points we would have pursued in more detail if she had been available for an editorial board interview. The fact that we were not able to, and her opponent’s commitment to what is already a full-fledged career, leave us unwilling to make an endorsement in this race.

Local attorney and Army vet Cynthia Maisano challenges incumbent Municipal Court Judge Steven Smith. Her commitment to “people first, but justice always” is a bedrock principle any good judge should embrace. She says everyone in court should be treated with respect, that people have lost faith in the justice system, and that she will work to restore it. Smith, formerly in private practice and later deputy general counsel for Aflac, also stresses respect, especially for those “intimidated by the process.” We were impressed with both these candidates, and believe either would perform the role of Municipal Court judge honorably and well. Smith already does, which inclines us to give him our endorsement.

The hardest choice on this slate is the one for judge of Superior Court, which pits two able and experienced jurists against each other. Ron Mullins was on the state’s short list for a judgeship several times before Gov. Nathan Deal appointed him to the post in 2013. He stresses judicial temperament as a crucial quality on the bench. His opponent, a former environmental and Recorder’s Court judge, is the Chattahoochee Judicial Circuit’s chief assistant DA, Alonza Whitaker, who has both prosecutorial and defense experience. In a close choice between two very good men, we endorse the candidate already on the bench, Ron Mullins — noting that if Alonza Whitaker isn’t already on some judicial “short lists,” he should be.

Finally, in the race for Muscogee County marshal, incumbent Marshal Greg Countryman faces a challenge from retired former Columbus police detective Bernard Spicer.

This newspaper has long been on editorial record that our law enforcement structure is inefficient and redundant. Signs that the Marshal’s Office has ventured, sometimes expensively, beyond its designated duties have only reinforced that conviction.

Spicer says as marshal he would operate the department within its budget and cut unnecessary spending. He would not pursue the lawsuit in which Countryman is a co-plaintiff; and he has said that if the city and its voters should ever choose to consolidate sheriff’s and marshal’s departments, he as marshal would work with the process to make it a smooth one.

With thanks to Greg Countryman for his service, we endorse Bernard Spicer for Muscogee County marshal.

CORRECTION: In our endorsement for Council Post 8, we misinterpreted an answer by candidate Jonathan Paul Davis. When asked about the possibility of consolidating law enforcement agencies, Davis said it would be an issue for the Charter Review Commission.

This story was originally published May 10, 2016 at 5:12 PM with the headline "Our choices for elective offices of law."