Reference is made to the July 4 article on the Federal Way Municipal Court. When Presiding Judge Michael Morgan ran for office almost four years ago, I listened to him debate his opponents and because I thought he was the most qualified candidate, I voted for him.

Needless to say, I now regret that decision given the turmoil he has caused the city — not to mention the $100,000 cost to taxpayers for his frivolous lawsuit (which he lost when it reached the state Supreme Court) and over $150,000 in liability costs directly associated with the court.

We do not need that. That does not include the $10,000-plus the city spent for “the Stephson report,” which was very critical of Judge Morgan and his treatment of the court employees.

On the other hand, I met Judge David Larson when he was on the Federal Way School Board. I had the opportunity to discuss many school issues and I found that I could agree with his opinions. I helped campaign for him when he ran for re-election, and I have the utmost respect for him, both as an individual, school board member, a lawyer and a judge. I agree with his comment that “every single one of us has to value doing right over being right. We can’t have any more battle of wills. We can’t have any ‘us’ vs. ‘them.’”

It is indeed unfortunate, both for the city and the taxpayers, that Judge Morgan did not get that message a long time ago before the court wound up in a state of turmoil and controversy.

Now the city council is facing the $64,000 question given the above: Do we retain the court or do we dissolve it and sign a more expensive contract with King County to provide these same services? There have been a lot of pros and cons discussed in The Mirror; however, I believe the solution is simple: If Judge Morgan is re-elected, then you dissolve the court, but if he is defeated (and that may be a real possibility given the circumstances of the past year or so), then you retain the court because I truly believe that with Judge Larson and a new judge on the court, it can be run efficiently, economically and without controversy.

In addition, it will be in the best interests of the taxpayers of Federal Way because it will save the city thousands of dollars over what a King County contract would cost.

Gary Robertson, Federal Way