Candidate’s Campaign Is No Longer in Name Only : Election: Contender for assessor’s post who benefited from a famous last name in the primary now has a war chest and endorsements.

Before the June election, county assessor candidate Kenneth P. Hahn was a political novice with little more to his campaign than the same name as a popular Los Angeles politician.

But that apparently was enough to propel Hahn--who is no relation to County Supervisor Kenneth F. Hahn--into a Nov. 6 runoff against incumbent Assessor John J. Lynch.

Now, Hahn has more than a name to run on for the $130,869-a-year assessor’s job.

Through Sept. 30, he had raised $45,015 in contributions and kicked in another $19,160 of his own money for the campaign, according to reports filed Oct. 5. He has hired a professional political consultant. And he has a long list of endorsements, including the support of the five other candidates in the June primary who with Hahn outpolled Lynch nearly 2 to 1.

“Things have changed pretty drastically,” said Hahn, an assessor’s employee. “I feel I can really pull this off.”

Lynch, however, has raised $134,334, his latest campaign report shows. And he has received lots of endorsements too. He said his campaign is geared to getting the word out that his opponent is no relation to the popular supervisor--no easy task in the low-visibility race.

In the official sample ballot sent to 3.5 million county voters, Lynch’s campaign statement begins: “Warning: John Lynch’s opponent, Kenneth P. Hahn, is not in any way related to Supervisor Kenneth Hahn.” Lynch has been endorsed by the supervisor, and in the final days of the campaign plans to flood the radio waves with commercials featuring Hahn’s endorsement.

Said Supervisor Hahn: “I am honored that anyone can think that my name can propel them into an important public office in Los Angeles County without a record of their own.”

And Lynch said of his opponent: “I don’t think he has anything going for him other than his name.”

“Perhaps the name did give me an edge in the primary,” Hahn said. “But the fact is that I am a valid candidate.”

The Los Angeles County assessor oversees the largest single property-taxing jurisdiction in the United States in terms of land value. The assessor’s chief task is to determine the tax bills for 2.2 million commercial and residential properties.

Assessors lost much of their power in 1978 after voters approved Proposition 13, which allows reappraisal only when ownership changes or structures are modified.

Still, the Los Angeles County assessor, who oversees a staff of 1,600 and an $83-million budget, expects to review about 500,000 properties this year.

The race could take on more importance this year, said candidate Hahn, because of redistricting, which the Board of Supervisors is scheduled to take up next year regardless of the outcome of pending voting rights litigation. Should the board fall short of the four votes required for approval of a new plan, the issue will be decided by a committee composed of the assessor, district attorney and sheriff. Hahn’s election would tip the balance of the committee from Republican to Democrat.

Lynch said it’s much too early to begin considering such scenarios. “No way I’m a done deal,” he said. “I feel I’ve done a good job.”

In the June primary, Lynch barely finished ahead of Hahn with 29.85% of the vote to 28.28%.

Lynch said the fact that nearly 70% of the voters cast ballots for other candidates does not suggest that he is doomed. Rather, he contends that voters were confused by the four assessor employees appearing on the ballot with the word assessor in their job title.

Lynch himself once may have benefited from that ballot designation.

In 1986, Lynch was a 14-year veteran of the lower ranks of the assessor’s office who surprised himself by winning election to the job vacated by Alexander Pope.

Lynch, 53, did have some things going for him. He was a Republican Party activist in the San Fernando Valley who was endorsed by Howard Jarvis. And he was one of only two candidates with a campaign pitch in the sample ballot.

But many political analysts suggested at the time that it was the ballot designation that identified him as deputy county assessor that made the difference.

This time Lynch again starts with an advantage. He is far ahead of his challenger in fund raising, and he has put together a long list of endorsements, ranging from liberal Mayor Tom Bradley to conservative County Supervisor Mike Antonovich.

But he also now carries into the election a reputation as a volatile personality who had been unable to solve some of the department’s greatest problems.

During his first term, Lynch made headlines by throwing county auditors out of his office and being accused of assaulting an employee during a heated argument over the employee’s union activities. Lynch denied the assault allegation.

In ordering auditors out of his office, Lynch contended that an audit was unnecessary because it would review only procedures established by his predecessor.

In 1988, the Los Angeles County Grand Jury conducted a management audit that found millions of dollars in billing backlogs. Lynch blamed the backlogs on a computer system inherited by his predecessor, and said he has corrected most of the problems.

Lynch said his major accomplishment has been “doing work on time and doing it right,” as evidenced by a reduction in taxpayer appeals.

Taxpayer appeals have declined by 16%, from 13,009 in 1986-1987 to 10,949 in 1987-88. They increased by less than 1% to 11,021 in 1988-89. Compare that, Lynch said, to annual increases of 16% in appeals before he took office.

He said he also kept his 1986 campaign pledge to put regional offices back on an eight-hour, five-day-a-week schedule, and he implemented “an earthquake disaster back-up system” by placing duplicate assessor records in a vault in Santa Barbara County.

When asked about his record, Lynch produced a letter from County Chief Administrative Officer Richard B. Dixon commending the assessor’s office for producing “outstanding, accurate and timely assessment rolls” during the last four years.

Anita DeGumbia, president of the Los Angeles chapter of the Institute of Property Taxation, an organization of property tax professionals, said of the operation of the assessor’s office: “It’s terrible, absolutely atrocious and it never used to be that way. . . . It’s frustrating for tax professionals, so you can imagine what it does for everyday people.”

Lynch said DeGumbia represents an “organization of tax agents who are out for special interests who used to have access to the assessor’s office. Many are ex-employees who went over to the other side and are looking for access to this office.”

Hahn, 51, is an appraiser specialist who has been in the assessor’s office for 10 years. He joined the county 23 years ago as a social worker.

Before the June election, Hahn had no endorsements and had raised only $3,000. But after forcing Lynch into a runoff, money began pouring in. And so did endorsements, from former Assessor Alexander Pope and State Board of Equalization member Conway Collis to Los Angeles City Council members Richard Alatorre, Marvin Braude, Robert Farrell, Joy Picus and Michael Woo.

He also has been endorsed by influential local Latino politicians such as U.S. Reps. Edward R. Roybal (D-Los Angeles), Esteban E. Torres (D-La Puente), state Sen. Art Torres (D-Los Angeles) and a smattering of local officials such as Monterey Park Mayor Judy Chu, South Pasadena Mayor Evelyn Fierro, Beverly Hills City Councilwoman Vicky Reynolds and Los Angeles Board of Education members Jackie Goldberg, Julie Korenstein and Rita Walters.

Lynch said Hahn’s endorsements come from a handful of Democrats who are backing Hahn just because he is a Democrat and Lynch is a Republican. The office is officially nonpartisan.