Asked & Answered: Deseri Sichler — Magistrate, real estate broker, mother and gardener

I think about my upcoming dockets, what is on my to-do list for the day, the cases I heard days prior, what I think would benefit the process in future cases, how I can make the court process more understandable to the public involved, what services do we need and could we offer, what my kids are doing the upcoming week that they need my help with, what I need to do when I get home, if I need to water my yard or other chores around the house. This is also accompanied by intermittent singing to the songs on the radio.”

Q: What’s a myth about your profession you’d like to bust?

A: “That the end result of each case is entirely within my control as a judge. First, what dictates how I must deal with each case I hear is the law and rules of criminal procedure. I must make rulings every day that, despite any personal feelings I have, are in accordance with the law.

“I would also like to emphasis the importance of the roll that witnesses and victims play in the court process. Many times, without the witness or the victim being present, a case cannot move forward. I know many times it’s hard for victims to be present in the court room and I would just like them to know their presence is valuable and appreciated.”

Q: What were you like in high school?

A: “I was a nerd, a book worm. I preferred the library, computer labs and the club I belonged to Business Professionals of America. I took honors English classes which, happily for me, required a lot of reading. I spent a lot of time reading and writing papers on what I read. After school, I was active in Business Professionals of America, learning extemporaneous speaking and Roberts Rules of Order and parliamentary procedure.”

Q: What is the best advice you’ve ever received and from whom?

A: “A real estate client of mine who also became a friend of mine asked me one day, ‘Do you want to be right or do you want to be happy?’ I’ve pondered that statement/advice for 14 years now.

“There have been times I’ve really struggled with the profound meaning of that statement. As someone who likes to read and likes to research, finding the facts and the ‘right’ answer makes me happy. What I have learned though in life is that people don’t necessarily want you to be ‘right,’ they just want you to care about them and be there for them.”

Q: What did you want to be when you grew up?

A: “When I was a small child, I wanted to be a farmer/ranch girl. I guess in many ways, that child is still there and loves gardening and being in my yard as much as possible. As a teenager, I debated between lawyer and accountant.

“Ultimately, I settled on real estate that encompassed a little of each profession. The need to understand laws governing real property and contract law, as well as the investment and financial aspects of it. Certain aspects of my real estate business caused my need to interact with the magistrate courts regularly.

“During this regular interaction with the courts and watching the proceedings, I grew interested in the process and said one day about 15 years ago, I want to be a magistrate judge when I grow up.”

Q: Who inspires you?

A: “People who keep going on in the face of adversity. Those who stand for their principles and beliefs in the face of unpopularity. Everyday people who show up and keep showing up for others in their life.

“I’m particularly inspired when I hear about a story of someone who kept a positive attitude in the face of tragedy in their life and the ending is a positive one. I am inspired when I see people demonstrate the law that it’s not about what happens to you in life that makes the difference, it’s your reaction to what happens that makes the difference.

“I am inspired by that, because I know the same holds true for me, it’s not about what happens, it’s about my reaction and I always have that choice of how to react.”

Q: If you could work any other job for one day, what would it be and why?

A: “I would love to work one day in each of the jobs the court interacts with to get the full perspective of their experience in working with the court system. It is easy when someone looks at things only from their perspective to say, ‘Why do they do things this way, they really should do them this other way, because …’

“It is literally when you walk a mile in someone else’s shoes that you can understand better why they do things the way they do. I feel that if every person knew the process that others have to go through to do their jobs, we would be a lot more understanding with each other.”

Q: What do you do in your free time?

A: “I work in my yard and on my home improvement projects. I have an older modular home and I decided in this housing market, if I don’t like paneling, my best bet is to dry wall over it because house prices are crazy. If it wasn’t the dry wall though, it would be something.

“I find myself sitting on the patio or in my house and will be looking at something and get an idea that I want to change it to be different and then I get up and get started on it. I have half of the house dry walled, and I really need to finish the other half, but nope, my interest peaked on taking out the junipers this year so I can replace them with grape vines.

“I have this one area of my house that I say, ‘This is where 2022 meets 1985,’ the contrast of the dry wall and vinyl plank flooring, compared to the paneling and 1980s shag carpet in the rest of the house.

“That was last year’s project that I was going to work on again this year. That was until I decided I really don’t like those junipers; I want to have grape vines there instead.

“Another unexpected side interest this summer was my middle daughter got interested in canning and searching around for mulberries, sandhill plums and we even found some blackberries. So, of course, I had to get excited about showing her how to can and find fruit to can.”

Q: What’s something about you most people don’t know?

A: “Since I graduated Los Lunas High School, many don’t know that the first half of my childhood was spent growing up on a farm south of Belen, riding horses and walking out my front door to pick the freshest watermelon in Valencia County. That was the fondest part of growing up.

“I grew up on a farm that was roughly 100 acres, divided into five-acre parcels. Each five-acre parcel grew something different. A few of them were in alfalfa, but most of it was in produce such as watermelon, cantaloupe and the best corn I’ve ever had in my life to name a few things. One of the five-acre patches had grapes and I could eat as many grapes as I wanted.

“There was a ditch that ran through our property with a huge cottonwood tree that grew by it. I loved to hang out in the tree house there and swim in the ditch. I don’t recommend swimming in the ditch though. I had several scary moments where the current took me down the ditch several feet before I got a hold of something to get out.”

Q: What three books would you to take to a deserted island?

A: “A survival guide, a book on spirituality and a notebook for writing my own book. This would be the perfect opportunity to write out all the things I thought I might ever want to write a book about.

“One book I always thought I would want to write would be a journal of sorts that I could leave for my kids to read when they are older. A book about remembering times as they grew up and explaining some things that I know they just won’t understand until they are older. I would want the book to be a writing about some things to them from the perspective of a parent, so that if they are parents one day, they may find comfort in the advice.”

Q: You find a lottery ticket that ends up winning $10 million. What would you do?

A: “If there was a way to be certain of the rightful owner, I would return it to the rightful owner. If I am unable to prove the rightful owner, I would donate the money to programs in Valencia County that help with education, substance addiction and homelessness. I would want to make sure the community as a whole would get the most use out of the money.”

Q: Who is your best friend and why?

A: “My oldest daughter. She is the person I can always count on to understand my point of view, even if she doesn’t agree with me. I can count on her to also not spare my feelings one bit and tell me exactly how she sees things. When I need someone who can play devil’s advocate (so to speak) and help me with what someone else’s perspective on something might be — she’s my go to.”

Q: What’s your favorite song to sing when you’re alone?

A: “‘Wish You Were Here’ by Pink Floyd. It makes me think of a lot of things. It has many good questions to ponder such as, ‘So … you think you can tell, heaven from hell?’”

Q: Where is your happy place, and why?

A: “My yard, because it’s a pretty place where I have a feeling of accomplishment and peace because I’m in nature. I planted grass a few years ago and it gave my whole yard such a warm feeling. It also gave me a most every weekend chore, but it is a labor of love.

“Most years, I like to grow a garden, fresh tomatoes and basil are some of my favorite things to have. I have one daughter who can eat her weight in pickles, so growing cucumbers and canning pickles is always a fun activity.

“One of my favorite spots in my yard is my herb garden. I have thyme, oregano, rosemary, sage, chocolate mint and recently added lavender to the area.”

A: “I had three teachers that I remember distinctly now as an adult. Mr. Torres, an English teacher, who taught ideas I questioned, and he always encouraged me to question and scrutinize.

“Mrs. Flaherty, an English teacher, who also encouraged unconventional thoughts on conventional issues and thoroughly encouraged lively debate in class.

“Mrs. Lafree, who got very upset with my lack of desire to continue to trigonometry (what she perceived as a must to get into college) despite my obvious lack of understanding Algebra II.”

Q: What is your favorite movie scene and why?

A: “‘Tombstone,’ when Doc comes out to challenge the cowboy in the street who is shooting at the moon and challenging someone to play for blood and Doc says, ‘I’ll be your huckleberry.’ It is my favorite scene because I like it when the good guy stands up to the bully.”

Q: If you could have dinner with one famous person — dead or alive — who would it be and why?

A: “This is going to sound so cliché, but I think I would choose Jesus because I have so many questions at this point. When you think of all the different denominations of Christianity, from Catholicism to all the varying branches of Protestant, which all represent a different interpretation of the message of Jesus, it makes me wonder what the person who is at the start of it all would have to say.

“I don’t think dinner would be enough time honestly to ask all the questions that I would have. If dinner would be all that I could have though, I would be asking for a seven course meal so it would take as long as possible.”

Q: What are you most proud of?

A: “The accomplishment I am most proud of is raising children. I watched my first daughter graduate in 2017 and go off to college at Eastern. I watched her interest peak into criminal psychology in high school, and she is now a year away from graduating college with a bachelor’s in criminal psychology.

“My middle daughter just graduated high school this year. She is now enrolled in college at UNM and wants to be a trauma surgeon.

“My youngest son is now in high school and has an interest in computers and technology. It’s been so fascinating to watch each one of them grow into being their own person and being able to be a part of that.”

Q: How would you like to be remembered?

A: “I would like to be remembered as a person who cared about helping others. As a realtor, I cared more about finding the house that suited the buyer in both fulfilling their needs and staying in their budget, not based off the commission I was making.

“As the county treasurer, I saw many behind in taxes and implemented policies that made it easier to pay off their debt in smaller, more manageable payments. I want to be remembered as someone people could come to if they had a problem, and I would help give them good solutions they could implement to be in a better position.

“As my children can tell you, my solutions are not always what they want to hear, but when they really look at it, they realize they are solutions that are in their best interests and will most likely produce the most desired results of success.”