And Then There Were 2: Catalina Court Race Thins
The crowded field of 16 contenders for the one-day-a-week Catalina Justice Court judgeship was cut to two candidates in Tuesday’s election. Peter J. Mirich and Joe Piro, both of San Pedro, will face each other in the Nov. 8 general election.
Mirich, a San Pedro lawyer, was the top finisher with 322 votes, or 33%, while Piro, a deputy city attorney, received 183 votes, or 19%. Jeffrey M. Lake, the only candidate who was a full-time resident of Santa Catalina Island, finished third with 120 votes, or about 12%.
The race for the $29,800-a-year seat, which in the past had attracted three candidates at most, this year drew a large number of contenders after the vacancy for the resort island position in the county’s smallest judicial district received widespread publicity.
The post has been vacant since former Catalina Justice Court Judge Robert Furey was suspended from the bench for misconduct and abuse of his contempt powers in 1986. Since then, Municipal Court judges from the mainland have been filling in at Avalon’s one-room courthouse.
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