West Hollywood Councilman Jeffrey Prang took an early lead tonight among the dozen candidates competing to lead the Los Angeles County Office of Assessor, but the race remained close and was bound for a November runoff.
The last elected assessor, John Noguez, is awaiting trial on corruption charges.
Prang earned 16.5 percent of the early vote, while Deputy District
Attorney John Morris garnered 14.8 percent and businessman John Y. Wong, who finished second behind Noguez in the 2010 election, attracted 11.5 percent.
John Loew, one of nine county employees running to head the office responsible for establishing a value for all county property subject to taxation, pulled in 11.4 percent of the early vote. Given low voter turnout for the primary, the gap between Wong and Loew amounts to just 241 votes.
Sandy Sun, a deputy assessor like Loew, was the only other candidate with more than 10 percent of the vote early in the evening, with 10.1 percent.
Seven others had hoped to succeed Noguez, who has been on a paid leave of absence since 2012 due to an ongoing criminal investigation that led to his being charged with 36 felony counts. The other candidates were Bell Councilman Nestor “Rick” Valencia, Los Angeles County Deputy Assessors Frank Diaz, Omar
Haroon, Krish Kumar and Brilliant Manyere, Appraiser Tracy Okida and Property Assessment Specialist Yvonne Austin.
Prang, a special assistant in the Office of Assessor, had dozens of high- profile endorsements, including that of California Controller John Chiang, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, Los Angeles County Supervisors Mark Ridley-Thomas and Zev Yaroslavsky, ten members of the Los Angeles City Council and former assessors Kenneth P. Hahn and Rich Auerbach.
Citing his role in reforms, Prang, like his rivals, promised to restore the public’s trust in the office. His critics argued that he was hired by and is too close to Noguez, but Prang has said he only worked with the assessor for four or five weeks before Noguez took his leave.
Wong, a longtime member and former chair of the Assessment Appeals Board, had the backing of Supervisor Michael Antonovich and dozens of mayors and city council members from various municipalities. The businessman promised to protect Proposition 13 and advocate against a split tax roll for residential and commercial properties.
Morris, who is supported by former Gov. George Deukmejian, also says hebwill defend Prop 13 against legislative encroachments. He argues that his role as prosecutor makes him best suited to institute reforms.
Haroon had called on the Board of Supervisors to stop paying Noguez’s salary of roughly $200,000 per year, which the assessor has continued to collect during the time he has been jailed and awaiting trial. He also says he would clean house, if elected.
“(Noguez’s) whole network is still there in place,” Haroon told L.A. Weekly. “As Angelenos, we deserve better.”
Asked how he would prohibit corruption in the office, Valencia said ethics training, rotating appraisers and closer supervision would reduce the likelihood of wrongdoing.
Noguez, an elected official, cannot be fired by the board. A measure proposing that future candidates for the position be appointed rather than elected was roundly defeated by 78 percent of voters on a 2012 ballot.
Noguez was arrested Oct. 17, 2012, in connection with an alleged scheme to solicit campaign donations in exchange for lower appraised valuations on properties in Beverly Hills, Brentwood, Pasadena, Marina del Rey and the South Bay. Acting Assessor Sharon Moller chose not to run.
The two candidates receiving the most votes will move on to a run-off election in November.
In November with a little muckraking efforts – Prang won’t be elected dogcatcher for LA. Especially after his connection to the former assessor and his career in public service.
Neither of the articles say what constitutes these “early results.” With such low turnouts, money (even one’s own) and organization may mean less than passion and purpose, which have their own role to play in the outcome
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So we won’t know if we have 4 city council contests until Nov (might be too late to add to the initial ballot – someone should check on that). But Duran definitely we still be around, with Kuehnl and Shriver heading for the Supervisor finals.