by Mark McDermott
He wasn’t planning it, but when Steve Napolitano looks back at his career as a public servant, he can’t help but believe each step was almost the perfect preparation for what he hopes is his next position. He is running to serve as a judge on the LA Superior Court.
The Manhattan Beach native was the youngest elected official in the city’s history three decades ago, then went on to serve as senior deputy to LA County Supervisor Don Knabe. He has been Manhattan Beach’s mayor a record six times and currently serves on the City Council. He has worked as an attorney for 30 years and currently serves as an administrative law hearing officer and as a parole board attorney.
In a Q & A this week, Napolitano talked about why he seeks to become a judge, why his experience matters, and whether or not this means his days at Ercoles are numbered.
Do you indeed believe your varied work history has provided the perfect preparation to be a judge? If so, how has each step along the way prepared you to sit on the bench?
Your thesis is correct and I told this story to the LA Times folks when I interviewed for their endorsement. At the end of last year, I was thinking about my last year on council. I’ve always had multiple jobs, currently council being one of them, and also serving as a state appointed attorney for inmates before the Board of Parole, as well as serving as an administrative law judge/hearing officer for cities and counties throughout the state. And so I was thinking, wouldn’t it be great if I could apply everything I’ve learned in public service as a 5-term councilmember and former Senior Deputy to LA County Supervisor Don Knabe, together with my legal experience in the criminal justice system and civil adjudicator into one job where I can still make a difference and serve the public? The answer I kept coming back to was Judge.
This certainly isn’t something I’ve been plotting for years and I don’t see it as a political move at all because it’s nonpartisan and you have to approach each case with an open mind. I actually have mixed feelings about electing judges, but that’s our system, and while I could have gone for an appointment by the Governor, that’s really no less political and can take much longer, so I threw my hat in, as they say.
I really do think everything I’ve done has helped prepare me for being a judge. As a councilmember, you deal with a lot of passionate people on different sides of many complex issues, sift for the facts through unsworn testimony, maintain order so everyone is treated with respect, weigh the evidence presented and come up with a decision based on the law and what’s fair. You act as a decisionmaker, not just an advocate for one side or another. As Senior Deputy to Supervisor Knabe, I was empowered to be a problem solver, to help those in need, and I helped literally thousands of people. Both of these positions have given me insight into the things that matter most to our communities, things that effect those coming to court as well–homelessness, crime, housing, and more.
Serving as a state appointed attorney for inmates before the Board of Parole has also given me great insight into the causative factors of crime and how people can turn their lives around and what it takes to do that.
In my role as an administrative law judge/hearing officer for cities and counties, I’ve conducted thousands of hearings regarding municipal code violations both big and small–these are civil cases and I do what a lot of civil court judges do every day–I take testimony, weigh evidence, make written decisions and impose fines when necessary–just the other day I decided a case with more than $1.6 million in penalties. Again, this has given me a lot of experience as a decisionmaker, not just an advocate.
Why do you want to be a judge?
Well, the above kind of explains it, but I pretty much lay it out in my website and I truly believe in what I wrote, which I’ll paraphrase for you here — that if the last couple of years has taught us anything, it’s that judges matter.
I have no doubt that all of us running for this seat have the legal experience to serve well as a judge.
But being a judge is about more than just the law, it’s about life and how experience informs decisions. And I think that’s the choice here—what makes a better judge? Someone whose experience is informed by basically doing one thing, or someone whose experience is informed by doing many things?
I’m not your traditional candidate for judge and I think that’s a good thing. As I say above, besides being an attorney, I’ve got over 30 years of experience dealing with what matters most to our communities, and I’ve done it with integrity, fairness and respect for all. And I’ve done these things as a decisionmaker, not just an advocate.
Now I want to take the pragmatic decision making I’ve applied in my legal and political careers and apply it as a judge on the LA Superior Court. I’m tough but fair, and I want to make the law work for all of us. I believe in consequences. I also believe in compassion. I believe we need more judges with diverse backgrounds who know our communities, who have worked with both victims and criminals, and who have the experience to know what works and what doesn’t. That’s who I am, and that’s why I’m running for judge.
Is there anything about this role that you think is not well understood by folks? And is part of your mission, beyond meting out actual justice to the best of your ability, in keeping with why you got into public service to begin with – that is, to make your community and by extension the world, a little better place?
I love this question because it’s exactly what’s driving me to run–so I can make a difference. I’m not looking to get on the Supreme Court and I don’t care a lick to oversee the next “trial of the century.” If elected, I’d love to be assigned to do the nitty gritty of justice–the small claims, the misdemeanors, the traffic court, so I can talk to folks and help get them on the right path again. In my parole work, I see how things can escalate, and I’d love to be able to work with the people that come before me to impose consequences as appropriate, but also provide compassion for better outcomes in the long term when appropriate too.
If there’s anything misunderstood, it’s the nature of judicial elections. The judicial council ethics rules prohibit judicial candidates from taking positions on issues or attacking our opponents (that’s a good thing!) but it means we can’t answer questions about how we would rule in any particular way, which is what most people want to know. That said, I think a good number of folks know me and how I operate — I do my homework, listen to all sides, ask tough questions, treat everyone with respect, and explain the decisions I make and why.
Are there judges you’ve admired who have inspired you to become a judge?
We have a number of judges who live locally and they’re all good, very down to earth people, so they’ve all inspired me at one time or another. Again, I’m not your traditional judicial candidate, which gave me some pause as to how’d I’d be perceived before jumping in, but I was inspired to take the plunge in part because of everything I read about Sandra Day O’Conner when she died last year. I knew her story before, but it really stuck with me this time that she was the last Supreme Court justice who also served as an elected official before her appointment. I think that informed her pragmatic approach to issues, and I think it informs mine as well.
Aside from experience, which we’ve covered, what do believe are the qualities that best qualify you for this position?
Hopefully I’ve covered that by now — do your homework, listen, ask tough questions, act with integrity at all times and treat people fairly and with kindness and respect. That’s what my parents taught me, and that’s what I’m teaching my own children.
Most crucially to the local electorate, does this mean you will no longer be spotted at Ercoles or Poncho’s Comedy Night?
It may mean I’m there more — I didn’t see anything in the rules against it! ER
