Defending the defenseless is one of the many things Sandra K. Bean hopes to advocate for should she be elected as a judge on the Alameda County Superior Court.
The Pleasanton resident, 53, said she will use her lengthy experience as a deputy county counsel representing Adult Protective Services and the Public Guardian to help raise awareness about abuse. In her current role, Bean, 53, helps defend those who are vulnerable–elderly people, dependent adults and the mentally ill.
“I would love to do an elder abuse calendar to promote the rights of the elders because that’s what I’ve been doing as a deputy county counsel,” Bean said. “I’ve been doing work to stop elder abuse in the county. The best of both possible worlds, I would be able to do something on the bench to continue that kind of work.”
It’s her vast experience, she said, that speaks for itself.
“My experience is broad in the terms of the types of cases that I’ve handled. I’ve done probate, I’ve done a little bit of family law, I have some criminal background in terms of law and I think it’s a good combination with my educational background,” the former Mills College teacher said. “I have a pretty wide perspective on the law as well as people and society and I think that based on what my friends and endorsers have said that I have the type of personality for someone who could do that kind of a job.”
She said she was encouraged to run by many of the superior court judges she appears before in her current position.
In her spare time, Bean, who has lived in Pleasanton since 2000, volunteers at the Pleasanton Senior Center and the Pleasanton Library.
One thing she wants voters to know is that the judge race is nonpartisan and her background and experience shows that she can be impartial and fair.
Bean is headed to the runoff against attorney Dennis Hayashi of Castro Valley. It’s a rarity because there isn’t a lot of turnover among judges. The current judge, Donald B. Squires, has decided to retire now that his term is ending in November.
Judges are usually appointed by the governor, which is what happens when a vacancy occurs in between elections. They serve a total of six years where they can then run for re-election. About 90 percent of incumbent judges run unopposed, according to the California League of Women Voters. If someone does run against them, who fills the seat has usually been settled in the June primary election.
However, this go-around, six candidates were vying for the seat in June and none garnered 50 percent of the vote which was needed to win the seat outright, thus leading to a runoff between the top two vote-getters.
