Vote for Jackson for Superior Court Judge
I am writing to highlight the stark differences between the candidates running for Grays Harbor Superior Court Judge #3.
One of the candidates, Steven Jackson, is an honest, ethical prosecutor who has vast support in the legal and law enforcement community. The other is David Mistachkin.
In an Oct. 7, 2016, letter to the editor, when Mistachkin was running for District Court Judge, I wrote about his conduct as a defense attorney, when a portion of his practice was devoted to defending adults who sexually abuse children.
I personally observed him intentionally mislead judges in open court and in one instance try to intimidate a 5-year-old abuse victim who was going to testify against his client. A detailed explanation of Mistachkin’s conduct is contained in the letter, which I strongly urge everyone to go back and read. (A simple search using his and my names will bring up the letter. I also encourage The Daily World to reprint the letter for all to see.) Mistachkin lost that race to an honest ethical attorney: Kyle Imler.
Now that Mistachkin possesses the power of a judge he thinks nothing he does should be questioned in any way. A prime example of this occurred during his alcohol-related driving arrest on Feb. 12 of this year.
Apparently, he thought that once the officers found out he is a judge he should get preferential treatment. One of the officers wrote in his report that Mistachkin was confrontational during the entire investigation and at the police station his lawyer had to “physically hold him back” from attacking an officer. Is there any wonder why law enforcement is supporting Steven Jackson?
Another example of Mistachkin ‘s character occurred Wednesday the 16th at a candidate forum in Elma. I asked him a question about why his two bench mates have endorsed Mr. Jackson. His first reaction was to personally attack me. How dare I have the temerity to question the great David Mistachkin?
The question I asked was based on the fact that the other two Superior Court Judges, Katherine Svoboda and Vini Samuel, have worked with Mistachkin the past few years. They have had a unique opportunity to observe his honesty, ethics, impartiality, Judicial temperament and courtroom decorum.
What does it say that they both have taken the extremely rare position of rejecting him, a current Superior Court Judge and endorsed Steven Jackson? Other than attacking me, he had no explanation.
To me the answer is clear. They must be tired of the dishonesty and unethical behavior of David Mistachkin. I am hoping that you, the voters, are also tired and embarrassed of him and will vote for change. Please return integrity, ethics and honesty to Grays Harbor Superior Court and join me in voting for Steven Jackson.
Paul Conroy
Aberdeen
Harris isn’t perfect, but she’s my choice
The election season is upon us and as usual every four years the Presidential election gathers the most attention. Here is how I rated the candidates on issues important to me.
The economy: Recovery from COVID-induced inflation has been remarkably successful. Unemployment remains low at 4.1% with inflation receding to about 3% and trending toward the Fed’s 2% target. The stock market is euphoric. The main threat today is the ballooning federal debt driven by continuing to operate the government at a very large deficit. In this regard the Kamala Harris policy of increasing taxes on high earners is clearly superior to Donald Trump’s inane plan of huge tariffs and more tax reduction. Economists project that Trump’s program creates a deficit twice as large as Harris’s. Advantage Harris.
Defense: Trump offers no coherent defense strategy. Simply being unpredictable is not a strategy, it is a recipe for further destabilization in an already unstable world. Harris represents a continuation of our commitment to democratic allies and offers a better chance of stability. Advantage Harris.
Global warming: Trump’s approach during his term in office was to alternately deny and ignore the issue. There is no evidence that this time would be any better. Harris is much more likely to act positively if clumsily. Advantage Harris.
Immigration: Trump would aggressively use presidential powers to limit illegal immigration and therefore actually achieve a result while Harris would likely continue to try to herd the cats of Congress toward a legislative solution, a probably hopeless approach. Advantage Trump.
Education: Republicans have taken on a role of aggressive censorship and book banning which Trump seems to support. This generates an automatic selection. Advantage Harris.
Reproductive rights: This one needs no serious discussion. Advantage Harris.
While she’s not perfect Harris is my candidate of choice. I hope she is yours as well.
Truman Seely
Aberdeen
