Washtenaw County Bar Association Candidate Survey

Nearly 80 percent of the respondents indicated that they did not know me. Yet 52 percent of the respondents felt my technical qualifications (defined as legal ability, legal knowledge, legal experience, quality of pleadings/opinions) was “Below Average.” It’s difficult to understand how those numbers jibe: If 80 percent of respondents said they didn’t know a candidate, wouldn’t 80 percent of respondents indicate they “cannot rate” that particular candidate?

And—recognizing that it sounds like I’m tooting my own horn—with 12 years of ever-increasing responsibility at one of the largest and busiest prosecutor’s offices in the nation, including six years of prosecuting child sexual abuse and physical assaults, and four years handling the most politically sensitive cases, it’s difficult to see how my experience is “below average.”

The same observation applies to all of the categories. (The two categories toward which I feel special disdain are “interpersonal skills” and “character traits,” for while 47 and 40 percent of respondents, respectively, found my abilities “below average” in those areas, anyone who knows me will say that I am courteous, attentive, impartial, professional and intellectually honest. But that is just another way of stating the problem that I see with the poll.)

The Ann Arbor News’s story implicitly acknowledged the poll as a legitimate assessment of the candidates’ strengths and weaknesses, rather than critically assessing the poll for its validity or efficacy.

I know full well that this note may come across (and be dismissed by many) as nothing more than sour grapes. My intention is simply to note that a more detailed analysis of the poll might have been of greater value for Ann Arbor voters.

Michael Woodyard

Trial Court candidate

Ann Arbor, MI