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Candidates Tout Work Ethic, Life Experience
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Published: August 22, 2008
The three candidates running to replace outgoing Circuit Judge Wayne Cobb all portray themselves as hard-working individuals with life experience outside the courtroom.
•Port Richey lawyer Ken Foote owned and operated a funeral home in New York before going into law. That was after someone sued his funeral home.
•Susan Gardner, an assistant public defender in New Port Richey, drove a dump truck for two years to support three children after her husband left.
•Tampa lawyer Robert Angus Williams grew up on a farm in Polk County and, as a youth, earned spending money loading hay and working on tractors.
The three will be on the ballot Tuesday, looking to win a six-year term on the circuit bench. Cobb, 72, a 31-year veteran judge, has reached the mandatory retirement age.
Ken Foote
Foote, 42, a native of Brooklyn, N.Y., has considerable backing as well and has raised $54,000 since May. Foote took a winding road to his legal career. He opened a funeral home in 1986.
He returned to school after his business was sued in 1990. He ran his business during the day and went to school at night.
Foote graduated from Stetson law school in 1999. After law school, he began his legal career in the State Attorney's Office in Clearwater, prosecuting domestic violence, child abuse, economic crimes and other cases. Since leaving the State Attorney's Office, Foote has worked as a civil lawyer and a criminal defense lawyer.
His focus and interest has always been courtroom litigation, something Foote says is the ideal background for a jurist.
"I'm in a courtroom every day, and that is where my office is going to be as a circuit judge," he said. "I've practiced in every area a circuit judge presides over except probate - family law, criminal, civil, and juvenile. I think that's something voters should be aware of."
Susan Gardner
Like Foote, Gardner found her way to law later in life. She married young, had three children and suddenly became a single mother in 1992. She couldn't afford day care, so she started driving a dump truck, taking her children with her when she worked.
After two years, Gardner took a job in her father's Clearwater law office. She completed her bachelor's degree in 1996 and her law degree three years later.
"No one could ever have worked harder than I have," she said. "I worked from way before dawn to way after dark, either at work or taking care of the kids or going to school. It was like having three full-time jobs, but it gave me an appreciation of the fact that you can do anything if you put your mind to it."
Gardner, 46, practiced with her father, handling civil cases until 1999; then she was hired at the Pasco-Pinellas Public Defender's Office, where she has worked since. Like Foote, she spends most of her days in the courtroom.
Gardner has had some brushes with the law, getting arrested on two misdemeanors - illegal dumping and driving on a suspended license - in the early 1990s. In 2003, she got into trouble for not promptly paying the fine for a minor ordinance violation.
"Those things happened, and I probably could have handled things a little differently," she said. "But that was quite some time ago. None of it was intentional, and they were minor violations. Now, I'm a lot more well-versed in the law and I know it has to be followed to the letter."
Robert Angus Williams
Williams, 37, took a traditional route to becoming a lawyer, attending the University of Florida following high school and then going directly to Stetson University's College of Law. He earned his law degree in 1995 and began working as a prosecutor at the State Attorney's Office in Pinellas County, where he remained until 1999.
That year, he joined his current employer, Fowler White Boggs Banker. There, he has earned a reputation in land-use law and is now a partner in the firm.
Williams attributes his folksy demeanor to his rural upbringing in Polk County. Attorneys and clients can expect no different if he's on the bench in January, he said.
"I was raised to believe I am no better than anyone else," Williams said. "Everybody deserves a fair shake when they get to court. It's important for a judge to understand he has to control what happens in the courtroom, but it doesn't mean you bully anybody."
One thing Williams has is backing. His boasts an impressive list of endorsements and has raised more than $80,000 in campaign contributions since January.
SUSAN GARDNER
AGE: 46
EDUCATION: Bachelor's, University of South Florida, 1996; Stetson University College of Law, 1999
FAMILY: Divorced, three children
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE: Civil lawyer, Gardner & Gardner, P.A., 1999-2005; assistant public defender in the Pasco-Pinellas Public Defender's Office since 2005
POLITICAL EXPERIENCE: None
WEB SITE: www.susangardner 4judge.com
KEN FOOTE
AGE: 42
EDUCATION: Bachelor's, St. John's University, 1997; Stetson University College of Law, 1999
FAMILY: Divorced, four children
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE: Prosecutor, Pasco-Pinellas State Attorney's Office, 2000-03; handled civil cases for two Palm Beach firms, 2003-04; K.L. Foote, P.A., 2004 to present
POLITICAL EXPERIENCE: None
WEB SITE: www.foote4judge.com
ROBERT ANGUS WILLIAMS
AGE: 37
EDUCATION: Bachelor's, University of Florida, 1991; Stetson University College of Law, 1995
FAMILY: Married, two children
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE: Prosecutor, Pasco-Pinellas State Attorney's Office, 1995-99; partner, Fowler, White, Boggs, Banker, 1999 to present
POLITICAL EXPERIENCE: None
WEB SITE: www.robertangus williamscampaign.com
Reporter Todd Leskanic can reached at (727) 815-1084 or tleskanic@tampatrib.com.
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