LOCAL ELECTIONS: JUDGES : Governor May Have Final Vote on Contested Superior Court Race

In the only contested Los Angeles County Superior Court race, voters could wind up with a new judge who does not even appear on the ballot rather than either of the two contenders actually running.

The incumbent in Office No. 8 is Judge Lourdes Baird, who has been nominated by President George Bush for U.S. attorney in the Central California District.

If she wins reelection Tuesday over her opponent, lawyer Mitchel J. Ezer, and is then confirmed for the federal job by the U.S. Senate later this month, the judgeship vacancy would be filled by appointment by Gov. George Deukmejian.

Aside from that unusual race, there are only four other contested positions among the 125 judgeship openings in the county--Municipal Court races in the Antelope Valley, Downey, Los Angeles Office No. 13 and Santa Monica.

The hottest battle is being waged in Santa Monica, the center of a continuing controversy over rent control, where three of the four candidates have lined up landlord or tenant group endorsements.

In the other races where issues are not as well-defined, the incumbents have a strong edge, as history has shown in most judicial elections. In those cases in which the office is vacant, the election may hinge on evaluations by the Los Angeles County Bar Assn., slate mailings and newspaper endorsements.

In its election ritual, the bar association has rated the judicial candidates as “well qualified,” “qualified” or “not qualified.”

Although many candidates rated unfavorably by the association have won handily in past elections, the group’s critics said the evaluations are the product of a conservative “old boys network” and are shrouded in secrecy.

The ratings are vague--”has not displayed temperament indicative of fitness necessary to be a judge,” for example--and the basis of the ratings is not made public.

However, the group’s judicial evaluations committee chairman, Sheldon Sloan, said the recommendations are “not only substantively but procedurally fair.” He said the process is conducted over a three-month period by a large, diverse committee of lawyers and includes an appeal process during which evaluations sometimes are changed.

Bar spokesman Jerry Greenberg said the evaluations are purposely vague. “They are opinion, not facts. As soon as we issue facts, we would be in a position where a court could demand that we identify our sources.”

In the contested Superior Court race, both Ezer and Baird have been rated “well qualified” by the bar association. Baird, 55, was appointed to the East Los Angeles Municipal Court by Deukmejian in 1986, to Los Angeles Municipal Court in 1987 and to Superior Court in 1988. Before that she was an assistant U.S. attorney and in private practice, specializing in trial and appellate litigation.

Ezer is a partner in the law firm of Rich & Ezer in Century City. An attorney for 30 years, he has taught at UCLA and Loyola law schools and written several books.

“I am not running against Baird. I’m running against a seat about to be vacated,” Ezer said. He contended that voting for Baird means voting to let the governor fill the judgeship later.

But, contended Baird, “Nothing in this world is certain. If the Senate does not confirm me, it wouldn’t be the first time they haven’t confirmed a nominee. So I’m very much a candidate.”

Here is a rundown of the other contested races:

- Santa Monica. The only issue-dominated race, the contest here focuses on perceptions of where the four candidates stand on rent control, although all said they would be objective in deciding landlord-tenant disputes that may come before them.

Many members of Action, a local landlords group, support West Los Angeles Court Commissioner Norman Perry Tarle. Tarle, 39, was appointed commissioner in 1985 and was a Los Angeles deputy city attorney for six years. He is endorsed by U.S. Rep. Henry A. Waxman (D-Los Angeles), county Supervisor Ed Edelman and 54 judges and commissioners.

Santa Monicans for Renters’ Rights, the tenants group whose candidates control both the City Council and the city Rent Control Board, has endorsed City Councilman David B. Finkel, a labor attorney. Finkel, 58, is also endorsed by Assemblyman Tom Hayden (D-Santa Monica).

Also running is Sonya Bekoff Molho, a tenants attorney who co-founded the Tenants Organizing Project, a legal aid program for renters. She is endorsed by state Sen. David A. Roberti (D-Los Angeles). If elected, she would be the first woman to hold a Santa Monica municipal judgeship.

James M. Bambrick, 50, who is a Santa Monica Community College District board trustee and civil litigator, said he has no connection with any of the groups--considered by some to be an advantage. He is endorsed by Judge Joseph P. Chandler, who is giving up the judgeship after 20 years.

- Downey. In the Municipal Court race here, only Marvin Licker received the bar association’s “well qualified” rating. David W. Perkins and Leo R. Villa, received “qualified” ratings, and Daniel W. Bunnett was deemed “not qualified.”

“It was a bad rap,” said Bunnett, 41, of his rating, which stated, “He has not displayed temperament indicative of fitness necessary to be a judge.”

Said Bunnett, “I work hard, I grew up in Downey and know the area and its problems well.” He has practiced law for more than 15 years and has served as a judge pro tem on more than 100 occasions.

Perkins, 55, served 28 years with the Vernon Fire Department and has been a lawyer since 1977. Perkins, who said he was once a member of the county bar’s rating committee, was also critical of it. “They are often taking potshots or splitting hairs, especially when trying to distinguish between well qualified or qualified.”

Villa, a 62-year-old retired deputy district attorney and former sheriff’s deputy, has 34 years of law enforcement experience and has also served as a temporary judge.

Licker, 65, is the only Downey candidate to get a “well qualified” rating. He has practiced law for 27 years in Norwalk area and is a full-time court commissioner.

- Los Angeles Office 13. M. Roy Siegel, who is challenging incumbent Emily A. Stevens, received a “not qualified” rating. The committee said he did not have “sufficient professional ability, lacked sufficient work ethic indicative of fitness.”

“I believe I got that rating because I am running against an incumbent,” Siegel said. “They also asked me during the interview if I were a member of the county bar association. When I said no, that I could still participate in the programs without that, there was stone silence. I guess I should have signed up.” He said he appealed the rating.

Siegel, 47, has been practicing law for more than 20 years, and has worked as a temporary judge.

His opponent, Stevens, was appointed to the Municipal Court in 1987, and is assigned to the court’s felony preliminary hearing panel where she has handled more than 1,000 hearings. She was a Los Angeles assistant city attorney for 12 years. Her endorsers include Mayor Tom Bradley and Los Angeles County Dist. Atty. Ira Reiner.

- Lancaster. Antelope Municipal Court Judge Richard E. Spann, rated “well qualified,” is being challenged by veteran lawyer Dell L. Falls, rated “not qualified.”

Spann, 55, switched to law after a 16-year chemical engineering career in the aerospace industry. He specialized in civil law for 14 years before being appointed to a vacancy on the Municipal Court last year. He is endorsed by Lancaster law enforcement officers, the local bar association, the Antelope district attorney’s office and all other local judges.

Falls, 69, has practiced law in Lancaster for nearly 37 years and said he decided that with the last of his 10 children reaching adulthood, it was time to make a run for judge.

A proponent of alternative sentencing, Falls said the county bar has few Antelope Valley members and does not understand how things work “up here.” He said he was informed that his “not qualified” rating was based on allegations that he was late to court, occasionally unprepared, and on several occasions had not kept up with the law--charges he denies.