STATE TAX POST : Sherman’s Way

The Board of Equalization is an obscure but powerful state agency whose innocuous name doesn’t come close to describing its many purposes. The four elected members of the board, joined by the state controller, administer major tax laws, including sales, cigarette, alcoholic beverage and motor-vehicle fuel taxes. The board sets assessments for utilities and railroads, determines the degree of property- tax conformity among the counties and sits as the nation’s only elected tax-appeals board, hearing personal and corporate appeals from the Franchise Tax Board. It is specialized work, demanding specialized skills.

There are two major candidates running for a four-year term in District No. 2, which takes in all or part of 16 counties from Los Angeles to San Francisco. Both candidates are energetic and indicate a keen interest in tax issues.

Claude Parrish, 43, the Republican candidate, is a former small business owner who is now an independent investment banker and real estate broker. Brad Sherman, 36, is a tax lawyer, a certified public accountant and a tax-law specialist. Parrish has previously been a candidate for Congress, school board and the Board of Equalization. Sherman, a longtime Democratic political activist and advocate of consumer rights and tax reform, is making his first run at elective office.

Our choice, in a close call, is Brad Sherman. He has shown an impressive familiarity with the often arcane details of tax law, and he would undoubtedly bring a high level of professionalism, vigor and integrity to the board.