Candidate for
Superior Court Judge; County of San Luis Obispo; Office 4

Dale is asking for your vote because he wants to bring his wide diversity of knowledge and experience to the Judicial system. Dale is a caring individual who believes that a Judge should be fair and impartial to all and should allow all litigants to have a voice in their case. Dale will strive to bring about a renewal of trust in the court system as a good system.

Please consider the following as to why Dale Gustin is best qualified to be your next Judge:

For the first half of Dale's employable life, Dale was a blue collar worker. His job while starting college was as a stock person in a drug store while maintaining a second part time job at a fast food restaurant. When he got married, he was forced to suspend his college and started working full time in an aircraft industry type assembly plant. He was a union worker/member in that job. He then switched to working for the Gas Company for a more secure job and was a member of the Utility Workers Union. He worked himself up to the highest non-management type of repair service job available within the Gas Company, which was an air-conditioning service repair person. In those days, no women were allowed to perform that type of job due to the dangerous conditions that were involved.

However, Dale soon felt an urge to take on the causes of people who were being wronged within their position in society or on their job. In doing so, he came under attack by a supervisor within the Gas Company. This led Dale to think about becoming an attorney, and he then changed his employment to go to work for private contractors in the Heating and Air Conditioning industry. He immediately became a Journeyman within the Sheet Metal Workers Union. Because this doubled his income over what he received while working for the Gas Company, he was able to embark upon attending Law School full time while supporting a family of four.

After becoming an Attorney by passing the "Bar" the first time, he soon learned the other side of the Union/Management equation. However, because of the long relationship that he had enjoyed with labor unions and being a blue collar worker, he continued to primarily represent the average person and still does that to this day.

When Dale made that decision to go back to college and finish his education for the purpose of pursuing a law degree, he fully intended to move to a more rural location in the State of California. However, he had to complete his pre-law studies, which he did at L. A. Pierce College, a community college. Dale actually did all of his pre-law studies at community colleges, first at Long Beach City College, then at Antelope Valley Community College and then obtaining his A. A. degree from Pierce. This allowed Dale to enter Glendale College of Law on a full time basis.

Dale graduated from Glendale College of Law in June of 1977 and was "sworn in" to practice law in December of 1977. Dale remained in the Glendale/Sherman Oaks area of Southern California for a year and a half, working for an Attorney who did primarily Criminal and Civil litigation. In 1978, Dale was introduced to W. W. "Woody" Eschwig, and he then was able to associate with Mr. Eschwig just prior to his retirement from the practice of law. Dale has been the primary litigation attorney for most all of the cases in the law firm of Eschwig & Gustin, even when there were two other attorneys working in said firm. Dale is equally proud to say that he has had one legal secretary and two law clerks who went on to become attorneys.

Dale has tried numerous Felony Jury trials as well as a large number of Misdemeanor Jury trials in several counties throughout California. Dale has tried numerous Civil Jury Cases as well as a very large number of Family Law and Juvenile Law Cases, which are not entitled to a Jury, but all of which were litigated before a Superior Court Judge. Additionally, Dale has served as a Judge Pro-Tem numerous times over the years as well as serving as an arbitrator on numerous matters.

Of recent note is the fact that on Valentine's day of this year, Dale was in the Long Beach Superior Court using his skills as an Attorney to block an Unlawful Detainer Action initiated by the VA against a minority race couple in an attempt to remove them from their home. Although they had been making payments to the Bank of America for over 6 years, they had become the victims of an illegal foreclosure action by that Bank. Dale's brother, a neighbor to this couple told Dale about the case, and he did not know if Dale would be willing to fight with the Bank of America and the VA. Because Dale has never been afraid of the "big guns" in the past, he took on the case, stopped the Unlawful Detainer and got title restored to this couple. There was a Candidate's Forum conducted on that day, and if anyone knows anything about the Unlawful Detainer process, one knows that you can not get continuances for same. Dale gave up the speaking engagement in favor of pursuing this case to conclusion.

This type of dedication to help those who have been wrongfully victimized by others is an example of why Dale now asks for your vote to help him bring about Justice to all who have been wronged and are afraid to use the courts to remedy their situation. He also wants to bring about an educational program that explains to everyone how our Judicial system works so that the general public will not be afraid of our Legal system.

Over the years, Dale has processed many appeals, first in the Appellate District Court in Fresno, and then when the district boundaries were changed, in the Appellate District Court in Ventura. Also, Dale has appeared and prevailed on cases in the Federal District Court of Appeal in Los Angeles, California. Dale has practiced law in approximately half of the counties in California and has been able to draw on the different policies from said counties to understand what works well in all courts. Additionally, he has served as a legal coach for the Paso Robles High School Mock Trial team and been involved in that program since that program was reinstated in this county in 1998.

Dale has been an active leader in this county since moving here in June of 1979. He has served on several committees for the Paso Robles Chamber of Commerce and on their Board of Directors twice for double terms. From 1986 until 1992 Dale served on the North County Council of Camp Fire Board of Directors serving as President for several years. After the merger of the councils that now serve children from Lompoc to Paso Robles, Dale continued to serve on the Board of Directors for the Camp Fire Council of the Central Coast. When Dale concluded serving the maximum number of terms on that Board of Directors, he was the President of the Board.

He was one of the primary team members responsible for the formation of a separately chartered United Way for San Luis Obispo County, which included the merger of same with Neighbors- Helping-Neighbors and United Way and he drew up the documents to allow that to happen. This brought about the formation of a single organization to serve the citizens of San Luis Obispo County. After that merger, Dale served on the new Board of Directors for many years and was honored as one of the Citizens of the Year by that organization for his part in bringing about the consolidation of Neighbors-Helping-Neighbors and United Way. He continued to serve on that new organization's first Board of Directors until his maximum number of terms expired.

The Economic Opportunity Commission as a part of its Community Action Program selected Dale as the Board Member of the Year in 1990 for all of his services to non-profit organizations.

Dale has been active as a member of the Paso Robles Rotary International Club since 1979 having served on its Board of Directors and as President in 1991-1992. Dale continues to serve the Youth and the Seniors of this County as well as contributing to the improvement of everyone's life within the County of San Luis Obispo.

The following is a partial list of Dale's community involvement since 1979:

Rotary International Paso Robles 1979 - Present Member.

Rotary International Paso Robles 1988 - 1989 Board of Directors.

Rotary International Paso Robles 1991 - 1992 President.

United Way San Luis Obispo County 1986 - 1995 Board of Directors.

United Way San Luis Obispo County 1989 - 1990 Humanitarian of the Year.

Camp Fire Boys and Girls (Camp Fire USA) 1986 - Present Adult Member.

Chumash Council of Camp Fire 1986 - 1992 Board of Directors/President.

Central Coast Council of Camp Fire 1992 - 1999 Board of Directors.

Central Coast Council of Camp Fire 1997 - 1999 President.

Paso Robles Chamber of Commerce 1979 - 1983 Board of Directors.

Paso Robles Chamber of Commerce 1986 - 1989 Board of Directors.

Paso Robles Chamber of Commerce May of 2001 Named as Roblan of the Month.

Paso Robles Wine Festival 1985 - Present Volunteer.

Hospice San Luis Obispo County 1984 - 1988 Volunteer for Clients.

Hospice San Luis Obispo County 1984 - Present Volunteer for Fund Raisers.

North County Industries (NCI, Affiliates) 1984 - 1988 Board of Directors.

County Bar Association 1979 - Present Member.

County Bar Association/Family Law Section 1983 - Present Member.

County Bar Association/Family Law Section 1984 - 1985 President.

Central Coast Natural History Association 1995 - Present Member.

Central Coast Natural History Association 1995 - 1998 Board of Directors.

Central Coast Natural History Association 1996 - 1997 Vice-Chair.

Paso Robles Pioneer Day Committee 1980 - Present Committee Member.

Paso Robles Pioneer Day Committee 1998 - Present Board of Directors.

Paso Robles City Senior Citizens Advisory 1999 - Present Member.

Paso Robles City Senior Citizens Advisory 2000 - Present Chair.