Council unanimous in choosing Doug Fair as municipal judge

  • Sue Waldburger<br>Enterprise writer
  • Monday, March 3, 2008 6:46am

Douglas Fair, interim judge of Edmonds Municipal Court, was the unanimous choice Tuesday by the Edmonds City Council to fill a four-year term on the bench.

“I’ve been very pleased with the job Doug Fair has done,” Mayor Gary Haakenson said of his appointment.

The former judge pro tem who also has served on the Edmonds School Board declared the part-time position “a dream job” that allows him to remain the primary care-giver for his two children, ages 9 and 11. Fair’s wife, Ellen Fair, serves as a Snohomish County Superior Court Judge.

Fair, 46, was selected this past summer to fill a vacancy left after the resignation of James White, who pleaded guilty to federal money-laundering charges related to his private law practice. The job requires approximately 24 hours a week of the new judge’s time. Compensation is about $60,000 a year.

At the end of Fair’s term, the position will revert to an elected job rather than appointed. The Edmonds City Council unanimously approved the switch during the Oct. 25 meeting.

Fair said he already has made some changes in the name of greater efficiency at the court. He has adjusted the times arraignments and custody cases are heard so participants aren’t waiting unduly long to be heard. He said he also pushed for the recent addition of a court security officer. Permitting more time for processing trial dates to allow for settlements and avoid calling in juries just to dismiss them for lack of work, also is a change Fair said he has championed.

Fair laughed when asked if having two judges in the family presents unique challenges. “You really should ask the kids about that,” he said. Fair admits to some “pretty interesting dinner conversations” with his children, who he said old enough to understand some of what their parents do for a living.

Still, Fair smiled and said his wife, “still out-rules me” when they differ during such dinner-table exchanges.

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