15 In Competition For Court Position

Former Spokane City Councilman Jack Hebner is among 13 men and two women vying for a District Court judgeship.

“I think I’d bring a different sort of perspective” than the typical judge applicant, said Hebner, who served 12 years on the City Council and is a partner in the Fulcrum Institution, which does court-ordered mediation of lawsuits, disputes and other matters.

“Probably if there’s a weakness in my application, it’s that I don’t have a lot of courtroom experience.”

Hebner faces tough competition to fill the vacancy left when Judge Sam Cozza was elected to the Superior Court bench in November. Many other candidates have years of courtroom experience.

Other attorneys who have applied for the judgeship are:

Harold Clarke III, whose father was a popular judge until his retirement last year. A county bar survey ranked Clarke second among 21 applicants when Mike Padden became a judge in 1995; the only person who rated higher didn’t apply this time.

Scott Mason, who was a runner-up to Padden.

Paul Mack, a former deputy prosecutor who has been critical of Prosecutor Jim Sweetser for firing other deputies.

Robert Kingsley, who lost the 1994 primary election against Sweetser.

Terence Ryan, who lost the primary election to Cozza in September.

Greg Tripp, a Republican party activist.

Vance Peterson, a District Court commissioner, and Robert Seines, who has served as judge pro tem.

Deputy prosector Annette Plese.

Other applicants include William Sorcinelli, Jack Reeves, John Lamp, Adrian Voermans and Harvey Dunham.

County commissioners plan to interview applicants Jan. 12 and select a judge this month, said Commissioner Phil Harris. But the position probably won’t start until April 1, to give the appointee plenty of time to make the transition, he said.

A temporary judge would help with the court’s workload until then, Harris said.

“That actually saves us a couple of bucks because (judges) pro tem are cheaper than judges,” he said.

, DataTimes