I grew up at the knee of my father, marching with Caesar Chavez. So my background working on Latino causes runs pretty deep and also includes many meetings and representing the Latino population on several fronts and committees. So with that said I want to speak out on behalf of Judge Zimmerman and the work he has done for all minority groups in our community and also for the Latino community. First, let me say I have known him for 30-plus years and he has been a guest in my home.
I know of his tireless efforts to make our community better for everyone. I know that he has used his summer vacations to chaperone minority youths (many of them Latino youths) at college campuses so they can have a college experience and strive to return. I know he sat on boards to obtain scholarships for these students to stay in school and go to college. He proudly tells me how one is now studying to take the bar exam.
I know that he lectures throughout the state and throughout the nation on everything from poor treatment of the mentally ill in the justice system to what “ Dreamers” need to do to reach their dreams. I don’t know of anyone who has been a louder voice for the homeless as well as those with mental illness in our community and in our state. The programs he has suggested and created make our community a better and safer place for everyone. Through his tireless efforts he has actually brought untold thousands of dollars into our community by initiating and getting grants for the first mental health co-responder program in southwest Washington — a program that can save lives in helping de-escalate the police contacts with the mentally ill. Soon, because of his efforts, Clark County will be the first county in the state to have a pre-arrest diversion program so those in mental health crisis might be taken to a mental health facility rather than jail. His accomplishments certainly make him a community leader way beyond what he has accomplished on the bench.
