 Most notably, after a dispute over an eminent domain issue, Mayor Finkbeiner referred to him as "a demagogue and obstructionist of the highest order".Zmuda remained on City Council until Governor Bob Taft appointed him to a vacant seat on the Toledo Municipal Court in 2003.His peers on the court elected him the presiding Judge, and he remained at that post until the election of Tom Osowik to an appellate court created a vacancy on the Lucas County Common Pleas Court.