Code Inspector Wants to Be District Judge

When it came time to announce his candidacy for Easton's vacant district judge seat, Sharbel Koorie thought of doing it at the court office itself, or at the Northampton County Government Center.

Instead, he did it at his house on 9th Street. It's in the neighborhood where he grew up, and where he his family still lives.

"I had a lot of love for this neighborhood, based on the people who were in it," Koorie said Thursday morning, surroinded by four generations of his family.

But it's also a place where you'll the types of things a district judge has to deal with, from serious crimes to every day problems like landlord-tenant disputes.

"You name it, it's happened in this neighborhood," he said.

Koorie said it's his experience in the neighborhood, and from working as a city code enforcement officer, "that give me a clear understanding of the issues that people will be dealing with."

If elected, Koorie would fill the vacancy left by the death of long-time District Judge Gay Elwell. (Blogger Bernie O'Hare notes it could be a crowded field.)

Koorie, 45, is married and has four children. He is a Republican, but plans to cross-file. In addition to his job with the city, he works as a disc jockey, and is in the process of turning the former Northampton Glass building into a restaurant.