Local Elections : In a Race That’s Usually Colorless, Tax Collector Candidates Battle On

The race for county treasurer-tax collector is traditionally devoid of hotly debated issues, ideological disputes and personal rancor.

And, according to Chief Deputy Tax Collector Paul Boland, that tradition holds true for this year’s campaign, in which he and Jan Janette of the county assessor’s office are vying to succeed retiring Treasurer-Tax Collector James E. Jones.

“In this particular race, I think it is really experience versus inexperience,” said Boland, 60, who has worked in the tax collector’s office since 1972 and has been Jones’ chief deputy for the past three years. “My opponent has no experience in tax collection and meeting with the public . . . She has no experience in the fiscal side at all.”

But Janette, a data processing coordinator in the assessor’s office, contends that Boland’s long tenure in the county bureaucracy is a liability, not a long suit. And she has punctuated her campaign with sharp criticism of Boland’s management style, which she said has led to poor employee morale in his office and inadequate service for the county’s taxpayers.

“There is room for improvement in all areas of the tax collector’s office,” Janette said. “I think it’s time for a change in the basic management style of that office and if Mr. Boland is elected, things will continue just as they have. I think I can do better.”

The duties of county treasurer-tax collector include establishing procedures for tax collection, supervising employees in the tax collections office, dealing with questions and complaints from taxpayers and overseeing the investment of the county’s financial holdings. The elected post pays $60,000 a year and has been held by Jones since 1967.

With the aid of Jones’ endorsement, Boland garnered 44% of the vote in the June primary, which featured a field of eight candidates. Lacking a majority, he was forced into a runoff with the closest runner-up--Janette, who received 18%.

Although there are no polls to chart his popularity with voters, Boland said he considers the race all but wrapped up.

“I believe I have it very well in hand,” Boland said. “I believe the only reason I didn’t receive a majority in the primary was the multiplicity of candidates.”

Far from conceding, however, Janette says she has assembled a coalition of supporters that could add up to a majority. She has been endorsed by the County Employees’ Assn., the Deputy Sheriff’s Assn., Rep. Jim Bates (D-San Diego), Assemblyman Steve Peace (D-Chula Vista), and four of the six other candidates from the June primary.

“These people all know the office and the two people involved personally,” Janette said of her primary opponents. “So I felt pretty good about getting those endorsements. If you take my percentage (of primary votes received) and the percentages of the four people who are endorsing me, it adds up to more than (Boland) received.”

Boland’s backers include Rep. Bill Lowery (R-San Diego) and Ernie Dronenburg, president of the state Board of Equalization.

Although the office of treasurer-tax collector is nonpartisan, Janette has received greater support from Democratic politicians and employee unions. Both candidates agree that she is the more liberal of the two.

“If I can take the word ‘liberal’ to mean that I look at all the possibilities in dealing with an issue, then I would say I’m more liberal than Mr. Boland,” Janette said.

Boland said: “I’m a conservative--I don’t know what my opponent is. If the first tenet of the treasurer is to safeguard the money, then I think a conservative individual would certainly do that.”

The political differences are most noticeable on the question of whether money from the county retirement fund should be divested from firms doing business in South Africa. With a seat on the nine-member county retirement fund board, the treasurer-tax collector has a say in how the fund is invested, though state law prohibits the board from using its fiscal powers to make social statements.

Boland said divestment “is not a real issue,” adding, “Under existing California law, the duties of the retirement board are to safeguard and maximize the earnings of the retirement fund. If that requirement was lifted, divestment would then be possible.”

Janette disagrees.

“Divestment certainly is an issue,” she said. “Mr. Boland’s stand is that we shouldn’t talk about it. I believe we should look into it. What I would like to do is see if there is some way that we can make a statement that is permissible under state law. I believe we should not close our eyes to it.”

Another point of contention is Boland’s management style. Janette charges that those who work under Boland in the tax collector’s office suffer from poor morale and inadequate training. She has also resurrected a grievance filed against Boland in 1983 by an employee who complained that the deputy tax collector tape-recorded conversations he had with workers without their consent.

Boland said his opponent “was very misinformed,” in making the charge of poor morale, noting that a greater percentage of the workers in his office make charitable donations and give blood than do any other group of county employees.

“I don’t think that speaks of low morale,” Boland said of his employees’ altruism.

He added that the grievance filed against him stemmed from a meeting he had with eight employees at which a tape recorder was in plain sight.

“The district attorney found nothing wrong with it and the employees’ association did nothing more about it,” he said. “The employee with the grievance was grasping at straws and I think that’s what my opponent is doing now.”

The bottom line of the tax collector’s office, Janette said, is quality of service to the taxpayers. She said that, if elected, she would seek ways of making the office more responsive to the public, perhaps by opening satellite offices throughout the county at which people could pay their taxes or get information without having to go downtown.

Boland has dismissed the idea of satellite offices as too expensive. He said service is “excellent” and will improve when the county receives a new telecommunications system.

Janette maintains that if the office is to respond effectively to taxpayers’ needs, something else besides the phones should be changed.

“The level of service for the public is very, very bad and it has been for several years,” she said. “Most of that I attribute to Mr. Boland.”

Both candidates have had to loan money to their campaigns to cover expenses, such as the $4,275 each had to pay to place a candidate statement in the ballot pamphlet. Janette’s campaign has spent $11,000, of which $8,000 was her own money. Boland expects his campaign expenses to reach $12,000. He has loaned his campaign $5,500.