Judge Mark Somers

District Judge Mark Somers pens a column in this weekend’s Dearborn Press & Guide, directing his comments at Dearborn lawyer Morris Goodman who earlier called for his resignation in an earlier column in the paper.

Somers doesn’t change his position on any of the earlier decisions he has made.

“I’m not running from decisions I made four and five years ago,” he writes. “The first: Eliminate a position everyone knew we didn’t need. Replace a $67,000-a-year “deputy” administrator with a $40,000 executive secretary. For the 12 years we had an “assistant/deputy” administrator instead of a secretary, we spent $230,000 more than we should have in base salary alone. Isn’t eliminating wasteful government spending a good thing?”

Somers ends his open letter with these words and invites all readers of the Press and Guide to come to the courthouse and see how things are run rather than relying on a column from a lawyer who once endorsed him.:

“Regardless of your opinion of the outcome or of who among us has done the real damage, at least give me my due for positive achievements on the bench. I’ve handled over 20,000 criminal misdemeanor and 2,000 felony cases and thousands more civil matters with only 3 decisions reversed on appeal, presided over the drug court since 2005 and conducted more jury trials than any other Dearborn judge. The last five years, I’ve collected more than $812,000 more in fines, costs and restitution than one of my colleagues and more than $1,394,000 more than the other. Since 2005, I’ve sentenced offenders to 25,143 days service on the “alternative workforce,” saving $880,000 in jail costs while providing valuable services from cleaning parks and roadways to helping the animal shelter and shoveling snow for seniors. (The other two judges combined for 9,737 days since 2005 and only 116 days this year, effectively abandoning use of this valuable program.) . . .”

I will continue to work, I will continue to toil and I will continue to serve.

Regards,

Judge Mark Somers

For the entire letter, click HERE.