Committee recommendation eliminates one judge

In accordance with recommendations from a committee of legal advisers, the City Council Public Safety Committee has recommended eight full-time judges for the Austin Municipal Court, not including Mitch Solomon, who has served on the bench for more than a quarter-century. It was not clear why the lawyers did not recommend him. However, Solomon took the unusual step of appearing at the committee meeting on Monday. He told Council members he would like to speak to them during executive session if they had any questions. No one took him up on the offer. When they came back from that session, committee Chair Mayor Pro Tem Natasha Harper-Madison read off a list of those being recommended to the full Council, including presiding Judge Sherry Statman; Michael Coffey, who serves as judge of the Downtown Austin Community Court; and associate judges Barbara Garcia, Alfred Jenkins, Patrick McNelis, George Thomas, Stephen Vigorito, and Tanisa Jeffers. The part-time or substitute judges include Ferdinand Clervi, Brian Guerra, Christyne Harris-Schultz, Belinda Herrera, Stanley Kerr, Ron Meyerson, Olga Seelig, Pamela Sigman, Ryan Turner, Kenneth Vitucci, and John Yeager. The full Council will vote on these recommendations this month for terms starting in January.

This whisper has been changed since publication to correct a typo.