COUNTYWIDE : Moorpark Man to Run for State Board

Moorpark resident Tom Baldwin will enter the June Democratic primary for a seat on the State Board of Equalization.

The only candidate from Ventura County, Baldwin will compete against five candidates from Northern and Southern California for the Democratic nomination for the 2nd District seat, which represents Ventura, Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties, as well as parts of Los Angeles County and counties in Central and Northern California.

The position is an important one, Baldwin said, because the board is comprised of only five members who administer more than half the state’s tax dollars.

“Of the utmost importance is the fact that there is currently a drive on in the courts to have Proposition 13 declared unconstitutional,” Baldwin said. “It is important that we have a board that is sympathetic to homeowners because there is a good chance it could be overturned.”

Proposition 13, passed in 1978, froze state property taxes at 1% of their 1975 assessed value and capped annual increases at 2% of assessed value. It is largely blamed for the current fiscal crises faced by many of the state’s 58 counties.

Baldwin, 43, has been a Moorpark resident for 12 years. He is serving his third year as a trustee on the Moorpark Unified School District and has served three years on the city’s Parks and Recreation District board.

He is employed as a technician in the defense industry by a Woodland Hills contractor.