Vermilion, Oberlin municipal court hopefuls make their case at 'Candidate Night'

AMHERST — Four candidates for two judgeships in two Lorain County municipal courts took questions from their colleagues at Candidate Night at Marion L. Steele High School on Monday, sponsored by the Lorain County Bar Association. Running for the lone seats on each of the courts are attorneys Farah Emeka and Richard Ramsey for Oberlin Municipal Court, and David Berta and Kenneth Lieux for Vermilion Municipal Court. The incumbent judges each duo is seeking to replace are Judge Zack Dolyk in Vermilion, who can't run again due to judicial age limits, and Judge Thomas Januzzi in Oberlin, who is retiring. Dolyk on Monday moderated the questions for candidates in the Oberlin Municipal Court race and Januzzi the questions for the candidates in the Vermilion Municipal Court race. That was so neither incumbent would appear to be favoring their own possible successors. Both races are nonpartisan and both judicial terms are six years. Oct. 6 is the deadline to register to vote in the Nov. 4 general election. Oberlin Municipal Court Oberlin Municipal Court has jurisdiction over misdemeanor and traffic cases and minor civil matters in Oberlin, Amherst, Kipton, Rochester, South Amherst, Wellington and the townships of Amherst, Brighton, Camden, Henrietta, Huntington, New Russia, Penfield, Pittsfield, Rochester and Wellington. An assistant law director and the chief criminal prosecutor in Oberlin, Emeka said she is set up for success because she already knows the court. President of the Oberlin school board, she said she has the legal knowledge, leadership and community service experience for the court. Ramsey is an attorney in private practice and the former Amherst City Treasurer. He said he's an experienced officer of the court with the necessary temperament, compassion and experience to be judge. Emeka's inspiration to run? "I care" and she wants "to have a direct impact on people's lives," she said. A self-described "government nerd" and Amherst native, Ramsey said he has always wanted to be a judge. "It's our community," and court and community service are important to him, he said. What would make Emeka a great judge, she said, is how she's "calm under pressure and in chaos," centered, focused, respectful and composed. Ramsey said he knows the law, loves to listen to debate, and truth comes easy to him because he said he finds it hard to be "disingenuous." Both candidates said they had budget experience, know the court where they would sit on the bench and have leadership and community service experience. They said they would set clear policy on how to manage cases and deadlines, hold attorneys to that and not overstep the boundaries of what judges are allowed to do. Januzzi's court currently has a "no closed doors" policy on non-public meetings in his chambers. Emeka said she would allow closed-door hearings in her chambers because it's important for attorneys to be able to discuss resolving cases there. Ramsey said he has worked in courts with that policy and its opposite, and would invite attorneys' feedback because there are "benefits to both." Both said they would be fair, impartial and not change the law to suit their personal beliefs, and follow ethical rules for judges and attorneys. "I would not legislate from the bench," Emeka said. "I would follow the rule of law." "The role of the court is to apply the facts to the law," Ramsey said. "I would not legislate from the bench. I would follow the law." Vermilion Municipal Court A longtime criminal defense attorney, acting judge and former assistant prosecutor for Elyria, Grafton and North Ridgeville, Lieux cited his experience as the best reason to vote for him. He's taken 1,000s of cases to trial, he said. A former county Domestic Relations judge, Berta said he's worked in "various fields of law" in Ohio and Georgia over his career, worked as an acting judge in Lorain Municipal Court and helped get a mental health docket set up in Juvenile Court. Lieux said he is "well-suited" to use what he's learned about criminal and civil law in his 40-plus-year legal career as a judge. Both he and Berta have been acting judges in municipal courts and arbitrators in other courts, while Berta spent six years on the Domestic Relations bench. Both said they wouldn't make any immediate changes to staff in the Vermilion court, especially not for political reasons, and have not made any promises to anyone should they be elected. Technological advances like videoconferencing are positive for the court, they said. For nearly three years, Ohio judges have been allowed to consider public safety when setting bond, and both candidates said they would take up the issue of bond on a case-by-case basis — though Berta said sex crimes and home invasions are concerning to him. Lieux said there is no specific category of crime where he would consider increased bond, as "everyone coming before my court starts with the presumption of innocence." "The law should be fair and impartial and administered justly, fairly and equally to all without any outside influence," Lieux said — no matter the race, color or religion of defendants nor the personal opinions of the judge, Berta said. Judges "are sworn to apply the law as written and not legislate from the bench," Lieux said. "The legislature makes the laws, the judge enforces the law. There's no choice," Berta said. Vermilion Municipal Court has jurisdiction over the city of Vermilion and in Brownhelm Township. The event, which was streamed live, can be viewed in its entirety online at YouTube.com/CometsLive.Contact Dave O'Brien at (440) 329-7129 or dobrien@chroniclet.com