Prang Garners Endorsements from Yaroslavsky and SEIU Local 721 in Assessor Race

West Hollywood City Councilmember Jeffrey Prang has secured the endorsement of Zev Yaroslavsky, Los Angeles County’s Third District Supervisor, in his bid for the Los Angeles County Assessor seat.

Yaroslavsky, who has served on the Board of Supervisors since 1994, will step down later this year because of term limits.

Prang also has secured the endorsement of SIEU Local 721, the union that represents Los Angeles County public service workers and others in counties across Southern California.

Given Yaroslavsky’s prominence and SIEU 721’s 70,000 members, the majority of whom are in Los Angeles County, those endorsements are likely to give Prang a boost in the June 3 primary election. Others who have endorsed Prang include U.S. Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), State Sen. Ted Lieu (D-Torrance) and Los Angeles City Attorney Mike Feuer.

Prang’s competitors include John “Lower Taxes” Loew, a deputy in the Asssessor’s office who has run for the position several times before; John Y. Wong, who has served as chairman of the county Assessment Appeals Board; John Morris, a Los Angeles County deputy district attorney; Omar Haroon, a deputy assessor, and Krish Kumar, an appraiser in the Assessor’s office.

Loew, who officially adopted “Lower Taxes” as a middle name that so it would appear on the ballot, has filed a complaint with the Registrar of Voters, alleging that Prang’s designation on the ballot as “Los Angeles County Deputy Assessor” is inaccurate. Prang, Loew contends, is “Special Assistant to the Assessor.” Prang, in an interview with WEHOville, said that “deputy” is a functional title, not an official one. “The truth is there is no such formal title as deputy assessor in LA County,” he said. Prang also said that the qualifications Loew cited in an interview with the Los Cerritos News for the deputy position are actually those for an appraiser, the person who executes the technical task of determining the value of property.