 Good evening, everyone. Welcome to our event. I'm Francine Romero. I am the associate dean of the College of Public Policy. And we are so happy tonight to partner with the League of Women Voters and welcome you to this. I want to have two very special students introduce themselves to you and tell you the group that they represent. Alejandra? Hello, my name is Alejandra Cortez. And I'm president of the UTSA's National Criminal Justice Honor Society, Alpha Phi Sigma. We do a lot of networking events with criminal justice professionals. We do a lot of volunteer work in the criminal justice field. And if any of you guys are criminal justice majors or minors, come talk to me. Thank you. Good evening, everybody. I am the president of PASA, which is a public administration student organization. And my name is Mercedes Dolls. And the purpose of PASA is really just to engage UTSA students in the community and networking and civic engagement community interactions so they can learn about public and non-private organizations. Thank you. I want to thank the professors who brought their classes tonight. See, my new thing is not to ask the professors, but to ask their students. And so there's a lot of pressure. So welcome all the students who are here. I think there are some students also from my civic engagement class. And I especially welcome them. UTSA College of Public Policy actually has a civic engagement minor now. And we're very proud of that. And when I think of civic engagement, what I think of is Phyllis Ingram calling me every year and saying, we need to do a judicial forum. And she's always there. She's always reminding us that we need to do this important service for the community. And as most of you know, but I just want to remind you, League of Women Voters was founded in 1920 just before the 19th Amendment was ratified giving women the right to vote. And the local chapter was founded in 1940 in San Antonio. Phyllis served as the president for four years. And now she is the voting services director. So it is my pleasure now to turn you over to Phyllis Ingram, who will be your moderator for the evening. Thank you. Thank you, Dr. Romero. And thank you, candidates, for coming out and participating this evening. I really cannot thank the UTSA College of Public Policy and Dr. Romero enough. They are always great partners for the League. And we really appreciate their assistance. I'd also like to thank Michelle Skidmore, who has worked very hard producing flyers and doing everything else. Excuse me. Also, we want to thank Nowcast SA and Charlotte Ann Lucas. They are here this evening taping the candidate forum. And they will be uploading it to their YouTube channel shortly after it ends. The League of Women Voters is a nonpartisan political organization that encourages the informed and active participation in government. One of the ways that we do that is through candidate forums. Another way is by producing a nonpartisan voter's guide. That information is available now online at vote411.org. And the printed guides will be available the week of October 17th. And I'd like to thank my husband, Steve, for designing that publication and getting it printed for us. There are cards available. If you have a question for the candidates, you can write it down on the 3 by 5 card. And I will be asking it of the candidates. If you think of a question, raise your hand. And there are students here who will bring you a card and a pen to write your question. Then when you're finished, raise your hand again. And they'll collect it from you. Out of respect for the candidates, I would ask everyone to silence their phones, personal communication devices, anything that might beep during the forum. Candidates have agreed to refrain from directing questions or remarks to each other. All questions will come from the moderator. And I'd like to explain to you how we've organized this. Hopefully you picked up this flyer that was on the registration table. The first races that we have are the first four candidates are in courts that hear both civil and criminal cases. The last two candidates are vying for a criminal court position. At this time, I would like to invite Judge Laura Parker, who is a candidate for juvenile court judge, which also hears both civil and criminal cases, but whose opponent is not here this evening. So she will be allowed a one minute introduction of herself. My name is Laura Parker, and I've been the judge of the 3D6 District Court for 17 years. I'm board certified in juvenile law. I have handled over 29,000 juvenile cases during my career. I'm also a former prosecutor. But the work that I've done as a carer and specialty court, I have a special court for victims of sex trafficking, a special court for adolescent girls who have mental health issues. And I also have a drug court for drug appendages. And I'm looking forward to speaking on serving the families and children of Barrett County. I appreciate being given this time to introduce myself tonight. And I will be speaking at Professor James Ray's class here on the 19th, if any of you all are in his criminal justice class here at the UTSA campus. Thank you, I appreciate your support. Thank you. So our first race is for Justice of the Fourth Court of Appeals, place six. And as you can see on this, what the duties of that court are, the candidates are in ballot order, Jason Pulliam. And Irene Rios. The next two candidates are vying for the county court at law number five. And they are Linda Molina and John Longoria. And then the criminal court is the 175th criminal court. And the candidates are Libby Widerman and Catherine Torres Stahl. I believe we have some candidates here who are in unopposed races. Ron Rangel. The candidate forums are only for candidates in contested races. But if there are any candidates here who are not in a contested race and would like to be introduced, please let me know now. OK. Then we're going to get started when we get to your court. Oh, OK. That's OK. That's all right. So we're going to start out with Jason Pulliam, who will have two minutes for an opening statement. And we have timers in the front row, so you can't miss them. And they will hold up a yellow card when you have 20 seconds remaining. And they will hold up a red card when it's time for you to stop. OK. So for your two minute opening, Mr. Pulliam. OK. Thank you very much. Thank you to UTSA. Thank you, League of Women Voters. My name is Jason Pulliam. I currently serve as a justice on the Fourth Court of Appeals. The Fourth Court of Appeals is an appellate court. We hear both civil and criminal cases. I was appointed to this position by Governor Rick Perry. The Fourth Court of Appeals hears the appeals, both civil and criminal, for a 32-county region covering most of South Texas. Prior to this appointment, I served as judge of Bear County County Court at Law Number 5, where I presided over both civil and criminal cases. County Court of Law Number 5 was a general jurisdiction court. I heard criminal misdemeanor cases as well as civil cases with a jurisdictional maximum of $200,000. Prior to my service on the bench, I served in the United States Marine Corps as a JAG attorney, Judge Advocate General. I was a military lawyer. In 2002, I was the top-rated criminal defense lawyer and was the recipient of the 2002 Defense Council of the Year Award. I worked in a civil law firm directly prior to my first election in 2010. I was re-elected to County Court at Law Number 5 in 2014 and then appointed on January 8, 2015 to this bench by former Governor Rick Perry. This court is critical because it hears both criminal and civil cases for the overwhelming majority of people. This court is the Court of Last Resort. We sit right below the Texas Supreme Court for civil cases and the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals for criminal cases. But most cases don't make it that far. This court requires both criminal and civil experience. I have both. Thank you so very much for your time and attention. Irene Rios, two minutes. Thank you. Thank you very much for being here, for taking an interest in the judicial races. I think it's very important that you get to know your judges and the candidates. I'm Irene Rios and I'm running for the Fourth Court of Appeals. I'm a 1990 graduate of St. Mary's Law School, so I've been licensed to practice 26 years. Of those 26 years, I served as a trial judge for over 14 years. In those 14 years, let me tell you how I got to serve as judge. I was the very first judge of County Court at law number 10. At that time, the legislature had created three new courts and accepted applications to appoint three judges. There were 54 applicants who applied for those positions. And because of my experience and my training, I got one of the appointments. So I was the first judge of County Court at law number 10. I served in that capacity for 14 years. I had a very good reputation for, and we'll get into that in a little bit, for being a good judge, for having good work ethic, for having good judicial temperament, for being punctual, and for knowing the law. That was during the 14 years that I served. That was my reputation. I will tell you that I have been, I'm the past president, a past president of the Law Alumni Association. I have served as vice chair of the Municipal Court Advisory Committee. I was appointed by then mayor, Phil Hardberger, to try to take the politics out of municipal court appointments. We got to review the performance of municipal court judges, and then to tell the judge whether we, the mayor and city council, whether the judges should keep their jobs or be removed. I have a lot of experience, a wide variety of experience, and I look forward to talking to you some more about that. Thank you very much. Linda Molina, County Court at law number five. Two minutes, please. Thank you, and good evening, ladies and gentlemen. Thank you so much to UTSA, to the League of Women Voters, and to all of you. My name is Linda Molina, and I am running for judge of County Court at law number five. County Court at law number five is very important to the safety of our community. It's a misdemeanor court, so it hears offenses where the maximum range of punishment is up to a year in our Bayer County jail. Things like DWIs, assaults, shoplifting, prostitution. Judges are accountable, and judges set the tone. An effective judge can get defendants who come into County Court at law number five to treatment programs to help get them back on the right track or sentence them to Bayer County jail if that's what is needed. That is the type of time and attention that will help prevent people who come into County Court at law number five from becoming repeat offenders, or even worse from becoming felony level offenders. I've been practicing law for 16 years. I started at the Dallas County DA's office. I worked at the Attorney General's office doing federal appeals. I worked for 12 years at the Bayer County DA's office, and I'm now a criminal defense attorney. I have handled every kind of criminal case there is, everything from traffic tickets all the way up to capital murder at every point in the process. At the MAG office, doing the intake, presenting those cases to the grand jury, trying those cases to juries. I have the right kind of experience, and I am the right choice for County Court at law number five. Thank you so much. John Longoria. Thank you to UTSA. Thank you to the League of Women Voters and Miss Ingram. And thank you to you that are here because you care enough to try and listen and find out who we are. I'm John Longoria. I am 71 years old, and I'm proud to say that I have been a Democrat up until now, and I will continue to be one. I have a long history of service to God, country, and community. I've been very involved with my church, everything from teaching CCD to being a member of the parish council, pastoral council. I'm very involved and that's been my life of service. It's gonna continue that way until the day that God calls me. I've also served our country as a captain of the United States Army Reserve. I have an honorable discharge from there. I have a long history in practicing law. I have been licensed 42 years plus. In fact, in December, it'll be 43 years. I am the incumbent Democrat in the county court of law number five. I am the only Democrat out of 13 county criminal courts of law, yet the other judges that are Republicans unanimously voted me as their leader and administrative judge for the county courts of law. That recognizes the fact that I am a known leader, a known quantity that serves our community. Personally, my wife has tolerated me for 49 years. In June, God willing, we'll make 50. We have five children that we've raised here in San Antonio. I ask for your help and your support and I appreciate very much that y'all are here. Thank you. Thank you. The next court is a criminal court, but before these two ladies get their two-minute introduction, I would like to ask Jen Ishi-Prin, who is a candidate for the 399th criminal court and whose opponent is not here to make her one-minute introduction. Thank you for listening. My name is Jen Ishi-Prin. I am running for the 399th criminal district court. It's a felony court. The worst thing that can happen to you in that court if you're convicted, you can get picked to death. So it's a serious court. Also, you can get up to life in prison. I ask you all to dare to compare. Go to my website, www.janforjudge, Jan, the number four judge. I started out 25 years ago on the south side, where I was depended people. Then I spent 18 years at the district attorney's office where I prosecuted cases. Now I'm back in defense work running for judge. I have been attorney of record on 6,635 cases here in Bear County. My opponent is Frank Hasbro. He's been attorney of record on 221 cases in Bear County. I ask you to dare to compare. I ask you to look at my website and I also ask for your support and for your vote. And if you have a hard time remembering my last name on election day, I had a client one time that you don't remember it and came in and said, I just talked to Ms. Itchy. So if you see Itchy on the ballot, Jan, is she correct? I appreciate it. I've been here 25 years. My opponent about two years. Love San Antonio, Bear County, so I thank you very much. The next two candidates are candidates for district 175th, which is a criminal court. And we'll start with Libby Widerman. Hello, I'm Libby Widerman. I am running for the 175th District Court. That is a felony court. Adheres only cases that could be punished by prison all the way up to the death penalty, but also include probation. The judge that's currently there is actually retiring, so it's an open bench. I began my career with the DA's office when I was in law school. I went to law school here in San Antonio. I worked for the district attorney's office for over a decade. I prosecuted some of the most difficult cases a prosecutor has to prosecute, and that includes baby deaths, sex offenses, aggravated assaults, child neglect, and child abuse. Because of that position, and because of the severity of those cases, I wound up getting a lot of trial experience. Those are the types of cases because the potential punishment is so large that a lot of people do fight those cases and have their day in court. And because of that, I ended up trying a lot of those cases to a jury. I briefly left the DA's office to go do medical malpractice work and realized very quickly that that was not for me, and went back to the DA's office. I was hired back and put in several more years. For the last nine years, I've been in private practice where I continue to work in the same courts, the same felony courts every day. I'm just on a different side now. I defend people that are charged with both misdemeanor and felony offenses, and that includes juvenile offenders. I believe that it's important for a judge that's presiding over these types of cases to have a lot of experience handling them. So I tell you the details of my practice, both as a prosecutor and a defense attorney, so that you know I haven't just dabbled in prosecution and I haven't just dabbled in defending individuals charged with offenses. I have spent most of my 21-year legal career every day in the felony courts, handling difficult cases from the very beginning at the investigative stage, presenting them to the grand jury, plea bargaining them and trying them to a jury. I've also served as a Bear County Criminal Magistrate Judge. Ms. Wiedermann, your time has expired. Okay. Thank you. Thank you. And last but not least, Catherine Torres. Sorry, I didn't mean to step on your applause. Catherine Torres-Stahl. I spent half my time putting down the mic, so. Good afternoon, good evening. My name is Catherine Torres-Stahl. I wanna thank the League of Women Voters in UTSA for this opportunity. It's really important for you to have the opportunity to hear from the candidates and I appreciate your presence here. I have been practicing for over 23 years. I have spent my entire career as a public servant. I was a prosecutor, did appellate work, juvenile work, did family violence as well, handled family violence cases. I very quickly got appointed to the bench. I was a municipal court judge for almost 10 years. I started the team court in San Antonio and oversaw two other early intervention programs. So about 40,000 youth crossed my bench during that time. I then moved on to run for the district court. I was the judge of the 144th district court. I sat there for four years and when I was no longer on the bench in 2010, I then proceeded to become a criminal defense lawyer practicing here locally, handling family law cases and criminal cases. Additionally, I was a magistrate, a part-time magistrate, which I had done when I was municipal court judge. I also was an adjunct professor at San Antonio College and here for the criminal justice department at UTSA, which I enjoyed very much and hope to soon get on with it and come back if I can. I am now currently the general counsel and deputy director for the Bear County probation office and I oversee several of the specialty court departments and five assistant chiefs in addition to 500 employees. So I have a very, very varied experience. I have, I'm born and raised in San Antonio, went to Fox Tech High School, went to St. Mary's undergrad and law school. So my roots are here. I have two children, 17, 20. I've been married for 20 years. Ms. Torres-Stell? Yes, thank you. Thank you. We're now gonna start with the questions from the audience and we're gonna start in the reverse order. So the first question is, what inspired you to run for this office and what in your background prepares you for the position? Ms. Torres-Stell? And the answers are one minute. Okay. All right. I, as I said, I've spent 15 years, my 23 years in some type of judicial capacity. I feel that what I have done in this community has made a difference on occasional, on occasion still, even though I have not been on the bench in six years, I still have individuals come to me and say, you know, your decision changed my life. And just a couple of weeks ago, that happened to me twice in the same week and it's been a number of years since I've been gone. I wanna continue to do that work. This is a community that I love. I spend a lot of time on boards and commissions in addition to what I have done on the bench and in the community. And so I am very vested in what happens. I feel that my experience is a type of experience that allows you to understand how you must use your discernment and your legal experience and your knowledge and your understanding of people to make decisions that frankly, in this type of court can be earth-shattering, changing people's lives. Thank you. Ms. Wiedermann. Thank you. What inspired me was really just the fact that I have spent so many years in the felony courts. I've been in front of so many different judges under so many different circumstances. And I believe that I've seen an array of types of judicial temperament, an array of, you know, being hard on crime, being soft on crime, being somewhere in the middle. And I feel like over the years I've taken and made a mental note of all those things that I thought worked really well in courts, what things did not. And the culmination of all of that experience, I feel, is why I would serve and do an excellent job at this type of position. My background, of course, is what gives me the qualifications. Almost, you know, 21 years working in the criminal courts and primarily in felonies, trying felonies, prosecuting felonies, defending felonies. And I believe those are the kind of qualifications that a victim or a defendant that has the case in a felony court would experience. Thank you. Mr. Longoria. Thank you. I was raised by parents and I still have my 94-year-old mother that's got a better mind than I do. I was raised by parents and I was taught to care about my community, care about family and community. And that has always led me to be of service to the community. I've served 30 years in different public offices, including county commissioner and county judge as a state rep for 10 years and county commissioner's court nine years. During that time in the county commissioner's court, I brought, I personally led the fight to bring in community development block grant money for our communities. That's probably by now hundreds of millions of dollars that have been brought in because of my effort. I've always cared about our community. As a lawyer now, 42 years, almost 43 in December, it is a pleasure and a lifestyle of service to the community and I want to continue to do that. Thank you. Ms. Molina. What inspired me to run for this bench is all of you and the community, the community that I have worked for. When I talk about what prepared me about my qualifications and my experience, when I talk about that, I talk about being in the trenches in the courthouse every day, handling cases that affect our community, whether as a prosecutor or as a defense attorney. Again, I've handled everything from traffic tickets, all the way to capital murder on both sides and why is that? It's for you and for this community and that's what I want to do. This is my next step and allows me to continue and to grow in my service to this community. Thank you so much. Thank you, Ms. Rios. As a trial judge for over 14 years, I have made thousands of decisions affecting families and children and individuals like you and I'd never forgot the importance of the impact of my decisions on people that came before me and I have the reputation for being fair for applying the law because I know that, I know always knew that my decisions would have an impact and whether it was an impact that was a year that would affect somebody or for years down the road and so it's very important to have experience and be in the trenches and I've done it for almost 14 and a half years. I've had difficult cases, all kinds of cases that have come before me. The Court of Appeals is the court of second opinion when parties are not satisfied with a decision at the trial level, it's kind of like going to a doctor and getting bad news. You want a second opinion. The Court of Appeals is that second opinion and I want to use my experience and those hundreds of jury trials and all the experience I've got to continue to do a good work for the 32 County District. Thank you. Mr. Pulliam. Sir. I have a deep, ingenuine desire for and passion for public service. I was raised to believe that those who have achieved a measure of success have a duty and an affirmative obligation to give back to their community. I was raised in Brooklyn, New York in a very tough time in our nation's history during the crack cocaine epidemic. I am the first person in my family to graduate from college. I have a bachelor's degree, a master's degree, law degree, I graduated with honors at every level. I was drawn to public service and my Marine Corps service, military service out of that same sense of obligation to our nation. I took that obligation and passion for service and applied it to the judicial arena. I'm very proud to serve you as your current judge on the Court of Appeals and I'm looking forward to continuing that service. Thank you. For the next question, we're gonna start with Mr. Longoria. Would you be in favor of some type of judicial election reform, such as non-partisan elections, appointments or appointment followed by election? Why or why not? One minute. I could support something like that because when you sit as a judge, you don't have people come in and have the label of Democrat or Republican or anything else. Your job is to first of all uphold the oath of the office, which is to support and defend the constitution and laws of the United States and of Texas. So the fact is that the system right now that has political labels is not really, really helpful in the system of justice. It does give you a background and experience as far as where you're going and what kind of attitude you're gonna have towards serving as a judge. But the practical matter is it's not gonna happen. I served in the legislature. None of the legislators are gonna give up the opportunity or the power to have judicial races that are based on parties at this time. Thank you, Ms. Molina. I would certainly support a type of process wherein candidates are screened based on their qualifications and experience and that that is the sole basis by which they are appointed or selected by perhaps a small committee of disinterested, disassociated people. That would be great because again, what you want is you want people sitting on benches who know the law and know what to do with it. And I think a process, again, that would base these selections based solely on qualifications and experience with without anything else attached that doesn't really factor into what happens day to day in our courtrooms would of course be ideal. And if that were to happen, that would be great. But until then, we go through this process, which of course gives the power to the people as it should be. Thank you. Ms. Rios. I think it's very important to have an independent judiciary. And when I've served as judge, when lawyers walked in in front of me or individuals, I didn't think here comes a Democrat, here comes a Republican. And you just don't think that way. Lawyers and judges, and if you surveil, we want good judges at the courthouse. We don't wanna, oh, we've got Republican judges, we've got Democrats. We need to be independent. Whether this will happen, it's been a long time in the discussion and nothing has happened. But I tell you that I think it promotes the public's confidence in the judiciary if we could just take the politics out of selecting judges. I think we could find an alternative system. But in the meantime, we run, we have the system that we're bound to use and you get to vote, you get to say. So that is good, that it is a democratic process. Thank you. Mr. Pulliam. My favorite case in all of American law is Marbury versus Madison. It is the 1803 U.S. Supreme Court case authored by John Marshall. And in that case, he stated it is the duty and province of the judicial department to say what the law is. Saying what the law is does not require you to be a Democrat or a Republican, it requires you to be an experienced and qualified jurist. Thank you. Ms. Torres-Stell. I certainly would support something like that. There's the opportunity to have merit selection perhaps or a nonpartisan election with retention elections. So across the country, I believe we are only one of four states who elects their judges based on party politics. And so we could certainly take a look at other jurisdictions for that guidance. I'm probably more than anybody here lost in 2010 because of one of those swings. And I will say that is the only reason that I drew an opponent and lost in 2010 or I would still be on the bench today. But I think that it's important that judges simply follow the law, that they're fair and impartial, that they apply that law evenly and fairly to everyone. And they understand that duty above everything else that they are required to do while they're on the bench because at that point then we can't question that judge's integrity. And I know that I have been that kind of judge and I wanna continue to do that. Thank you. Ms. Weederman. Thank you. I am not surprised that every single person up here had basically the same response. It's a common discussion among candidates. It's a common discussion among people at the courthouse and it's a common discussion among Republicans and among Democrats. If you have spent any time in the courthouse or involved in any kind of races, judicial or otherwise, we all have seen these types of Republican sweeps or Democratic sweeps take good people out of office. Regardless of what their party affiliation is, good jurors have been lost because of that. So I also would agree, I think it would be wonderful if that would ever happen, I don't think it will. But I do think it would be wonderful if people were purely elected just based on their qualifications and experience and also left politics out of the decision process. Thank you. Since we have two more groups to come up here, we're going to ask you now to give your one minute closing statement and we're gonna go on the reverse order. So we'll start with Ms. Torres-Stahl, one minute. Thank you very much for this opportunity. I simply wanna say that I believe that my experience is what is very clear. Please go to votetouriststahl.com where you can see my full resume, the awards that I've won as a jurist, not only locally but nationally, the fact that I am invested in this community, the fact that I've been a public servant for 23 years and I wanna continue to serve the community where I'm raising my family and where I come from. And simply the fact that I wanna get back to helping and to be that public servant and to understand the importance of this position which requires us to balance our decisions in terms of protecting a community and possibly redirecting a life if possible. And so I think that I am that person. On day one, I walk into the courtroom, I put on the robe that still sits in my closet and I go to work for you. Thank you. Thank you, Ms. Wiedermann. Thank you everybody for coming and for your attention. My experience of 21 years as a lawyer, most of which has been spent doing criminal work, I think puts me in a very unique position. I have spent almost an equal amount of time as a prosecutor as I have a defense attorney. I don't know how a judge could be more fair than that having spent an equal amount of time on both sides of the bench. I too have also taught here at UTSA in the criminal justice department and San Antonio College which also puts me in a position to have a lot of knowledge about criminal law and procedure. I am born and raised in San Antonio, grew up here, came back to go to law school here and have spent almost my entire career here. And it's important for me to be able to give back and impart my experience on the individuals that find themselves in district court. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Longoria. Thanks again to everyone, especially those of you that are out here taking your time to find out who we are. In Spanish there's an expression that says the devil knows more because of age and experience than merely because he's the devil. Well, I never take myself very seriously but I will tell you that I'm an old devil. I'm 71 years old. I've practiced law privately as an individual for 41 years. 60% of it was criminal law. 40% was basically family law and civil. I have a tremendous amount of experience but more than that I have a life of service to God, country and community and I'm proud of that. And I ask you to look at qualifications, match them up. I believe that you will vote for me and I ask you that with all humility. Thank you very much. Thank you, Ms. Molina. Thank you so much. I have worked exclusively in criminal law for 16 years in the trenches on both sides as a prosecutor and as a defense attorney. I have the balance and perspective that is needed to be judge of county court at law number five. This is not my last stop. It's my next step and to take that next step, I need your help. I need your support and I need your vote. Again, I am Linda Molina running for judge of county court at law number five. Thank you, Ms. Rios. I have spent the last 26 years of my life. I've dedicated those 26 years to the legal field of practicing law, being a judge for over 14 years and I encourage you to look at my website, www.ireenriosforjustice, compare our qualifications. I have rendered thousands and thousands of decisions and just like I made the transition from being a lawyer who practiced in the courts and tried cases to becoming a trial judge, my experience as a trial judge now makes me the better candidate, the one to take a seat on the fourth court of appeals to render those second opinions that I talked to you about. I thank you very much for your time. I humbly and respectfully ask for your consideration and your vote. Thank you. Mr. Pulliam. Thank you. Thank you, legal women voters. Thank you, UTSA. Since January 8th, 2015, I have had the distinct pleasure and privilege of serving you as a justice on the fourth court of appeals. In that time, I have authored over 100 opinions. I have never been overturned or reversed by the Texas Supreme Court or the Court of Criminal Appeals. I have been endorsed in this race by the San Antonio Express News, the San Antonio Professional Firefighters Association and Defense Council of San Antonio. In the 2014 general election cycle, I was the highest rated county court judge on the ballot at that time. This court requires both criminal and civil experience. For example, this court requires the background to handle cases like family law cases, oil and gas cases, parental termination cases, protective orders cases. I am the only candidate in this race with both criminal and civil experience. I'm Jason Pulliam. I'd love to have your vote. Thank you. Please join me in thanking the candidates for appearing this morning this evening. Thank you, thank you. My name is Angelica Jimenez. I'm running for judge for the 408th District Court. Judge Larry Knowle is retiring. And the reason that I'm running is because I practice family law. The majority of what's heard on the bench every day is family law. When my client's walking the court with me, the only thing that they ask is, are we gonna get a judge who is very impartial? Are we gonna get a judge who is thorough and will go through everything? Are we gonna get a judge that's gonna give us the opportunity to be heard? That's what motivated me to run for this bench. I have practiced before many judges and that is the type of judge that I want to be. I ask you please to vote for me. I'm Katie Gechenmenes. I've been endorsed by the San Antonio Police Officers Association, the San Antonio Professional Firefighters Association, Chief Justice retired at my office and retirees. Thank you again for your time of attention. I'm Katie Gechenmenes. Thank you. Could I ask the Civil District Court candidates to please come and take their place at the table? Again, they are in ballot order. This is Rosie Alvarado. She's a candidate for the District 438th Civil Court and she will have one minute to introduce herself to you. Good evening everyone. Thank you so much for being here and being brought to us. My name is Rosie Alvarado. I'm running for the 438th District Court here in Bear County. It is a civil court. It covers the entire Bear County area. The registrations about Bear County can be noted in particular rights. This particular court covers a wide range of types of cases. Family law matters such as divorces, child support, custody issues, personal injury matters, which contract, business disputes, real estate issues, tax issues, I could go on and on and on. It's a very broad-based court. So when you're looking for someone, you need someone with a diverse experience have a practicing attorney here in San Antonio for over 14 years, have litigated personal injury cases, family law cases, and federal civil litigation cases including broad cases and police suspended cases. I'm born and raised and educated right here in Bear County. And whether that's too beautiful or gross, you're not going to be able to get a home work. Thank you. And the reason I chose to run for the District Court. Ms. Elvarado, I'm sorry, time is expired. Thank you. I guess now we just have two candidates for civil court. So this is District 131. It is a civil court. The candidates are David Kalinsky and Norma Gonzalez. So Mr. Kalinsky, we'll start with you with two minute opening statement, please. Good evening. My name is David Kalinsky. I want to thank UTSA and all of you for coming. I am a candidate for the 131st Judicial District Court. That is a civil court and it does hear business, family matters, tax issues, all kinds of things that most of the people in this room if they ever ended up in the courthouse would be there for. A little about me. I am from San Antonio and that is an important part of why I'm running. My family has been here since the 1860s. My great-grandfather and his brother fleeing a war came through Galveston and settled in San Antonio. I come from a family of service. My father was a policeman, San Antonio policeman. My cousin was a San Antonio firefighter who died in the line of duty. That is the core reason why I'm running. You cannot separate the attachment I have to this community from my identity. This is still a place where you can go to the grocery store, see your neighbor, shake hands. And that is something special. That is something unique to San Antonio. I went to Texas Military Institute, Emory University, St. Mary's School of Law. The first case I tried out of law school was one of the largest jury verdicts in the United States, rather. We sued the city of San Antonio over the West Avenue landfill for poisoning the neighborhood. That is what this is about. If you care about your neighbors, if you care about your families, if you care about your business, that's what this court is about. Thank you for your time. Thank you, Mrs. Gonzalez. Thank you, Phyllis. Ladies and gentlemen, experience matters. That's why I'm running for this court. Judge Gabriel is retiring. He's been on the bench since 1993. You've heard about several other judges that are retiring, Judge Noel and Judge Saldana. That is gonna leave a dearth of experience at the courthouse. Many, many years, decades of experience. I've got that experience. I've got 32 years under my belt. I'm born and bred in San Antonio, graduated from South San High School, Rice University, and UT Law School. Came back right after UT, passed the bar, and started working here back in 1984. That's why I have the gray hair. That counts for something. You know, when you think about it, these courts are listening to cases by mothers and fathers that I've represented, children that I am appointed to represent, grandparents. When you go to these courts, you want experience there. And I'm down there in the trenches every day trying these type of cases. I've also tried insurer's defense in PI cases that also will appear before this court. But when I represent these clients and I go to court, I want an experienced judge. We had the two appellate judges sitting right here, and they said that is court of second opinion, which is true. If you lose a case and you're dissatisfied with the verdict of the judge or the jury, then you go to the fourth court of appeals. But most folks that I represent and most folks that I know don't have the money to go to the court of appeals. So that decision that is made by that judge on that day affects your life, the life of your family, the life of your grandparents, your children, your grandchildren, your neighbor, they can't afford to go up to the decision has to be right. And I'm the candidate, the only candidate in this race that has that experience. I represent folks like you every day of the week. I'm down there at the courthouse all the time. If you have friends at the courthouse, judges at the courthouse, you know, doesn't matter if they're Republican or Democrat, and you ask them about me. I stand by my reputation at the courthouse. As a hard worker, as somebody's down there every day that represents folks like you, we need experience. When you're down there with your family, think about it. You want an experienced plumber, you want an experienced doctor, you certainly want an experienced judge. Thank you. Thank you. One of the candidates that we thought wasn't here is here. And so if you would come up also, this is a district 408th civil court, and Mr. Sikonovich, you have two minutes for an opening statement. Thank you. First of all, my apologies for being at TARDY, but I was teaching a law school class at the Untrial Advocacy at the courthouse. My name is Leslie Sahanovician. I'm a little bit of my personal background. I was born in Poland. My family immigrated when I was six years old to Toronto. I graduated from UT, University of Toronto, okay? We have a very menacing mascot to Maple Leaf. You ever see the Maple Leaf in the flag of Canada? That was our mascot. It's kind of hard to be waving at the football games. But anyways, and I moved down to Texas, got a master's in public administration, and then I went to St. Mary's Law School. I've been practicing law for 27, about 27 years and practiced a lot of areas of law. I've had over 3,000 cases. I've handled 20 plus jury trials, both in state and federal court. Also have done appeals, and appeals is important because when you've done your own appeals, you get a chance to see what exactly you've done at the trial level. I've also been a very active member of the community. How active? I've taught for 20 years at San Antonio College. I've adjunct. I've also been teaching at St. Mary's Law School for the last 10 years, and also been involved in a lot of civic organizations and don't want to belabor the point, but I've just been active with the San Antonio community. So even though I'm not from San Antonio, I do consider myself as a local person. So thank you for your time. Thank you for your indulgence and allowing me to speak and appreciate your consideration in November. Thank you. Thank you. Ms. Jimenez, since you've already had one minute, we'll give you an additional minute. Thank you. Good evening. I want to tell you a little bit more about myself. I grew up in Eagle Pass, Texas, which is one of the poorest school districts in Texas. I was labeled an at-risk student, but thanks to mom, that did not apply to me. I was going to college. I was able to graduate top of my class. I graduated from UT Austin, and then I came to St. Mary's Law School after being married and having three children. We would pull out the books after dinner. We'd do our homework. I was able to graduate top of my class and repeatedly made Dean's List. The reason that I'm running again is because I have the experience in family law. Every day I am in the trenches. I represent members of our community that need help in what is heard most on this court. Family law is essential. Please vote for me, Angelica Jimenez, for judge. Thank you. So we're gonna ask you the same questions. What inspired you to run for this office and what in your background prepares you for the position? And we'll start with Ms. Jimenez. The reason that I'm running for this court is because when I think of a judge, I think of a judge that should know that the majority of the type of law that comes before her who is gonna be thorough and read all of the, whatever it is, briefs, evidence that comes before them. When I go to court, as I was mentioning before, and let's say, for instance, I represent dad, and dad in this case was trying to change custody. He needed help with his children who had not dealt well with the separation of mom and dad. They were hurting themselves. They were trying to commit suicide. When he came to me, I knew the mental health professionals necessary to help his children. I knew the tools and the resources so that mom and dad could get along. And that was what helped them get through this next phase of their lives. You need someone with that type of experience in this court, which is why I'm running. Thank you. Thank you. Why I decided to run was I think I'm really about public service. I've lived it for the last 25 years. I have worked in DA's office civil section, doing civil defense work. And also I have, as I mentioned earlier, I've taught at San Antonio College and at St. Mary's University. For me, it's a kind of a natural progression in my point of the career that I think I can be of greater service to the community. So it's really not about me personally. It's really about what's best for the community. And as Ms. Gonzalez mentioned, it really comes down to terms of experience. You want someone who's had a lot of different experiences, both from the legal perspective, but also from the personal perspective. I think that would allow someone to be able to be empathetic and most important to listen to what the people are saying. Thank you. It's not so much that I was inspired to run, but I felt a responsibility to run. When Judge Gabriel, I was the last one to throw my head in. I had two primary opponents and now I have Mr. Kaliske. But when I saw the veteran that was leaving, being on the bench since 1993, and I had so much more experience than the individuals that were running, with my 32 years of experience, my over a hundred jury trials, really in the realm of 150 to 160, I've lost count. Over 1,100 cases, civil cases in Bear County, a total of 1,700 cases, including my criminal cases. I taught, I teach the same class that Les has, a trial ad at St. Mary's Law School. I'm the only female that's taught there since 1999. There's just experience that's necessary. And so because of that, we need an experienced judge on that bench. And I made the decision that I couldn't go and complain about it that we don't have experienced judges on the bench if I don't put my, throw my head in so that then I can complain if we don't have that experience. And so it was more of a responsibility to you, to our community, the community that I've represented for so many years. Thank you, Mr. Kaliske. So for me, it's always been a calling. I've always wanted to do this. My father went to law school and I used to go with him as a child all the time and down and watch him in court, working with lawyers like Jerry Goldstein and Mark Stevens. Judge Ball was a mentor of mine. This was way back. The first hunting trip I ever went on, Judge Ball took me on. So this is something that's always been a part of my life. There's that aspect of it. But there is a need. When you think about what the courthouse does, this is a place that helps keep the peace. I mean, think about it. If you can't get a fair shake at the courthouse, if people can't get a fair shake at the courthouse, where are they gonna go? Yeah, it is unfortunate that we have to run under party labels because when it gets down to it, a judge is supposed to be impartial, not prejudging anything that comes before the court. It doesn't matter what color you are, what part of town you're from, what God you pray to, it doesn't matter. It should all be the same. And so when you run under a label, there's sort of an association with certain ideologies that probably are not necessarily the most appropriate thing when it comes to an impartial judiciary. You want someone you can take an issue to, you have a dispute, you take them to the men and women on the hill and hope that you get a fair impartial ruling, not based on pre-advertised ideology. Thank you. Ms. Jimenez. Absolutely, it's important to have that impartiality, although honestly, when somebody comes before me and even when I come before others, I introduce myself as usually Yesy's mom or Angie. I don't typically introduce myself as a Democrat or anything else and that's the type of litigants that come into our courtrooms, they don't introduce themselves like that either. So it would be better to have some kind of an appointment with an election so that there is that accountability. You've got to be able to serve the people and their needs with the type of experience that you have and that is what I would bring to the bench. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Sakanovich. Thank you. Yeah, I think the reform is necessary. You know, the ironic thing about this is we're running all of us, we're running for judge and yet we're out there campaigning because we have to and we're being judged every day. And just to me, it's kind of ironic but and I think part of that is and we're being judged based on the label that we have based on the party that's been associated with us. And I think I would be in favor of something much like they have in the state of Florida with they have an appointment system and then the state of Florida, what they do is they have a retention system. So what ends up happening is a person gets appointed to be the judge and there's an election but the election is not whether you run for reelection as a Democrat or a Republican, but what you do is you run as to whether to retain that person in that position. And I think that's probably a fair way to approach it. Thank you. Thank you. Okay, we're going to go now with our one minute closing statements and we're going to start in reverse order with Ms. Jimenez. Why am I running for this bench? Because I have always served our community when Javier and I, my husband were in undergrad. We started HERO, helping everyone reach opportunity in education. We went out into low income schools and mentored and tutored the students. I continue that now with the National Association of Women Judges Color of Justice program with ISPA and with the Hispanic Law Alumni Association. I'm still out in the community mentoring. Serving as your next judge is the next progression for me. Our families deserve a judge who is going to know the law and not only the law but the tools and the resources to help our families continue to operate as families when they leave the courthouse and have to get along and work together from different households. Please vote for me, Angelica Jimenez, for judge. Thank you. Thank you. Mr. Sikanovic? Yes, I really think this comes down to, Angelica's a nice person, I'm a nice person but really it comes down to qualifications. And I think what happens is in terms of, we're different in our qualifications in terms of the years of practice. I think that makes a big difference. And so I think that my years of practice in all the areas of law is it would be an asset to the community and my knowledge of the courthouse would be an asset to the community. And based on that is I would respectfully and humbly request and appreciate your consideration in November. Thank you. I've been endorsed by the Express News as the most qualified candidate in this race. I have the years, I have the type of experience. I'm the only one that practices family law and has been practicing for 20 years in that realm alone. Along with all my other experience, I've been endorsed by police officers, firefighters, insurance defense lawyers, I'm supported by the plaintiffs lawyers. If you look on my website and see who donates, it's both sides of the docket because I've been down in the trenches and I know them. And both sides trust me to do the fair thing. The family law attorneys that I'm down there with every day trust me to do the right thing. So it's about experience, experience matters when one decision can affect your life and the life of your family members. I respectfully ask for your vote. I'm the only norm on the ballot. Thank you for your time. Thank you, Mr. Kalisky. Thank you for having us here tonight. What I wanna get across this evening is it is not just the capacity to understand the laws that are being applied, but it is also the capacity to understand the people the laws are being applied to. And I do. I have the capacity in both areas and that is what you really need if you are going to go before a court. You want that court not only to know the law but to know people and to know the people that are coming before the court. Because in the end, it is about those in the courtroom, not the judge in front of it. We are running the right way, we're running at the right time and for the right reasons. I'd ask that you look me up, spend a little time, give us a chance. It's worth your time. Thank you. Thank you. Please join me in thanking the candidates for civil court, Judge.