The Office Has Been Going Downhill : * For Los Angeles County Assessor: Challenger John Carl Brogdon

Proposition 13, passed in 1978, has made most decisions on taxing real property virtually automatic, with reappraisals limited to new construction and changes of ownership. One result has been to place even more emphasis than before on skilled and efficient administration in the field of tax assessment. The Los Angeles County assessor’s office oversees the nation’s biggest single property-taxing jurisdiction, annually determining the tax bill for 2.2 million residential and commercial properties. What kind of administrator has John Lynch been since he was elected assessor four years ago? There’s a lot of disturbing evidence that the assessor’s office has become something of a shambles during his tenure.

Lynch’s many critics point out that an expensive computer system has never been made to work as it should, with the result that in the last three years, thousands of parcels of land have been left improperly valued. Cooperation with several other key county departments has broken down. Simultaneously, as many complaints to county supervisors’ offices indicate, overall service to the public has deteriorated. That decline may have been exceeded by the deterioration of morale in the 1,600-person office. Some employees charge that Lynch has filled higher-level positions with cronies and campaign contributors who are lacking in the technical expertise demanded by the positions they have been promoted to. There have been well-publicized complaints of bullying and other erratic behavior on Lynch’s part.

Fortunately, there are a number of eminently qualified alternative candidates for the assessor’s job on the June 5 ballot. Among them are John Carl Brogdon, Sid Delgado and Kenneth P. Hahn, each a veteran of the assessor’s office. Jay Curtis, an attorney and president of the Los Angeles Taxpayers Assn., also has an impressive background. In a close call, our choice for assessor is John Carl Brogdon.

A deputy assessor and 33-year veteran of the office, Brogdon has both the technical qualifications and the temperament needed to be county assessor. He has extensive and varied administrative experience, is respected by his peers, is a recognized property-tax expert who has published widely and is exceptionally articulate. In contrast to Lynch, he also has pledged never to accept campaign contributions from employees of the assessor’s office.

We believe that the public and the Los Angeles County assessor’s office would both be well-served if Brogdon is elected.