Kreis has been `fair and impartial'

As an attorney who has practiced in Humboldt County since 1993, and who regularly appears before Judge Gregory Kreis, I fully endorse him for re-election. During the several years Judge Kreis presided over the Family Law calendar, I regularly appeared before him two to four times per week for both motions and trials, and I continue to have cases before him (but with less frequency since he is now typically presiding over other types of cases). My experience with Judge Kreis is that he acts with integrity, and he is fair and impartial.

The allegations (allegations are not facts) in the recent complaint before the Commission on Judicial Performance, which go back years before Judge Kreis was even a judge, appear to me to be politically motivated. As a local attorney who regularly appeared in Judge Kreis' courtroom, I am familiar with some of the named attorneys and parties, and believe they have an axe to grind. The timing of the allegations, just before the election, also causes one to wonder regarding their veracity. No matter what side of the political spectrum one rests, election eve bombs often turn out to be duds.

I have known Judge Kreis first as a local practicing attorney since 2010 and Humboldt County Superior Court Judge since 2017. He is also a graduate from Humboldt State University. By comparison, I have no recollection of seeing his opponent, April Van Dyke, in court. The State Bar website shows her office is in San Jose (and lists a 408 area code phone number). Although a recent press release claimed Ms. Van Dyke has worked as Conflict Counsel since 2019, she is not listed in Humboldt County Conflict Counsel's website as one of its attorneys. A review of the internet reveals an article that Ms. Van Dyke left the Humboldt Conflict Counsel job in early 2022 (which would explain her current San Jose office address), and that before her apparent short stint working in Humboldt County, she was practicing law in San Joaquin County.

Judge Kreis is a Humboldt graduate, practiced law in Humboldt starting in 2010 and has been our Superior Court Judge since 2017. In his hundreds of decisions in my cases over which Judge Kreis presided, he has been fair and impartial, and decided the matter based on the law and the facts. His opponent, Ms. Van Dyke, appears to have only a former, short-lived, work history in Humboldt County and according to the State Bar, practices law in San Jose. One would think that an attorney running for Humboldt County Judge would at least work in Humboldt County. I am voting to re-elect Judge Kreis, who has made Humboldt his home for decades and has a proven track record as a fair and impartial judge.