I’ve always voted. I remember the year I turned 18 and having the overwhelming feeling that it was an important step in adulthood and an important part of being a citizen of both the United States as a whole and the community in which I live.

To this day I wonder at the lovely men and women I’ve met from coast to coast who have admittedly no interest in this incredible right/privilege a person has to make a difference in the community they live within!

This election season is highly charged for our family in particular, as our community has an appointee judge on the ballot running to be retained as Superior Court Judge Position 3.

Judge Ray Kahler played a major role in the recent release (Oct. 29) of Isaac Gusman a few months after he abducted our oldest child. He made a poor, inappropriate ruling the first go-round and nearly let this dangerous man out after only three months served. After experiencing extreme backlash from the community he reconsidered, citing among other things his “misinterpretation” of criminal law.

The new ruling was a bit more on track with case law, but certainly not what it should/could have been. After all, my daughter’s assailant is a free man today just five short months after he tried to force her into his truck at gunpoint. Isaac Gusman is a detriment to society and now a detriment to the community directly due to the actions, or should I say inexperience, of Judge Ray Kahler.

Some say a single case is not enough information a person needs to be prepared to cast their ballot, and I agree with this statement wholeheartedly. I say delving into past, personal experience of the campaigners (or in this case the personal inexperience of a very nice, very intelligent man) clearly sets one aspirant high above the other. Judge Ray Kahler is not adequately experienced to perform the duties of a public servant like that of a Superior Court judge in Grays Harbor County.

In the end, whether it be inexperience or (mis)interpretation, neither is appropriate for a Superior Court judge, and neither is appropriate for our community. We need to hold our judges to the highest of standards. After all, if they choose this profession, they choose to be “superior” and handle our laws appropriately. Ray Kahler does not meet this standard.

As for David Mistachkin, whether or not you agree with the type of people he has represented, you cannot disagree with the fact that he is indeed more qualified on more than one level, because of his experience and proper interpretation of criminal law.

The vote for our community and its ultimate safety is the vote for Mistachkin.

Holly Shuck

Montesano