April 30, 2008 01:13 pm
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Reader supports Freiberger in Floyd County
Are you looking for a commissioner who will stand beside you and give you full support?
If so, you need to vote for Chuck Freiberger.
I am a resident of Jenny Lane in Floyds Knobs. Four years ago, my neighbors and I almost lost our homes due to a sewer problem that was beyond our control. The Floyd County Health Department tried to have us evacuated and have our homes condemned. With the help of our attorney, Stan Faith, and our commissioner, Chuck Freiberger, we were able to save our homes.
Trust me, Chuck Freiberger stood by our side while we fought the battle to protect our property. With his help, the problem was overcome.
Would you not like to know you have a commissioner who will stand up for you in a time of crisis?
Please vote for Chuck Freiberger. He cares for the people in Floyd County.
— Mary Moss, Floyds Knobs
Readers support Robison for Superior 3
Stan Robison’s legal career has always been about one thing: service. His thousands of clients over the years, including the many for whom he served without charging a legal fee, will confirm that if you needed the best, Stan was the man to have on your side.
Stan is our lawyer and his discernment and judgment will be sorely missed in our lives and our businesses when he surrenders his practice and dons the robes of judge for Floyd Superior Court 3.
Stan’s opponents in the Democratic party are, I’m sure, fine folks, but, in our experience, there is no one more qualified than Stan to preside over this new court.
Stan does not merely talk about integrity. He has demonstrated it throughout his 25 years as an attorney, and more importantly, in this campaign. He has conducted a campaign to be proud of. You won’t find Stan’s supporters boasting about a successful “whispering” campaign. You haven’t seen Stan inflating his credentials or denigrating his opponents.
He is held in great esteem by his colleagues and the scores of judges before whom he has appeared in hundreds of jury trials. His expertise has been acknowledged by his appointment to the faculty of this state’s capital case education seminars. And his Pro Bono Publico award attests to his spirit of giving back to his community in the interest of justice and fairness to all.
We do look forward to Stan’s plans for making the courtroom experience one that will accommodate the needs of all who come before him, as judge. But there is one qualification that, to us, puts him a cut above the others who are seeking this post.
Stan is beholden to no one but the people. He is not part of any political machine. He puts principle above party, and will not confuse politics with justice. The voters of Floyd County need not fear that Stan is a candidate now, or a judge next year, who will cater to the commands of those who believe they control the courts. He will not take office burdened with political debts to machine politicians. And it will not be necessary for Stan to “phone a friend” to figure out how to be a judge.
Don’t believe us? Ask your own lawyer about Stan Robison. They’ll agree that the choice is clear, that Stan is the obvious choice.
We’ve only heard one good reason why we should not elect Stan Robison to the new judgeship for Superior Court Three, and it is that this county would lose one fine lawyer to the judicial branch.
To all our friends and acquaintances, we urge you to vote on May 6 in the Democratic Party primary and help us to nominate Stan Robison. We’ll be proud to call him “Your Honor.”
— Randy Smith and Ann Baumgartle, New Albany
PAC disapproves of Jacobi for judge
The following also appears in the Building Trade Association of Southern Indiana’s April, 2008 Newsletter, entitled, “You be the judge”
Our association has worked very diligently with an all inclusive and pro-active approach toward the advancement of positive growth and development in Southern Indiana. Together we have made inroads and have represented our trade very effectively at many zoning and commissioner’s meetings. I personally want to thank all members who have shown their support in attendance, concern, and input on all of the important issues we have addressed.
Many of you may have the same dislike that I do of politics in general. In addition, it is a bit tenuous for BTASI (Building Trade Association of Southern Indiana) as a trade association to routinely make political endorsements in many political contests; although our Board of Directors has made recommendations for candidates of choice on a limited basis in the past.
With this in mind and realizing that political involvement is critical to our growth in the building trades, I personally founded and registered a new Political Action Committee (PAC) named You Judge.NET.
The general goal of this PAC is to advance the ethical performance of local candidates that are ultimately elected. Currently, hundreds of signs are being placed and our web site – YouJudge.net – should be up and running on or before publication time of this newsletter. Please visit the web site at your earliest convenience.
Our first agenda item of the new PAC involves the race for Judge for Clark County Superior Court Two. One of the candidates is Jerry Jacobi, who was unable to explain his controversial record of negatives resulting in judicial disciplinary suspension action for violations of the Code of Judicial Conduct when fielding audience questions at a past BTASI dinner meeting.
It is my personal experience-based opinion that Mr. Jacobi has put his own political goals above the law and has made decisions that negatively affect our trade and therefore, our BTASI Association, and ultimately would have resulted in significant income losses at the expense of many of our members. Fortunately, the Indiana Court of Appeals upheld the law and overturned Mr. Jacobi’s baseless ruling, but regrettably this did not occur until after the building economy took its severe downturn.
It is time for the voters in Clark County to elect an accountable and ethical candidate for judge whose performance will always be based on “the law” and who will conduct Superior Court Two with integrity and accountability.
There are three democratic candidates running for Superior Court Two Judge that have not been found guilty of prior ethical violations. In duration of practice order they are: Daniel “Dan” Moore, Shelley Marble, and Andrew “Drew” Adams.
I urge all Clark County BTASI members, families, friends, and associates to select and vote for their choice of one of these three qualified candidates on Tuesday, May 6, 2008.
The new PAC web site referenced above details positive qualities, negative qualifications, Indiana Supreme Court Judgment findings against Jerry F. Jacobi, news headline excerpts, and information on the three respectable candidates referenced above including a Quick Link to their respective web sites.
You have my word that YouJudge.Net will always work in concert with the best interests of BTASI and I believe that, with your personal and financial support, this new PAC can have a monumental future impact on getting elected and appointed individuals of integrity into the offices, planning commissions, and various boards and agencies of local government that will then better serve us all.
In closing, during this season of politics and professional basketball playoffs, let me express YouJudge.Net’s first priority of business this way: We are in overtime, it is time past due for the voters of Clark County to get Jacobi “out of the game”, “off the bench”, and “lock him out of the arena permanently”.
My gratitude is extended to the BTASI Board of Directors and the general membership for allowing me this first newsletter editorial opinion opportunity. This forum is open monthly on a first come - first served basis and hopefully many of you will take advantage of this new BTASI vehicle to express your opinions on any subject matter.
— Bob Lynn, BTASI Founder and Past President, Jeffersonville
Jacobi: Judge must be steadfast
I extend my thanks to the editor for giving me the opportunity to respond to this attack letter submitted with less than 24 hours before the deadline.
I have learned through 20 years of experience as judge and prosecutor that making tough legal decisions is not going to please everyone. A judge must be steadfast in the face of such adversity. No one is perfect and no one is above the law.
That being said, my legal conscience is not for sale to the highest bidder. I will not be bullied or bought by special interests. I will defend my judicial independence at all costs. These vicious and unfounded attacks on the court do not encourage respect for the law.
It is my solemn duty as a Senior Judge in eight counties, on appointment from the Indiana Supreme Court, to decide tough questions of law to the best of my abilities. No bully pulpit will ever deter me from that mission.
I ask the public to read the online appellate opinion of Robert Lynn vs. Clarksville Board of Zoning Appeals and Clarksville Plan Commission. My decision was only reversed in part while the central issue of the ruling was upheld. The Court of Appeals agreed with me that Lynn was required to obtain permission from the Plan Commission before building dwellings on proposed 50-foot lots. As a matter of law, Lynn was not entitled to a Writ of Mandamus.
My supporters are neither politicians nor special interests. Thank-you for your trust and goodwill.
— Senior Judge Jerry Jacobi, Jeffersonville
Reader supports Jacobi for judge
As a longtime resident of Clark County and an active Democrat, I have seen lots of good and bad office holders. Jerry Jacobi is one of the good guys.
I voted for Jerry 25 years ago when he was elected to the Clark Superior Court 1. I will vote for him on May 6, because I know he is the best candidate to serve us in Superior Court 2, the court that Judge Blau is retiring from.
The Chief Justice of the Supreme Court appointed Jerry to be senior judge and that means he works in our county as well as in surrounding counties — eight in all. Only 52 years old, he has the get-up-and-go to do this kind of work.
Superior 2 is the court that handles that sort of thing and other major drug crimes. Jacobi will make drugs and crime priority number one. This is why I am voting for him. Drugs hurt young people and create crime.
I have seen Jerry in action in the courtroom. He respects people and truly cares about them. But at the same time, he understands the realities of crime. He has seen it as prosecutor and as judge. The public expects our judges to protect the public’s interest and Jerry is the one for this job.
Jerry is probably not the “politician’s” choice for this job, but as a regular citizen, I see this as a good thing. We want someone in there who is not going to be influenced by politics, someone who is going to address the drug problem.
If you care about your families, your children and, if you are a grandmother and great-grandmother like me, vote for senior Judge Jerry Jacobi on May 6.
— Lorraine Minnix, Jeffersonville, volunteer campaign worker for Jerry Jacobi
Candidate responds to Curran
I am saddened about an Opinions column written by Mrs. Kelley Curran on April 22, 2008, where she dogged Adam Koch for telling the truth to the Clark County Farm Bureau organization for the meet the candidates. Mrs Curran simply represents the uneducated level of the general public where they don't want to here the truth.
The county has historically spent “nothing” on expanding the office of Coroner to protect the general public. The Coots coroners have done nothing in the aid to pursue federal grants to help our county financially. Koch will do this. You simply want to here everything is OK and stick your head in the sand. Sorry, after 114 years of the same family telling us 3 bullet holes in the head is a suicide I think it is time for a change. Clark County deserves what Indiana law tells us to do and that is a tandem investigation in all questionable deaths. I'm sorry we will need to spend some money to update the situation but it sounds like Mrs. Curran has helped the good ol’ boy system by voting for previous Coots Coroners. If the previous Coots would have performed their duties to the community for the future, we would not be in the critical short coming we are now in. Clark County falls decades behind every other county in Indiana for coroner’s investigations.
And for the record, the only thing I had to ask Coots for was his personal information — nothing at all about the job. Oh, I asked him when the last coroners inquest was — big deal.
How dare you twist and manipulate my words to make me look as though I had no idea what I was talking about. My ability in a lab investigation simply smokes Coots and his credentials.
If your going to write a column tell it the way it happened. This is not a creative writing contest Mrs. Curran.
There are a whole bunch of items that need to be covered in the coroners office. items the people of Clark County deserve. Break the 114 year political rutt.
— Adam Koch, Sellersburg
Former GCCS teacher offers picks
I retired from Greater Clark County School Corp. in 2003, having taught in the Technology Education Department on the high school level for 26 years. Never in all my years in education/retirement have I seen a more dysfunctional school board as the one currently seated in GCCS. They are an embarrassment to the taxpayers of Clark County and to the educational system as a whole.
On May 6, the voters of Clark County will have the opportunity to correct the current situation. Moral integrity, trustworthiness and honesty must be returned to the Board of Trustees of the GCCS Corp. The only way this can be done is to elect the following: James H. Wesp, District 2; Jerry White, District 6, Rebecca Christensen, District 7; and re-elect Bill Halter, the incumbent, in District 5.
— Jim McCoskey, Jeffersonville
Reader supports Moore for judge
I am writing this letter to support Dan Moore for Clark County Superior Court Two Judge.
I have known Dan for over 10 years and have found him to be a man of great character. Dan is someone whose word you can count on.
Dan has some great ideas for updating Superior Court Two. He understands the current problems facing the court and has some innovative ideas for relieving these problems, such as Saturday and night court and coordinating the caseloads with the other courts. Many of Dan’s goals are to create efficiency in the court which will relieve the already overcrowded jail by streamlining the caseloads.
I think this shows that Dan has the experience not only to identify and understand the needs of the court, but to be able to solve these problems.
— Marc Oca, Jeffersonville
Reader offers Jacobi support
I am writing as a concerned citizen who is tired of seeing all the corruption and dirty politics in Clark County. We need a judge in the Clark County courts who is not controlled by politicians and who does not do favors for cronies from the bench.
Jerry Jacobi has stood up for families and children when he was in Superior Court 1. I have been there and witnessed it with my own family. This is one reason why I am supporting Jerry Jacobi in this election for Clark Superior Court 2.
Jerry cares about fighting drugs and crime. He knows what it does to our kids. He started Teen Court to try to educate young people about crime and the court system to help keep them on the right track.
Jerry was the Clark County Prosecutor before he was judge. He has not defended drug dealers. He is there to protect the public interest as judge, which is what elected officials are supposed to do.
He is a good guy and that is why the politicians do not want him in there. They know they cannot control him.
I hope you will join me in voting for Judge Jerry Jacobi. We need someone in there who cares about us, who really wants to do something about crime and drugs.
— Elsie Duvalls, Jeffersonville
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