Judicial hopefuls await public verdict

11/6/2005

Voters will decide the election of judges in municipal courts in Toledo, Oregon, and Sylvania.

Three of seven seats in Toledo Municipal Court are being contested in Tuesday's election. Judges Francis Gorman and C. Allen McConnell are unopposed.

Judge Robert Christiansen, Samuel Nugent, and Dan Pilrose are competing to replace Judge Mary Grace Trimboli, who is retiring at the end of the year.

Mr. Christiansen stepped down from Lucas County Common Pleas Court last year to run for the appellate court. He was on the bench for 22 years.

Mr. Pilrose has practiced law as an assistant prosecutor in Toledo Municipal Court for 18 years.

Mr. Nugent, a lawyer for 29 years, is a senior attorney in the Toledo law department.

Timothy Kuhlman, who was appointed to municipal court in February, is being challenged by Paula Hicks-Hudson.

An attorney with the city of Toledo, Ms. Hicks-Hudson, is running for office for the first time.

Mr. Kuhlman, who is making his fourth attempt to get elected judge, was an attorney in private practice before the appointment.

Lynn Schaefer and Lourdes Santiago square off for the unexpired term of Judge Thomas Osowik, who was elected to Lucas County Common Pleas last year. Ms. Schaefer was appointed to the fill the seat in March.

Ms. Santiago is an attorney in the city law department and has been acting director of several departments.

Ms. Schaefer was a trial referee in Lucas County Domestic Relations Court. She was appointed to a vacancy in Juvenile Court in 2004, but lost the election to retain the post.

Four attorneys are seeking election to Oregon Toledo Municipal to replace retiring Judge Donald Petroff.

Gary Breier, Cherrefe Kadri, Jeffery Keller, and Louis Kovacs are running for the office.

An attorney for 27 years, Mr. Breier is in private practice in Oregon.

Ms. Kadri, who is an attorney in Toledo, has served as an acting judge in Oregon since 2003.

Mr. Keller has served as a magistrate in Northwood Mayor's Court and in the village of Berkey.

Mr. Kovacs, of Jerusalem Township, works for a Toledo law firm and has been an acting judge in Oregon since April.

In Sylvania, lawyer James Nusbaum is challenging Judge M. Scott Ramey, who has been on the bench in municipal court for 17 years.

Mr. Nusbaum is president of the Sylvania Board of Education.

The court has jurisdiction over Sylvania Township, part of Springfield Township, Berkey, and other areas in western Lucas County.