Editor:
I recently had the privilege of hearing Judicial Candidate Mary Anderson speak at the Recovery Café in Everett. It was truly inspiring to witness a political figure engage with a group that is often overlooked—people in recovery and those who have been marginalized by society. Mary’s presence at the café wasn’t just symbolic; it showcased her genuine commitment to the word “community,” emphasizing that it should include everyone, regardless of their past.
During her talk, Mary educated those in attendance about their rights, especially how convicted felons who have served their time and satisfied all legal requirements can regain the right to vote. She didn’t just talk about the importance of civic participation — she acted on it by helping to register new voters on the spot, ensuring their voices will be heard in the upcoming election.
In an era when many politicians make empty promises, it was refreshing to see someone actually doing the work they talk about. Mary Anderson’s actions spoke volumes about her integrity and her dedication to making sure every member of our community feels seen and valued. Because of this, I’m proud to say that she has my vote this November.
Olivia Amundson
Marysville
Seems we have battling endorsements for judges my one single question is who will keep the most bad guys in jail pre trial, that means imposing high enough bail that most of the bad guys can’t come up with. To much crime is happening by people already facing charges. To many charges are being dropped or pleaded down to no jail time the bad guys don’t respect anything but the heavy hand. We need to bring that back. Sure people need second chances but how many? I say 2 then you ought to start thinking about different living arrangements. I fear I am spitting into the wind with both of these candidates.
Jim – as I understand, Mary Anderson has an open-door policy and values transparency. Feel free to call her at 425-344-0310 with any questions. She encourages inquiries to better inform voters!
Sometimes our ballots can seem very long, filled with candidates who want to be executives, legislators, commissioners, sheriffs, or judges. I appreciate the time people take to express their non-paid opinions on candidates. I carefully look over the information sent out by the League of Women Voters. Thank you My Edmonds News for allowing people space to talk about candidates for offices.
It is worth pointing out that people arrested and accused of criminal offenses are innocent until proven guilty. A judge has to determine the correct bail using a number of guidelines and recommendations. One of those comes from tha State Supreme Court governing how many inmates a jail may hold before the facility is deemed to be overcrowded. Of course the government could build more space to hold the accused, but there are lots of taxpayers who don’t want to pay for more jails and/or don’t want jails in their vicinity. They feel the government is too wasteful. They would prefer to complain about the status quo.
Certainly people are innocent until proven guilty but if you have a half dozen prior convictions and a half dozen warrants for your arrest something tells me you aren’t innocent and will likely reoffend if let out, at what point do you lose the right to roam free until trial? Government is to wasteful but keeping people that are a threat to society behind bars is money well spent. Judges are limited but in my opinion have been going soft on criminals maybe some of that comes from above from the law makers maybe we need not elect them either. Hard to go to trial and convict someone when they don’t show back up for court hence the many outstanding warrants.
“Certainly people are innocent until guilty but if you have half a dozen prior convictions…… something tells me you aren’t innocent….,” Sorry, Jim, you can’t have it both ways. I suggest you take Olivia’s suggestion and talk to Judge Anderson about how she manages setting bail and what type of offenders are out on warrants. Of course you are free to do nothing more than “spit in the wind” and complain.
I can do more than spit in the wind I can vote sad thing is for this position I don’t have different choices. I want people that are a legitimate threat to society kept behind bars. There was a story from Edmonds probably 2 years ago of a person that was contacted by our local police that had numerous warrants for their arrest they called the places where the warrants were issued but none of those places wanted the person arrested. Apparently what the person had done here wasn’t arrestable so they were just let go. Our justice system has become a joke and I don’t see either of these judges as part of the solution.
What makes you believe that Judge Anderson wouldn’t be part of the solution? From what I know, if our justice system is a joke, Judge Anderson wouldn’t get that joke, because she takes her work as a public servant very seriously. Just my 2 cents…
But you’ve said nothing about the actual judges in question, just that you appear, as usual, to be against everything. And I’m wondering why a person who isn’t “arrestable” should be arrested? – US law, thank goodness, doesn’t usually allow a person to be arrested just because. Any positive ideas who would make a better judge?
I would like to know why someone with arrest warrants wasn’t arrested?
Jim, seems to me all you are doing is complaining. You say you can vote except you complain about the choices you have there. And forgive me, but I am unsure why you are so concerned about a two-year old issue involving somebody doing something that is not an arrestable offense? Surely there are more pressing issues. There can be warrrants out for people with unpaid parking tickets. Is that your concern about judges not keeping serial criminals behind bars? Give Judge Anderson a call. You may find her worth your vote.
One would hope they don’t issue warrants for parking tickets generally those are sent to collections. Do you honestly think people with multiple warrants for arrest are good people that should be walking free? Why would a judge issue a warrant for arrest then when contacted not want the person arrested? Why issue the warrant at all? If the judge wishes to address these questions I am sure she could chime in here and answer questions. Maybe you could let her know this would be a good place to reach a large amount of voters and address there concerns.
Jim, you must be an honest man. Have you never heard of or received a bench warrant? It is a warrant issued by a judge for an offense asainst the court. It can be issued for unpaid fines such as parking tickets. You should run for office. You seem to know immediately whether someone is guilty or innocent and how much bail is appropriate. Amazing!
LTE always bring out the best in all of us. One LTE said the judge wants to listen to victims. But the comment was written in a way that it was an afterthought. I would guess both candidates want to listen. In another LTE one of the judges was said to help those at a meeting register to vote. I would guess all judges not just those in this election want people to vote and want to listen careful to all sorts of people involved in a case.
What will we talk about after the election? Maybe the city budget, Cuts …. New Nontax Revenues, … and Tax increases.
After reading the voters pamphlet the LTEs and back and forth in the commentary I have concluded Minnie mouse gets my vote.
Hi Jim, I once asked county officials about the write in votes. It was interesting. They do count all write ins including cartoon characters and movie characters. But for reporting vote counts they are not reported in the results. Rest assured, you vote will be counted.
Thanks Darrol I know I was going to use enie minie moe catch a spider by the toe. But I always end up with the same one.
Hi Jim, I was trying to share some factual information about our voting process and not just setting the stage for comments to diminish my research.
The children’s counting rhyme has 4 words, some with different spelling “Eeny, meeny, miny, moe” is typical. Without 4 words it is hard to make a rhyme.