On Local Government: another conundrum
Six years ago, the Legal Establishment in Los Angeles County was horrified to find that someone had upset their well-planned apple cart. That year, an unknown non-practicing lawyer, Lynn Olson, decided she would stand for election to the Superior Court. She chose to run against incumbent Dzintra Janavs. She used classic political tools and won.
The Establishment must be even more horrified to learn that Olson has performed to a standard where even the Establishment’s lackeys, the Los Angeles Times, has seen fit to endorse her for reelection.
In fact, The Times may be the most important element in the election of Superior Court judges. Few people who vote for or against those on the ballot have the slightest idea who they should select. Probably more people understand the mathematical conundrum Ulam’s Spiral.
So, it often comes down to whether or not the Times says yes or no which determines the success of a local judicial candidate. Judge Olson didn’t think so and used the means available to her, including a smart use of paid media, such as slate mailers, to establish her identity.
One would have thought Armageddon had occurred when she won. The end of the legal system seemed to be at hand.
But, lo and behold, Olson has turned out to be, according to an editorial, “a good judge, learning quickly and performing well enough.” Look, they can’t just come out and say they were wrong. It is The Times, after all.
The real question we should be facing is whether judges should be elected at all, especially considering how little we actually know about the people. The reliance on press endorsements and ratings by the Legal Establishment itself, as represented by the American Bar Association, immediately makes one, I think properly, believe that the fix is in to keep the fix in. After all, who wants a rogue in robes?
Yet, Olson has proven that a “rogue” can, in fact, be successful. All it takes is hard work, intelligence and a desire to do a good job.
It is time for us to consider whether anything is gained by having people vote for offices for which they know nothing. That includes judges, city attorneys and sheriffs. In none of these offices does the public have any clue how the process of election taints the selection. We do not get the best people. We get the people who are most wired into the system. We get the best fund raisers. We get the best politicians.
Lynn Olson is an exception. She went against the system and used political smarts to put her in a position to prove her worth. But, unless she had succeeded in office, the story would be very different. The fact that she is an exception makes this discussion even more difficult because without the political process, she probably never would have been in office.
It is a conundrum as well. But, for the few Olsons, we get way too many hacks. It has to change.