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Retirees square off in race for Gold Hill judge GOLD HILL -- A retired long-haul truck driver and a retired health-care practitioner with the Department of Veterans Affairs are running for the position of Gold Hill municipal judge in the Sept. 21 election. Pillion Eary Patrick Pillon, 56, spent 24 years in respiratory and critical care in Long Beach, Calif. He's running against Calvin Eary, 59, who traveled 13 Western states as a senior line driver for Viking Freight. The position, which pays $100 a month, became open last March following the death of Patricia Durante, the judge since 1996. Troy Newell has been filling the vacancy until the election. The municipal judge holds court on Wednesday evenings, presiding over traffic tickets and other city code violations. Pillon served on the Gold Hill Planning Commission for 14 months and served on the Gold Hill City Council for two years and three months until his March resignation for health reasons. He ran unsuccessfully for mayor last spring. Eary spent six years as a reserve police officer in Reno, San Jose, Calif., and Eagle Point, and as a sheriff's deputy in Yavapai County, Ariz. He was a paramedic and board member for the Wellington Fire Protection District in Fort Collins, Colo., and served as a volunteer firefighter for Jackson County Fire District 3, where he has applied to volunteer again. Pillon, who is married to Teddie, has five grown children and a high school sophomore. He raised his six children as a single father for many years. Eary and his wife, Sandra, a caregiver at Horton Plaza in Medford, have been married nearly 40 years. They have three grown sons. Both candidates said the judge's position should not be political. "I think people like to see things done in a reasonable, fast and efficient manner," Pillon said. "I don't want to judge a person for who they are or what they look like. But if people make a mistake, I want them to know I'm there to help them to not do it again." Eary said he also believes judges should judge attitude, not appearance. "Some people wear Levi's all their lives and some people dress up all their lives," Eary said. "If somebody comes in your court, looks like a hippie and wears a nose ring, you have to treat them the same as if the mayor or a doctor got a ticket and came to court." Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, Oregon USA