La Gaceta Endorses Greg Green for Circuit Judge
From As We Heard It, by: Patrick Manteiga July 3, 2020
The race for Circuit Court Judge Group 31 is between three men – Scott Bonavita, Gary Dolgin and Greg Green. Dolgin and Green previously ran for judge.
Bonavita is new to the process. He has 18 years of legal experience and is a Florida Supreme Court Mediator. He has owned his own law practice since 2012 in the areas of commercial litigation, real estate, business law and employment law. He started his career as an assistant state attorney. He became a lawyer after an injury ended his professional soccer career.
Bonavita rails against the way people pursue judicial elections. He does not accept endorsements and doesn’t want large contributions from lawyers. He believes that it compromises judges to receive endorsements and contributions. He also thinks to win, candidates have to be political and connected. He paints the whole system as bad. But he did not offer specifics on how a political donation caused a judge to rule inappropriately or how being connected created an injustice in a courtroom.
A judge should be unbiased, follow the law and listen to evidence. Bonavita condemned all judges and lawyers who get involved in the election process and the system and offers no evidence. His approach is very biased. Also, his advocacy for a change in the process only began since he started to run against opponents who attract contributions from their peers and are connected because of previous runs.
Dolgin is on his third try for the bench. He’s been practicing for 30 years with most of that time in private practice in family law. Early in his career, he served as an assistant public defender and an assistant state attorney. He’s been selected to Super Lawyers for family law and is a Supreme Court Family Law Mediator. He is a proud Tampa native and involved in the community.
Dolgin is smart, experienced and offers a calm demeanor, all of which makes him very qualified to serve on the bench.
Green has practiced for 21 years. He has his own firm and like Dolgin, he specializes in family law. He started his career as an assistant state attorney and later practiced in the area of criminal defense. He also worked for the attorney general’s office in the Children’s Legal Services Department.
Green is involved in his community and coaches girls’ flag football at Robinson High School.
Green offers judicial temperament, experience and is hardworking. While Dolgin has more experience, we believe Green’s personality will better serve the public on the bench.
La Gaceta endorses Greg Green for Circuit Court Judge Group 31.