>> good evening. i'll go with miss so i don't get anybody's title wrong. if i mispronounce your name, please correct me. i'll be posing questions to candidates and i've arespectingearranged arandom or.

we're not going alphabetically and so it's as fair as i could make it. each candidate will get two minutes with the responsiv resp. i want this to be more conversational than debate or attacking whoever is sitting to your left. and i will jump in and kabitz with you and follow up. there's six of you but it creates a time crunch. it's not unusual for candidates to be on the ballot and bears a moment or two of reflection. it's different from ordinary candidates. yes, it's a contested race but you want different things to judge in an elected

representative. you want anyone who will only consider the facts in resolving a case, leaving aside a partisan agenda, which is the opposite for political candidates. you want someone who has the character of a judge, not someone who will be a fighter for you but a neutral a remarkr. you don't want a judge who is a servant whose interests are different than yours. there's integrity, obviously, you want someone honest and professional competence, someone good at the job. it doesn't have to be a lawyer but someone who has the kind of skills you would want of someone on the bench and temperament is important, the right kind of personality. the most subjective and difficult to prove and sometimes

the hardest and someone with the right experience. if you're electing someone to the superior court one you want someone with trial experience, an appellate judge, writing briefs that kind of thing and you want someone to demonstrate a commitment to service as i'm sure all candidates do. our first question is, how do you explain -- how do you show, how have you demonstrated you have these qualities and miss tong? you have two minutes. >> hello. >> feel free to steal microphones. >> we're sharing, not stealing. [ laughter ] >> i have demonstrated integrity for over 16 years at the public defender's office and asian law caucus because i have had to deal with very difficult

decisions, situations that i'm the only one a privilege to and to determine whether i have to obvious determine the duty to my clients, as well as my responsibility and ethical duty to the court, in terms of candor to the court. i won't reveal these things, but as a public defender, these are things i grapple with on a daily basis, multiple times a day. i have no problem seeking

information with mentors that are more information that i'm not so familiar with. temperament, especially as a public. defender, it's important to exercise temperament. >> why do you think that? why in particular for a public defender? >> because we represent, oftentimes a marginalized a group of folks dealing with a lot of their own mental health status and issues that many of us in in room don't have to deal with. while our clients -- and not just in a public defender's office but in 20 years of working with low-income marginalized communities and so, they are expressing things to me that are beyond the means of their legal issues and sometimes when you're dealing with larger structures in place, such as bureaucratic matters.

>> miss tong i'm afraid i have to cut you up. >> going ahead to miss singh. >> you don't have to cover all of these in two minutes, obviously. [ laughter ] >> as you just saw, it's difficult. >> integrity, my entire existence has been one filled with integrity through my work, through my parenting, through my community service. as a district attorney, it's very, very important to be above the highest grade of ethical standard and for me, being a managing attorney of one of the largest units in our office, the restorative justice and mental health unit, the integrity i show everyday to everybody, to court, the clients, the victims, the case itself and my team shows that i'm able to be able to make very tough decisions, ethical decisions and decisions that are normally not made by most district attorneys. i take high risk, high-need cases and i make decisions that are not traditional at all to the work that we do in the d.a.'s office.

>> how so? >> i take high-risk, high-needs cases. >> what's not traditional? >> everything i do. i'll use an implicit biased. if i tell everyone to close their eyes and i say the word prosecutor, most people will say people who lock people up, everything that i do is the opposite of that in the restorative justice side of the office and that's what i mean by of the office. >> give me 30 seconds on temperament. >> i have to work on that everyday because i'm a parent. [ laughter ] >> fair enough. >> try having kids not doing their homework. anyone who is a trial issues will have issues with temperament but that's something you have to stop, count to ten, just like i do at home and you make a decision. i want to talk about experience, over 100 trials of verdict. i've been a d.a. for 21 years, in every unit of the office, juvenile, adult, policy,

criminal, community service for 20 years and i've been teaching k-8, mock trial, middle school, high school. i was doing service before it was popular and now i'm running tor office. >> stop there, miss proud-foot. >> integrity is important because your word is your bond. the instant you lose people's trust, you lose all force of your argument. so i've demonstrated my integrity throughout my career and i was one of the people in the d.a.'s office when i was working there who fought to disclose more information about police officers' criminal records before the cases came out in san francisco, before there was a change in the rules. i was pushing for that because i thought that is fair. if we'll be disclosing information, we need to do that for police officers. didn't make me a lot of friends with some of the police departments i worked with but it was the right thing. i'm demonstrating competency.

i've. a licensed attorney for 20 years and currently an administrative law judge. >> tell them what that is. >> an administrative law judge, arbitration hearings, evidentiary hearings. because we've had rent control in san francisco for over 40 years and approximately 130 amendments to that ordinance, there's a lot of law that touches upon people's daily lives that need aadjudication. the rent board is a place for people to get a low-cost, more efficient way to deal wi with te issues. so i've heard over 200 cases. i've presided over there and did findings of fact and the various orders, setting for setting fors

and responsibilities of the party. i think judicial temperament is important and i've demonstrated that in my work as a quasi judicial officer. that's what a law judge is styled, a quasi judicial officer. i think having that practise at some very incredibly contentious hearings, because as you can imagine, housing in san francisco is maybe the biggest issue, having that experience with people who are dealing with matters that are very important to them. >> let me stop you there. miss lee, same question. >> good evening and thank you for coming out on a thursday night. i'm a judicial officer. i have criminal, civil and judicial experience and almost 22 years and i'm delighted to have that because that's what we need in a superior court judge for san francisco. they need to be well-rounded, have experience with the criminal courts and civil courts and it means i have been serving people from all walks of life.

when i start my session, i introduce myself and i also say, pronouns, she, her, hers. i also acknowledge the biased we may have. i set a ground rule about allowing people to feel respected and heard. because this is an opportunity for them not to just experience substantive justice, but also to feel that they have been heard and have been treated equally. so each of you as practitioners, litigants, observers of the court have trained me to be thoughtful, even-tempered and frankly, there's actually eight pillars to being a judge. the first -- >> i didn't have room for all of those. [ laughter ] >> but eight pillars and the first is awareness of being a judge and warren awareness of bn a courtroom, third is knowledge of the law and fourth is no assumption and fifth, you need

to maintain professional distance, sixth is integrity and seventh is courage and last by not least accountability. a judge needs do all of that because she serves everyone. and i say when people come into my traffic department, department a, i don't care if you come in with a maga hat or sanders hat or warren hat. the first thing i'll say, please take off your hat and the second thing i'll do is assure you, you will be treated equally, impartially and fairly because that's what a judge must and should do. >> perfect timing. >> miss gold, how have you demonstrated these qualities. >> i have, in terms of experience and service, in experience, i've probably trained over 500 attorneys or more, probably closer to 1,000

in landlord-tenant law. i'm an expert in landlord-tenant law and i am an expert in civil procedure and called upon by many lawyers over my 30 years of practise for help with civil procedure problems. i believe that -- i've also been a mediators. i've mediated over 200 of cases. there is where you get to demonstrate sort of your judicial temperament. you have to learn -- you have to do active listening when you're mediating. you have to learn how to listen to the litigants, what's really behind what they're saying if you wanyou want find the littlee to help the parties come together and solve their issue. that is something i'm extremely

skilled at and have been practicing for years. also running the settlement conference project for the bar association for 12 years. i saw every case that went through the unlawful detainer courts and trained and supervised attorneys resolving those cases, the landlord bar and the tenant bar always came to me for help on getting cases resolved and i think that that is evidence of my balanced -- that people view me as balanced and fair. >> perfect timing. how have you demonstrated these qualities? >> thank you, over the last 6 years, as a deputy public defender, i have had the

opportunity to demonstrate my experience in the courtroom and in the community and i've tried over 50 jury trials and i think what's important is not just the number of jury trials, but the quality and complexity of the litigation. i've tried cases with expert evidence, including cell tour evidence and multiple joint cases, life cases, cases that were very difficult. , sometimes unwinnable and sometimes cases very adversarial by nature. and yet, i've managed and been able to maintain myself as known reputationally at the hall of justice as being somebody who has an even temperament but fights hard for the cause that my client has. now, not only have i tried that many cases, but i've litigated thousands of cases. i've represented thousands of clients and i've spent the last seven years in the collaborative

courts with specialized training and recidivism and veteran's court which i'm proud of. i see judge ross here and i see district attorneys i work with in clean slate because that's the real work in the community. quantifiably, i was raised by this community for the first 22 racer and they all collaborated in creating me. for the past 25 years, i have served my community and that's why so many members of my community is supporting me because i was there for them when they needed me the most as an attorney. a lot of people wouldn't expect this, but to show my independence and collaborative nature, i started off 25 years ago at the district attorney's office working with candy heisman and my first job out of law school was at the city attorney's office. every summer, when i was in law school -- >> i have to stop you there.

we're short on schedule. >> going to candidate singh for this one. who is your judicial role model and explain why. >> that's a hard one. >> please don't all pick rbg. >> i'll pick real live people in sanfrancisco and have basically taught me for 20 years and i'll give you more than one because some are in the room right now. >> brownie points. >> i'm looking at judge kolfax and i working on the public defender and d.a. many, many moons ago and she ran an amazing campaign, won her seat for judge and has set the stage for women on the bench in many areas of the law and i love to go see her. i love to agree and disagree with her. but she is somebody who is brave and courageous on the berth dayy in and day out. >> courageous how.

>> she ok with somebody leaving the room not so happy with the decision because she knows it's the right thing to do and takes risks when she's important and pulls back and lets us do what to do when it's important and knows when to push and pull and that's one of the things i love about her. judge benson who tried a very, very serious case, the people versus jeter, a human trafficking case, two young girls were sexually assaulted, kidnapped and put on the street for multiple cases. it was a one-year preparation of case, three month trial, i was threatened and the victims were threatened. the reason judge benson was amazing, he controlled courtroom in that he gave the utmost respect to the victims, to myself, to mr. o'maley, who was the defense attorney and it was one of the worse three months my life, my family's life, of jose humale's life and probably the judge's life and he maintained. i'll give you a specific story. the first day that the victim z

was supposed to testify, she came out of the tank because she was in custody at juvenile and the defendant was talking to her through the door and she started banging her head on the wall and wouldn't take the stand. we had 12 jurors and three alternates in the jury box and judge benson stopped the proings and said, ronny, get it together with her, take care of her and we'll start tomorrow. >> right on time. >> candidate gold, who is your judicial role model and why. >> i'm lucky that i got second because i will say rbg. [ laughter ] >> that one is yours. >> do i have to say anything else? >> no. for me, why she is such a role model is because she had to work so hard to even be accepted as a lawyer, to do the work she did.

she did so much ground-breaking work in gender equality and the law and every step of the way, it was a struggle and she kept on in that struggle. and for me, she remains a role model of what we have to do in the law and as well. we do have to struggle. we have to struggle to make our courts equal and fair to all persons, all genders. and i think that she accomplished that. >> ok, anything about her as a judge in addition to being a civil right's and quality pine pioneer? >> i like most of her rules, no. >> and further, you have 30 seconds or you may yield. >> i will yield.

>> miss evangelista and i'm sorry rbg will be taken. >> it may have been taken but i will say i have twin daughters and they both have seen the movie and have the children's book. >> is it good? >> extremely good, and my daughter asked me to dress her like rbg and she's said, why aren't boys allowed to run for judge? [ laughter ] >> because there's six female candidate. but i would say, you know, it's hard as a latino running for judge and wanting that position, it's so important for our community knowing that one out of every four women will be latino in this country and less than 1% of all attorneys in the country are latinos and we compromise the attorney minorities and the bar association says they don't have accurate numbers as to the

actual number of judges we have. i've always looked in my surroundings and in other communities for inspiration and i'm a sponge and a collection of ereverybody that i've been in front of. today i caught a glimpse of judge schulman. my daughters came to watch and he was so courteous and kind. i'll try to use this in my personal toolkit. judge jackson, when i was at sanfrancisco state studying criminal justice, at the time, she was invited to talk about the terry stop and frisk. she walked in and the classroom took a gasp to see this tall, beautiful african-american women so eloquent to make us feel that could be us and to see her accomplishments now, she's a

complete role model and that's a little piece of her i'll take with me. i'm in veteran's court now and i found the judge to be so courageous. in the end, he rationalizes and says i'll take a calculated risk to see if we can keep each person from coming back again. >> miss proudfoot, role model and why? >> i wanted to give two different examples. one of the first judges that i think did my first trial -- second trial -- judge terry boran and the reason i pick him as a role model, he used to be a hardcore prosecutor, number two in the office. for 30 years he was a prosecutor but when he hit the bench, he

knew the difference between a judge and prosecutor. he was fair. he was kind and that was what everybody remembers about him, because he is just a very genuine and honest person and really understands the humanity of the people who appear in front of him. when i saw that as a young practicing attorney, i realized there's something very special about the way he approaches his job. it's not about looking like the smartest. it's not about winning. it's really about doing that service for people who come to the courts for help and so his kindness and his compassion really make him one of my role models. carol rosenham who was appointed to the bench in 1979 and she's a senior woman judge. she's a role model because she's that example, you can have a

woman judge, have a phon nontraditional background and she runs the mental health court and a lot of specialty courts. she has always maintained the most important part of being a judge is to treat everyone with dignity. i think a lot of times attorneys who become judges, they get the competence part and understand the law. the places where they're really challenged is to switch the role up and the way you treat people when you're given such an awesome responsibility. >> i think you're right. that can be a difficult transition. let's go to miss lee. judicial role model. >> i would like to step back a bit in answering that question. as a war refugee from vietnam, i'm incredibly gratefu gratefule been sponsored to the united states and an example of the american values we all appreciate. i was the first in my family to graduate from college and become a lawyer.

so everything about the law has been new and amazing and validating equality for all. each of the candidates up here will identify judges that are just extraordinary and i echo them. i've had the pleasure of being endorsed by 34 of them and a lot of the judges they've identified are some of my endorsements. but i would like to pick another u.s. supreme court justice and that is justice s society sonya. she had a grandmother who loved her and gave her the confidence to keep trying is to me what makes a great jurist, their humanity and understanding that they need to be compassion and lifting us from a cycle of criminalities and having hope.

i've h ha had the measure pleasg why judges should have a wide range of experience and be independent because they need to serve everyone that comes to court. >> anything about justice sotemier you can model yourself on? >> she has three quality, curiosity. you need to be interested and always engaged in learning and two, compassion. she understood this was about the human experience and what happens to the individual affects the family and the community and last but not least, again, courage. she was fearless. she kept trying. she didn't give up, even though she had type i diabetes and had

to give herself injections to survive, let alone study. >> everybody please turn off your cell phone sounds. miss tong? >> i'm fortunate any judicial role models, i would like to say are firsthand. i've spent 16 years at 850 bryant street but multiple times a week and especially during this journey, i'm looking at the judges that have endorsed me and i don't agree with all of them, but the judge sculpture judges e and some ran for judge and not received well, it has affected my independent run. and the judges that endorse me understand they are independent,

coursous enougcourageous enought aside and i've tried cases in front of all of the judges that have endorsed me and judge kolfax is here, judge ross is here anhere and judge kahn is hd i've tried numerous cases in front of these three judges. and even though i don't agree with all of them, i have been able to admire the independence of many of the judges. judge chan has said, he endorses me, that he understands and him and i will have many disagreements, but i've learned to really admire that he will make a decision, a thought one. we may not agree and he understands he has to live with that decision and that's what a good independent judge does. as long they're thoughtful.

judge kolfax has done that and even though i worked with judge kolfax in the past, i haven't expected any treatment from her. sometimes i felt she would have favour because she treated my opponent with the same amount of professionalism as she did me and scolded me when i maybe did something wrong during trial, regardless of our history. >> let me stop you there. two minutes. >> thank you. our next one. starting with miss proudfoot, we're staying on judges and i hope you all have your judicial role models in mind. tell me what your judicial philosophy is. >> my judicial philosophy, judges need to make decisio decn the rule of law. judicial elections really show the politicalization of the judiciary that has been happening over the last two decades. i think it's a negative friend and i think what's important is

for judges to show that regardless of whether they're registered democrats, that they don't betray that to anyone. no one should know what your party affiliation is by the way you rule on the personal. bench. they should see your quality and character. the work i did as an attorney, my volunteer work in antidiscrimination, in diversity and inclusion. those are things that inform what my values are and the way i would evaluate evidence, the way i would receive information. but those are not things that make me have a knee-jerk litmous test. so my judicial philosophy, in order to maintain our democracy in a checks and balances system we learned in civics, that judiciary needs to be

independent and we understand judges have made decisions that have swung back and forth in both what some would consider a positive direction and some would consider a negative direction, but we need faith in our judiciary and confidence that they're facing the evidence before them, the rules that apply and if things change, they change. and the judge needs to change with it. but the judge is not the agent of change in the same way our advocate can be. and you need to be comfortable with that role to really do a good job as a judge. >> thank you. >> you saved me 20 seconds. >> i did my best. >> you're a trouper. >> miss lee, judicial there'sty. philosophy. >> there's another thing that judges need to do and that is they need to be prepared. they need to be staying on top of current law. things are always changing.

you're electing us to do both criminal and civil cases. that's a lot of ground to cover and so it's so important for the judges to be aware and diligent about learning different areas of law and maintaining appropriate levels of competence in whatever case they're assign. so me, that means it's a reiteration and emphasis about following the law. judges, unlike the executive or legislative branch, we are not advocates. that is why they make us put on a black robe, right? there's no other job that requires you to put on a black robe. why? it's because it's no longer about me as a person, but me as the role. and i take that very seriously because parties that come in and the attorneys that come in, they need to have confidence that their trust in the law is honored by the judge, that she isn't going to be whimsical, biased and impartial about

anything just because of her own personal impression. this leads to the concerns about the criminal justice system and that is, is there implicit biased? as a judge, i get training on that and i am very aware of why we need to be mindful of that because it erodes the trust we as individuals have put in the trust of law, that it will be clear and consistent and equally and evenly applied to everyone. >> thank you. >> my judicial philosophy is to follow the law but to also be mindful of working with justice partners, with any type of case that comes before me, whether it be a criminal justice case or family case or probate case, working in san francisco over 20 years, i've had the privilege of following the various cbo organizations that have provided services in partnership with folks that have been affected by

the law. and i think it's important for judges to be abreast of those organizations. i do also believe that this idea of being an advocate, quote, unquote, as a public defender and that ceases once you become a judge is a false assignment. >> how is that? >> because it is my job to always be an advocate for justice and as a judge, it is just another facet of my life-long dedication to protecting and defending rights, the civil rights of everyone and as a judge, i would be an advocate for justice to everybody and that's my role as a judge, for anyone that comes before me. >> your client is justice. >> my client is justice? i'm sorry, i didn't understand that. >> when you're switching from the advocate role --

>> as a public defender, i'm a defender of the constitution and prohibit civil rights, whether i represent someone accused of a crime, a victim of th of a crim, someone to petition from the immigration and restaurant workers that have not been paid by their employers. these are all the same roles. and it does not change just because i'm a judge. i'm not vested in an outcome for size but justice. >> i would say a judge's job is basically to call the balls and strikes and applying the law to the facts of the case. but i think what you bring to the bench is your life experience when you're doing that.

and my life experience, at least my work experience, has been working with people, real people who have. been dragged into court and many who do not have lawyers. i think they need to be heard just like the other side that comes in with money and representation and so, i want to give everybody a fair chance to be heard, to be respected and to feel welcomed in the court.

you owe that to the public to resolve a dispute and judges have to work hard and be prepared when they come to court and know what this case is about. >> can i ask you, chief justice roberts used the phrase calling balls and strikes and what does that mean to you? >> well, i think that what it means is that the law is what the law is. i may not agree with the law.

>> miss evanjalista? >> it comes from my personal experience in that when you look at the court system here in the united states and in particular, in san francisco, you know, there's a lot of areas that you can say need improvement, but when i think about mexico and i think about a friend of mine who actually had to go to law school to get a degree, to get her father out of prison in mexico because you have the presumption of guilt instead of the presumption of innocence, i embrace the system that we have here.

i wouldn't have been able to go from the district attorney's office to the public defender's office if i didn't believe in all of this as much as i believe in the religion that everybody plays a part in the system of justice. now, there's an internal and external part of my philosophy internally.

there will be mistake for any judge but admitting when you've done something wrong. >> miss singh, your judicial philosophy. >> so a couple of things. my first part of judicial philosophy is lead by example and i mean lead in every way by example, in ethics, in competence, in integrity, in service. and i am very lucky my mom and dad are here today. and very lead by example their whole lives. my mother worked for the federal government with five children and broke the glass ceiling when it was made of cement. my father immigrated here as a refugee from pakistan and became one of the most incredible civic

leaders in san francisco and has been on a commission for over 40 years. so when i say lead by example, i've had amazing teachers to lead by example. so i say that to say this, leading by example is also being humble and when you are humble, you know you don't know everything and when you don't know everything, you seek help. you seek guidance. you seek advice from your other judicial officers, the people you want to emulate, the people you want to strive to be. the second part of my judicial philosophy is be comfortable with discomfort. i have a couple of my teammates here from the d.a.'s office who both work in the collaborative courts. it is very difficult to be a d.a. who makes decisions that are not always possible. i work with justice partners on every side of community based organizations, side by side with the public defenders on a daily basis and within the bounds of the law, we have great discretion, but you need to be

comfortable with discomfort. you need to be brave, you need to set a standard, you need to strive for fairness and equity and i want everyone to come into my courtroom if i'm lucky enough to be elected on march 3rd, to say maybe i left the courtroom and didn't agree with the judge's decision but i felt heard, i felt listened to and included in the process. >> thank you. >> i'm going to move on to our next question and since we're running a little bit behind, i'll switch to one minute for this question. don't worry, it's an easy one. and wore goin we're going to sth miss lee and my spreadsheet came out this way. how do you think discovery disputes, particularly contentious ones. not how you're going to rule but just in general. >> really, one minute? [ laughter ] >> one minute and the next one is hard.

>> in the past ten years with the court, i've had the pleasure with working with our complex lit cases and i've dealt with the california cases, multistate class-action claims where it is contentious and some comes down to the discovery dispute. so what we've implemented an informal discovery, theism dc and a way for parties to be able to come together, talk about their issues without getting overly contrived in the law and motion practise but also to allow what i hope is the individuals working with each other, person to person live, instead of sounding a thousand mauls thaemails that don't get . an i.d. c i i.d. c is a way foro come together without expenditure of very valuable court resources, as well as litigant's expenses.

>> miss evanjelista? >> i've litigated thousands of these motions and really, i think the deciding factor here is just following the law. it goes back to leading by example. i have had trials where the discovery was not just important and imminent because the client's liberty was at stake but because the case i case wasa

time waiver. we litigate probably over -- i can't tell you how many discovery motions we litigated -- >> i'm sorry, that's your minute. >> miss gold. >> i believe that with regard to contentious discovery disputes, these are very difficult to work on. my philosophy, though, about discovery and what i try to teach my staff attorneys is to the best of your ability, figure out what you really need and only go for what you really need. if you have to fight for some piece of evidence that you really need, then fight for it, but don't pre-pound discovery, that is make work for the other

side, and try to reach an agreement on how discovery will be handled ahead of time and the timing with your opposing consult. >> well done. miss testimon tong? >> the penal code and rights after person in a criminal case govern any ethical resident of a district attorney, govern when discovery should be provided. i have made attempts to communicate with what's needed in response to guidelines and timelines. >> any thoughts on civil discovery? >> same thing. so my point is that i would encourage counsel, which has been encouraged of me all of the time, to try to meet and confer

when these things could be provided before people start filing motions and start threatening sanctions, et cetera. i would apply the same philosophy to the litigants before me to try to find a way to provide the discovery that's necessary to each other before the parties need to lean on any codes to propound evidence. >> thank you, miss singh. >> so my theory for discovery is complete transparency. as a d.a., i go above and beyond to be able to provide discovery and sometimes things not under my obligation to discover, i will make efforts to discover them. why? because if you want to seek the truth, you need to peel away the layers of the onion to get to the truth and i, as a d.a., have such a high ethical responsibility. i used to teach a class or present for a retired instructor at golden gate exit was called

wrongful convictions and it was literally a class, a course, about d.a.s who would hide discovery. she would bring me in every year to present and they would talk to me and i would talk about how important discovery was. they were, like, are you really a d.a.? because they would only read cases about d.a.s uncovering and covering up discoveries. so whether civil or criminal, discovery is one of the most important things to push a case to resolution. if it's a civil case, and you have a discovery timeline, you need to be understanding of the parties. if it's a pro-per case, you need to be understanding and look at the case, who the litigants are, whether it's criminal or civil and you need to make adjustments because the end result is, if discovery is given and discovery is provided, the chances of resolving the case and getting it through the system quicker and getting a resolution quicker is the most important thing because resources are very hard.

>> i have to stop you there. >> miss proudfoot, close it out. >> let me give you two answers. forwards for criminal, when in doubt, turn it over. really, there is to reason for any district attorney to hide any evidence that's relevant because if your search is for the truth as a district attorney, not for a conviction or a win, then the truth will set you free. you don't need to hide anything. it is what it is. so in criminal cases, very simply, just turn it over. what harm will it do to let the truth come out? in civil cases, to there is something that does inform my view on civil discovery and that is my -- i'm the president elect of an inn of court and our philosophy is to promote professionalism, ethics, civility and excellence. with that backdrop to how attorneys are supposed to model

proper behaviour with the attorney role being really an art is the way that you sort of avoid contentious discovery that is unnecessary. obviously there are some cases that rise and full on discovery but the unnecessarily contentious cases are what we're talking about here. you need to demand of the parties that they follow those principle. >> thank you. >> let's go on to the next one, going back to two minutes now, miss gold. tell us about a time that you received some critique or constructive feedback or criticism. could be for a mistake. you don't have to tell us the incident. in fact, you probably don't want to. [ laughter ] >> the important part is the take away. what did you take away from this experience? >> what was the feedback? what was the take away and what was the lesson you took away

from this? >> i think that one piece of or one critique i think i have received several times is that i might be overinclusive and broadening cases where they should be more targeted. so that a case could get through trial more quickly and so i think that it's something that i now learned and taken away from that criticism which is to really figure out and this is how i instruct my staff to really figure out what is the key things you need to prove your case and throw the rest away.

because i used to be piling my plate on with all sorts of things and maybe i thought, oh, this strategy, and maybe if it was a weak case, no one will s see. it's ready to get to the point and keep the case as targeted as possible. >> miss proudfoot. >> one place i received constructive feedback is with my law judge. that was a great resource for me as i was trying to understand not only a new area as of law trying to learn as quickly as i could, but also in how to be a judge.

the issue was, we love the fact your intellectually curious and so interested in i this new area of law and want to be good at it, but the way you're asking the question that is detail oriented is stressing us out, because you're so intense about it. we're not sure whether how you feel about all of this. i took that criticism, actually, very happily, because it was good feedback and so, i learned to moderate my intensity. i could be extremely intense or laid back. you don't have to be one temperature. you don't have to be -- we're just people. and so the important part of that, that i took away was that i didn't do anything wrong but you have to be aware of how other people may perceive you and perceive the situation and if what you're doing is

impacting another person negatively, it's your jo job too something about that. you need to be as self-reflective as you can in the way you pursue the law, in the way you pursue your job didn'andrelationships with othe. >> thank you. i've been on the receiving end of similar feedback. [ laughter ] >> jack, i'm going to need the audio questions in a few minutes, if you don't already have them. going to candidate singh next. what's the take away from a critique you received at some point? >> so i'll give you a parent critique first. i'm the worst mother in the world because i didn't get valentine's cooks fo cookies foe party. >> you still have time. >> hopefully i'll be the best mother tonight. that's at home. at work, slow down, ronnie, don't talk so fast. that's probably one of the number one critiques that i've gotten as a trial lawyer because

my mind is moving a million miles a minute and my voice can talk as fast as my mind is moving. i'll give you a quick story which relates to when i was little which shows i am still working on it. i got cool saddle shoes from jp pennycpenny and the sister cally father and said, do you give her sugary snacks in the morning. my dad said, no, she has cheerios just like her brothers and sister. she said, i have to take an extra vitamin c to deal with the speed of her speech. and my hair was grey when she started first grade and now it's white. pop, i'm still worried that i'm talking fast and i will continue to do that, but hopefully, as a judge, because i'm going to be listening more than i'm talking, i will get to practise slowing down my speech.

>> thank you. that was very measured, by the way. >> miss evanjelista, what's the take away from the critique you have received? >> i've spent 16 years working on personal growth. you don't come from poverty and lack of access without having your challenges and sometimes you can bring that intensity been yowhen you come into the workforce. i said is it hard being an attorney. i said, no, it's hard in general because we're still integrating and we've seen a lot of leaps and bounds. i remember in my earlier years, i did a few trials back-to-back with judge masulo and one particular, the cross-examination was aggressive. afterwards, i ran into judge

masulo and i hope she doesn't mind, but we had a conversation and i had, i hope that nothing that went down in the trial was personal. she's, like, no, no. she goes, maria, you're so good. you have to be like a matador and use the peak and don't have to butcher the animal, so to speak. i think that was the justice of the advice. i remember thinking how kind she was. so now when i'm in a contentious situation or have a case that way or a judge doesn't rule the way i want, i don't take it personally, i just think of love. when i see the judges, even the judges that haven't endorsed me, i think about how i love them

because they've been a part of my collective globallin growth. when i see a d.a. i've butted heads with, i think, i'll love you and it won't hurt me or my client and it's a good philosophy to have and i've made a lot of friends at the d.a.'s office, because i see them and think how much i love them and collaboratively, we can do so much together to help san francisco. >> thank you. miss tong. >> i see criticism in everything i do because it's just my personal philosophy to always strive and seek excellence. as a human being and to what i can do to the world to make the world and other people's lives better. so whether it's every trial, i will ask colleagues that come to visit to watch. i don't ask for the good things. i know the good things i can do well. it's want to hear the things i can do better, the criticisms.

i talk to judges all the time about what could be better. judges tends to be male, that i do adore and have endorsed me, are much more open about giving me unsolicited advice as to what could be better and love to take in that information because they are not me and as an asian american woman, trying to advocate and be in a court that still is traditionally male, i have my own challenges. i think people -- if i'm making arguments strongly, i'm seen as going on too long and complaining and whining. whereas if my male counterpart does that, they're seen as an aggressive litigator. the point of it is, i always want to take things constructively and how i can do them better, from even my interactions with my opponents,

my clients, the bench and the staff, in particular. and the court staff is the back bone of what helps and runs courts. and so i make sure that i am mindful of everybody's contribution to the courts. >> thank you. jack, it's now or never. miss lee, you get the final word on this. >> so, as you lawyer, i have always been about seeking the truth, but as my little sister has warned me, truth without kindness is just being mean. right? and kindness without truth are just lies. i have learned that in the pursuit of justice, it's not just about the truth. it's about how we kindly respectfully deliver it. so if there is both truth and kindness, that vin diagram where the overlap is, these wisdom and

every person i've had the pleasure of working with and also just knowing has remind med the importance of being wise. because when you are wise, you are both truthful and kind. >> that was faster than i thought it would be. >> do you need two minutes? >> no, no. [ laughter ] >> i have a surprise in store for you if i have to make up time. this is an interesting question. i'm going to go in reverse order of the one i just did. i'll look at those in a minute. miss lee, what do you hope will be your legacy after your first term as judge? for those that don't know, judges at the trial level, which is the spot they're running for, you serve for six years and uncontested. six years from now, what do you want your legacy to be, serving

just one term? >> i think my legacy is probably like anyone else who is in public service, is to have served the community well. i gavi.i am incredibly tro prouf six of a race and it only took 161 years for us to get this. i am incredibly proud and i hope this is part of a beginning of encouraging others, you know, that they, too, can do this and that's why it's so important that each of us are running to encourage other people to know that you, too, can become a san francisco superior court judge and serve your community and help improve access to justice,

as well as to ensure the judiciary, unlike the executive and legislative branch is independent and that it serves all works off life, which is the beautiful diversity of san francisco. >> thank you. reverse order is miss tong. >> i want my legacy to be that i am continuing or i did continue to commit my life to the highest level of civil service. i am not the person who had this title to wear it as prestige. i've worked with low-income marginalized community in this city for 0 years didn' 20 yearse about this city. i did the eviction collaborative after law school and continuing

with the public defender's office. i'm not a public defender just because i want to try case or i love this piece of it. i believe being a public defender was just a third part of the various ways in which i can give back to the community and being a judge would be the continuation of that. >> miss evangelista, what would your legacy be? >> one of the main reasons i'm running for judge is that after i had my twin girls, i started to think what my legacy would be and whether or not i've honored my parents enough and the fact that my mom was pregnant and got deported and brought back, whether or not i'm honoring that sacrifice by leaving something

for society in general. and, you know, i think that part of it is running is so great is that it creates this transparency and for the last 25 years, i've been in the community actually doing the work. because san francisco is my hometown, you know. they put 22 years into me and i'm putting 25 years of work back into the city and they'll be able to see me and hold me accountable on the bench. but i want them to think this girl had courage. i've learned from my mistakes. when i ran for judge, a lot of people in 2018, a lot of people gave me ad advice saying, maria, it's not political. you need to run alone. you're good enough and that's what i'm trying to do in this race. on the bench, i want the community to remember that i'm still there, you know. i want them to feel like they're connected, that i'm they're

surrogate. >> miss singh? >> 221 years ago, jeff brown was the pd at the time and i talked it over with my parents about should i go on the public defender's side. i had done ten eviction defense and worked independency law and all signs pointed to doing public interest or public defender work. didn't mand my mom and dad said,

especially my mom, i want you to look at ten years from now, what impact as a woman of colour, a daughter of an immigrant would you have as a defense attorney? don't you think you could impact the system from within as a woman of colour, as an immigrant's colour? and that's what i've done. for 20 years, before i thought of running for office and let me tell you, i never thought i'd run for anything, i had been doing community service work in the sitting county of san francisco, my hometown. i'm a public school kid who went to hoover and lincoln and was not the best student and went to city and, basically, matured, went to davis, went to mcgeorge and came back to serve my community. my entire life has been dedicated to this city, never expecting to run for any office. that's why i talk about the teaching. that's why i talk about the role models to my two daughters. i will be the first pinjabe sikh

woman in the state of california in the year 2020 and that's unheard of, especially with the amount of south asians we have in california and the diversity we have. this legacy i'm starting is not only for me but for every public school kid who had a crooked panepath to success and every wn of colour. >> miss proudfoot. >> i wa want my legacy to be, i don't want to be a first and only and i don't want to be in it just for herself. what i mean by that is, i think it's important that as we

progress, we reach out a hand to those who are coming up behind us and then we make sure that we spend time mentoring youth, making sure that we spend time coaching mock trial, getting people interest of interested id legal profession to represent everyone. what i would like to see is, basically, the work i've done is really very much an american dream. my parents are also immigrants and i was raised in very modest circumstances and i went to berkley on a scholarship. could not have afforded it without a scholarship. went to berkley for undergrad and law school, as well. didn't i wouli would like to bef someone who works hard, works more than just your day job. you need to do volunteer work outside of your day job, like mentoring youth, coaching mock trial, getting involved in bar association. we talk about some firsts. i was the first asian american

president of the marine county bar association in the 80-year history and that's way too long. and so, i think that there is individual achievement which is meaningless in the grand scheme of things. but you want people with you and you want to bring people up with you, not squashing other people down and i want that to be my legacy. i want my legacy to be that i was a kind judge, as well, and there's a story behind that. >> thank you for not telling it because you only had four seconds. [ laughter ] >> i'm running close. miss close. wha gold, what would yourlegacy? >> i would hope my legacy would be that people will see that it is a good thing to put a public interest attorney who has spent her entire career serving the

public interest, working in public interest jobs and working for low-income people on the bench. i would be the first tenant's right's attorney to be on the bench in sanfrancisco and i would hope that that would set an example for other people who are doing this work to know that they can reach the bench and they can be fair, balanced and provide the kind of judicial experience that people want to see. i do think that another piece that i would like to be a part of my legacy is that i will be a hard-working judge. i hate to say this, but i have been in many trials where i did

not feel that my papers were being read and i had to go through and explain every single thing where it was all in the papers. i'm not going to be that kind of judge. i'm going to be the judge who's going to read the papers, who's going to be prepared when you come into my courtroom and i want that to probably be the thing on my legacy. she was prepared, she listened and she set an example for other public interest attorneys. >> thank you. we're running really close. there's some really interesting audience questions, but each question takes us about 10 or 12 minutes each and to get you out of time and the closing statements that we promised them so i'll go to the lightning round. before i switc switch to the lig round to have 30 seconds and i always ask this question. it's the same way every time.

i did not invent it specifically for this particular panel. everybody has to deal with this. miss lee, would you like to go first? >> whatever the boss says. >> puppies, kittens or bunnies? >> all of the above. >> nice, proudfoot. >> bunny. >> singh? pies. >> ppuppies. >> tong? puppies. >> we told the candidates we would give 30 seconds to do their closing arguments and it's what they'll raise in their closing arguments so i apologize to not getting to all of your questions, so i think it will get folded into what you're going to hear.

miss evangelista? >> i would like to thank the attorneys that came out and the sanfrancisco bar association for hosting this. it's an honor to be evaluated. my primary focus of why i'm running, to make sure equal access to justice, regardless if you're par o poor or rich. the question is, what have you done in the community to actually slow you'l show you'lle bench. i've represented people who couldn't afford to have an attorney and that's the same promise i would make on the bench, is to make sure when they're in front of me, they know they'll get equal access to justice and that has been shown and proven by my promise to work really hard. i've done over 50 jury trials, litigated thousands of cases and

that's a commitment that i can make to the courts and in the areas where we need improvement in the criminal justice system, i find that the collaborative courts are probably going to be the new wave to address both making sure that the community is made whole and that victims are heard and that they're compensated but also, that people who are arrested and convicted, that they don't do it again because otherwise we're in a resolving cycle and i've seen a lot of promise having had the experience of working for seven years in the collaborative courts and in veteran's courts, see a lot of problems because i see recidivism in the veteran's court. i would like to thank my parents, my who was deported when she was pregnant with me, my dad who worked as a farmworker and all of the community, legal community that has supported me in this race, the asian american bar

association and dennis herarra and they vetted me and support me and they've seen i'm doing the work in the expect so they know i'm going to continue to do that work. >> that's time. i think we have time to do two minutes, which is what i just gave her. miss tong. >> i touched upon my experience quite a few times, but i just want to reiterate that being a judge is the highest level of civil service, i think, that i would provide and it is just, in essence, the fourth big step in my career of what i've dedicated to in terms of public interest work and protecting the civil right'ses of everybody. i do come from a history of being a community-based lawyer. if you look at endorsements, you will see -- and i'm not saying that just to drop names, but you will see a reflection of community support in san francisco, dating back to when i just came out of undergrad, when i was 20 years old. but a little bit more about my

family. i, like many of my co-candidates, i'm a daughter of immigrant parents of hong kong. for them, and for many immigrant families, they were afraid of the law. they still are afraid of the law. they still don't understand why i didn't go into business. [ laughter ] >> and now that i'm running for judge, it's finally acceptable. my mom has a high school degree and she was a small business owner for over 35 years with a strong accent. she created a place for herself and a model for me to keep fighting, regardless of what people and how they see you. my father is a retired engineer with the state of california. this is beyond their wildest dreams and mine, quite frankly. i want to bridge that gap between what my community is how i've been raised to be afraid of the law, to realize that we are privy to the protections of the law. thank you. i would invite everyone to look

at my website to learn more about me. >> thank you. , miss lee. miss lee. >> thank you for coming tonight. i really appreciate it. my family and i risked death to escape vietnam. i remember it because i was five years old and i remember being in that safe house, waiting for nightfall and getting that signal and when we did, we all rushed across that beach towards that small wooden fishing boat. i remember hearing screams, gunfire, and seeing bodies collapsing on to the ground. the fact that our family was able to escape and be sponsored anotheout to the united states t has allowed me to achieve our democratic values. again, i shared earlier, the first in my family to graduate from college and to attend law school and back a lawyer. i also know there are challenges. my oldest brother struggled to find belonging and because we didn't have monies or access or

any community service, my brother cycled in and out of the criminal justice system and devastated our family. so i understand how important it is that for judges in our criminal justice system we serve and prevent that cycle. i also live in the city and i know the challenges we have, for those that have entrusted the law to treat them equally, even if they're affected by the law. so i want to use my over 21 years of experience as a d.a. protecting victims of domestic violence and elder views in private civil litigation and by the way, i do preside over traffic court and i'm excited that none of you look familiar. so keep up the good work. i want to put all of these experiences in an independent, impartial and fair service to anyone and everyone that comes before the court. so thank you so much for coming out here and thank you for allowing me to be the american

dream and running for san francisco judge today. >> thank you. miss singh. >> so people sometimes -- and i don't want to talk about endorsements in the way endorsements are used, but some people ask me, how do you have art agnes and diane fineste nixn endorsing you and morales who fight against the d.a.'s office on custody and release? the reason is for the last 20 years, i've defied what the definition of a district attorney looks like. i've set the stage in mental health, in collaboration, in my work in domestic violence and human trafficking to show that

compassion and equity, accountability and services and working with the entire community of san francisco is how we make a better system of law in both civil and criminal practise. i have great examples of my mother and father. i have amazing older sisters and one is here today traveling all the way from davis. i have been raised in a family, in a community, in a culture that embraces everyone and is not judgmental, but applies fairness, equity and determination in determining what the right thing to do is. it's not about popular. it's about the right thing and within the bounds of the law, judges have an amazing amount of discretion. and for me, i am also very honored that the san francisco bar, through its rigorous process, rated me exceptionally well qualified. i got the highest rating of all

significance candidatesix candi. why is that? the cr criteria is fast, intense and takes everything you do in the courtroom, in the community and everything you have done in your entire practise. i thank the entire audience, i thank san francisco, i thank my family for being here and hopefully, march 3rd, i'll be the new judge in seat 21. >> miss proudfoot. >> thank you, everyone, for your kind attention. i will talk about my endorsements because i think that you've heard a lot about what we think of ourselves and what we think we bring to the table, but i'm particularly proud of several of my endorsements because they reflect what other people think of me. i have been endorsed by over 40 judges, 16 on the superior court of san francisco and the appell

yacht court justices because they have confidence in me to do a good job as a judge in san francisco. they know my experience as a quasi judicial officer has informed my judicial philosophy and in addition to my background, my broad background of both civil and criminal and my work on both the local, state and federal level, because i was a special assistant united states attorney while i was cob currentlconcurrently a deputy dy value that experience. i am particularly proud of the asian american's endorsement in seat because they know the work i've done for diversity and inclusion and i am proud of the california women lawyer's endorsements, because i've spent five years on that board and on six different committees of working to improve the lives of

not just women in the legal profession, but women in society. i've been doing the work and i feel that that confidence expressed by my endorsers shows that. i've beei've been endorsed by de menomi, a founder of the asian law caucus and he knows i'm not just some other district attorney. he knows i do the work and have the values. i'm endorsed by jim braznaham. so i think the broad range of support i have shows i have the quality to do this job. the bar association of san francisco has rated me well qualified, second only to ronnie, but i do believe that those are important pieces of information for the voters to consider because that's what reflects how other people see the job and the appearance of justice and the elimination of any appearance of impropriety keeps the institution thriving.

>> miss gold, final word. >> thank you for coming tonight and showing interest in who's running for judge. not a lot of people are that interested, actually. and it's hard out there, when we're talking to the public and having to explain to them why this matters to them. and why they should care about who they're voting for for judge. i currently run proposition f, which is the right to counsel program voted on by the people of san francisco and we elemented it july 1st and in that role, i oversee nine nonprofits, i have a staff of 40 people i oversee just in my own

office. and i have worked for my entire career on creating better access to justice for people who normally would not have attorneys and i think that that is what i want to bring to the bench and i will be the first person, like i said, before on the bench that comes from the public interest. i'm the only candidate here who has worked in civil public interest work and for civil access to justice and i think that those things are very important because as a judge, i will be able to listen to all sides fairly, but i will especially be able to make litigants who don't have attorneys comfortable and feel

like they have a chance in my courtroom. i have seen so many who have not had a chance in the courtroom, that they're not listened to and that is something that is very important to me and i want to change. >> i have to stop you there. that's two minutes. i will say one thing and we'll end it with a round of applause for the candidates. look at the panel. a couple of weeks ago, we analyzed diversity on the bench and bar and bemoaned the fact there are not enough women and diverse people on the bench. look at this. give them a hand. [cheers and applause] >> so for me, thank you for having the courage to run and being a part of the solution rather than the problem. in a few weeks, three of these women will be on the bench.

so you have a tough choice to make, but i'm glad that you have this tough choice to make. make good choices and thank you all and good evening. [cheers and applause]

>> good afternoon and welcome to the regular hearing for wednesday, february 19th, 2020. i will remind members of the public we do not tolerate any outbursts. please silence cell phones and when speaking before the commission, if you care