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Candidates Air Views At Forum

Cheryl Bentley/SUNCOAST NEWS

Mary Morrissey Handsel, left, and Robert Angus Williams listen as Violet Assaid makes a point at Thursday's forum for circuit judge and clerk of the court candidates at Spartan Manor in New Port Richey. All three are candidates for the Pasco-Pinellas Circuit Court.

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By Cheryl  Bentley | The Suncoast News

Published: August 23, 2008

NEW PORT RICHEY - In an evening marked more by civility than wrangling, the six candidates for two Sixth Circuit judgeships and two candidates for Pasco County clerk of the circuit court aired their views of the offices they seek at a political forum Wednesday.

Pasco-Pinellas Circuit Court Group 6 judge candidates Violet Assaid, Mary Morrissey Handsel and Bruce G. Howie and Group 8 judge candidates Kenneth Foote, Susan Gardner and Robert Angus Williams answered questions on their judicial stands from moderator West Pasco Bar Association President Michael Beam.

Additionally, Paula O'Neil and Dan Tipton, the two candidates in the Republican primary for clerk of the circuit court, also participated in the forum.

The event was sponsored by the West Pasco Bar Association and held at Spartan Manor.

Tipton and O'Neil clashed on Tipton's promise to make court records more accessible online. O'Neil countered anything legally available is already online. Tipton noted he would bring his 38 years of business experience to the office.

"I'd rather run it like a business than a government office," he said.

O'Neil argued her experience as deputy clerk has prepared her for the job. The Pasco clerk's office was among the first in Florida to make records available online and has received national awards on electronic filing and leadership training.

Because of the ethical rules surrounding judicial races, the other part of the evening was less confrontational.

In the Group 6 judgeship contest, Assaid said the two most important qualities for a judge were thorough understanding of individual cases and empathy.

Handsel cited judicial temperament and the ability to make decisions quickly in order to move cases along.

Howie grouped the qualities of respect for others, impartiality and compassion under temperament and also added knowledge of the law.

In Group 8, Foote listed integrity and courtroom experience; Gardner, respect for all parties in the courtroom and adherence to the law; and Williams, humility and openness to life-long learning.

In response to a question to the judicial hopefuls asking them to own up to their greatest legal mistakes, Assaid recalled missing a deadline as a young lawyer and as a consequence, learning to ask for help.

Handsel said in one of her first cases, she had not read all of the rules regarding the case. She had also learned some valuable words in extricating herself from that situation and future difficulties.

"I didn't know any better," she told the judge. "It won't happen again."

Howie said he had sometimes "asked one question too many" instead of stopping when he was ahead.

Foote recalled as a young prosecutor, he put a police officer on the stand without having spoken to him because he assumed as an officer, he would be an experienced witness. After the officer torpedoed his case, Foote learned it was his first courtroom experience. "It made me learn to prepare the witness," he said.

After losing her temper before a judge who she felt was unprepared, Gardner learned not to get angry at a judge.

Williams learned not to assume work would be done after delegating to an associate and finding the associate had missed a deadline.

The Circuit Court candidates will face off in the Aug. 26 primary election. If no candidate in either three-person field receives a majority of the votes cast, the two highest vote getters will run in the Nov. 4 general election.

In the clerk's race, O'Neil and Tipton are Republicans. The winner of the primary will face Democrat Robert N. Altman, who is running unopposed in the Democratic primary, in November.

Cheryl Bentley can be reached at 727-815-1069 or cbentley@suncoastnews.com.

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