A candidate in the race for Ketchikan City Council has gotten an order of protection against a different candidate.
On September. 18. Ketchikan District Court Judge Kristian Pickrell ruled in favor of a one-year protection order that was requested from Judy Zenge against Brian Buchman. Zenge was worried about Buchman harassing her.
Both Zenge as well as Buchman are both running for council seats that are open in the forthcoming Ketchikan municipal elections. Zenge was a member of the council in the past in the last decade, but he did not run in the last election. Buchman is running as the only candidate for office.
The protective order is a result of an incident on August. 30. Buchman was at the mall giving copies out and collecting donations for a publication he runs named “The homeless changed.” Buchman said to the court that he’d be doing it on and off for three years and was granted permission. Zenge claimed that Buchman didn’t possess permission.
Zenge is the mall’s manager and requested her husband to request Buchman to quit. There was a heated debate in Zenge’s office. The argument involved Buchman refusing to quit. The judge ruled Buchman had Buchman claimed to have a medical emergency in order to infuriate Zenge.
The Ketchikan Daily News reported that in a hearing about the incident the judge Pickrell added specifics in the order of protection that allowed Buchman to be a part of elections as provided he did not interact in direct contact with Zenge. For example, he’d have to sit at opposite sides of the stage or a table at an event for candidates.
Buchman also filed protective orders for the Zenges However, the judge refused to grant them, noting that Zenges’ evidence was more credible.
There are eight candidates running for three seats on the Ketchikan City Council. The municipal election will be held on October. 3.
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Editor’s Note Judy Zenge’s campaign is underwriting KRBD but it is not a part of KRBD’s newsroom.
