Warwick town justice

Peter Barlet, Republican incumbent During the last 16 years, I have diligently worked in behalf of the entire Warwick community as your town justice. The Warwick Town Court handles a wide-array of civil and criminal cases, ranging from felony criminal hearings to small claims, landlord/tenant, vehicle and traffic and many things in between. In all the cases that come before the court, I have attempted to administer justice in a fair, straight-forward and open manner. I have also been mindful of the need of all litigants to receive a prompt resolution of their disputes. I remain committed to seeing that the rule of law is obeyed and that individuals convicted of crimes are properly punished for their actions. I continue to be personally concerned about the enforcement of our drunk driving and vehicle and traffic laws and pledge to continue my insistence that these statutes be strictly enforced for your protection. As I have done in the past, I will be available 24 hours a day, seven days a week to assist victims of domestic violence in securing orders of protection and to aid local police agencies in the arraignment of criminal defendants and the issuance of warrants. Before being elected town justice, I served in a number of elected and appointed positions, including president of the Greenwood Lake Library and attorney to the Town of Warwick Zoning Board of Appeal. I understood the positive role that government could play in the lives of its citizens and the need for elected official to remain an active part of their local communities. I believe that my service on the Warwick Town Court exemplifies this philosophy. In each of the above ways, I believe that I can continue to make a positive contribution to the Warwick community and ask for your continuing support on Nov. 8. Richard Farina,Democratic candidate I was born in New York City and have been a resident of Warwick for over 32 years. I have a law degree from St. John’s University and a Masters Degree from Fordham University. I’m recently retired from New York’s Unified Court System where I was a court attorney in the Appellate Division in Brooklyn, a court planner for the Administrative Judge in White Plains and law clerk to Supreme Court Justice Angelo J. Ingrassia in Goshen. I’ve been the elected Village Justice in Warwick since 1997. Since then, I’ve also been regularly assigned as a city court judge in the City Courts of Middletown and Newburgh. I’ve also presided in the City Courts of Yonkers, White Plains and Beacon. Since 1974 I’ve been an instructor for the required annual training of Town and Village Justices in Orange County. For more than 30 years I’ve been teaching local judges civil and criminal law, court management and judicial ethics. I am a member and past officer of the Orange County Magistrate’s Association and a member of the New York State Magistrate’s Association, the Orange County Bar Association and the New York State Bar Association. I’m also a past director of the Orange County Mediation Project. If elected, I plan to use my experience to reduce delays in the town court and to make the court more efficient and more accessible to the public. At present there is one Tuesday night session scheduled, and this often runs late into the night. I would explore the feasibility of more than one weekly session and the possibility of instituting daytime proceedings. I would also like to provide the public with instructional material and, where appropriate, with pre-printed forms for litigation. On a personal note, I am married to the former Cheryl Planson of Warwick, we have four grown children, and we reside in a new home we recently built in the Village of Warwick.