PORT TOWNSEND – Candidates for Jefferson County District Court judge and prosecuting attorney, speaking at a forum this week, agreed that times used to be simpler — and discussed how to handle the change.
“When I was growing up, there was no need for law enforcement because everyone else’s mother would watch out for you,” said District Court Judge Jill Landes, who is running for a second term.
“I grew up in a small town where everyone was more connected to each other.”
Landes, 60, was appearing at a Tuesday night candidate forum hosted by the Port Townsend Kiwanis Club along with her opponent John Wood, 64, a Port Townsend attorney.
Also speaking at the forum were candidates for prosecuting attorney, Port Townsend resident Scott Rosekrans, 58, the deputy prosecuting attorney — a Democrat — and Paul Richmond, 50, a Port Townsend attorney — who lists himself as an independent.
The candidates are on Tuesday’s general election ballot.
Landes was responding to a question from moderator Bob Carter, who said that when he was growing up in Port Townsend, there were three law enforcement officers in the entire county.
He said he wondered why, when the city’s population has doubled and the county’s population has tripled, the number of law enforcement officers has increased tenfold.
The answer is, simply, there is more crime, Rosekrans said.
“I grew up in a ‘Leave It to Beaver’ place in the country where most everything we did was harmless,” Rosekrans said.
“We live in a different time today, with rampant drug and violence problems and when every time the Legislature meets, they pass more laws that we have to enforce,” he added.
Richmond, who has been at odds with Rosekrans during much of the campaign, said he agreed with his opponent on this issue, if only peripherally.
“There are so many laws on the books, and that creates a ‘make work’ attitude,” Richmond said.
Richmond advocated more attention to mental health issues, something with which none of the other candidates disagreed.
“When I grew up, families could support themselves on one salary,” Wood said.
“Today, too much of parents’ time is taken up by all the things they need to do.
“When there is less supervision of children, there is more stress on them, and they can more easily become involved in criminal activity.”
Landes agreed that society has changed.
“I would love to put myself out of business,” she said.
“I would like to live in a society where we do not have the problems we have today.”
While this forum included some new topics it covered familiar ground.
Richmond urged “prosecutorial discretion” in which the county would be more discerning about which cases to try in order to save money for essential programs.
“If we screen cases more carefully, we could use the money saved to support Memorial Field or the Rec Center,” he said.
Wood criticized Landes, saying she sets high bail for minor crimes, and that he would not.
Landes answered that she set bail appropriate to the offense and said “domestic violence and DUI [driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol] are not minor crimes.”
In order to save money, Rosekrans said he favors diversionary tactics, in which minor crime charges aren’t filed if a defendant agrees to enter immediate treatment.
When asked about the effect of initiatives that will increase the number of liquor outlets Landes said that she, as a judge, cannot make endorsements and Wood also said he follows that rule.
Both candidates, however, indicated that opening more liquor stores would not be a good thing.
Landes said that it is likely that if liquor becomes more accessible then teenage drinking will increase.
Wood, who grew up in Maine, said that local jurisdictions would set their own liquor limits and that “when you have more restrictions on liquor you have less drinking.”
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Jefferson County Reporter Charlie Bermant can be reached at 360-385-2335 or charlie.bermant@peninsuladailynews.com.