Assessor’s Battle Tops Local Ballot

County voters will cast ballots Tuesday at polling places in automobile showrooms, beauty salons and even funeral parlors to select a county assessor and decide on a wide range of local issues and tax increases.

In the lively assessor’s race, incumbent John Lynch faces a strong challenge from Kenneth P. Hahn, a political newcomer who happens to have the same name as a popular Los Angeles politician.

Hahn is no relation to veteran Supervisor Kenneth F. Hahn, who has endorsed Lynch.

Hahn, 51, a deputy assessor, forced Lynch into a runoff in the June primary. Lynch, 53, was a low-level employee in the assessor’s office when he won election in 1986 with the backing of the late tax-fighter Howard Jarvis.

Lynch has devoted his campaign to getting the word out that his opponent is not the supervisor’s kin, a difficult task in a low-visibility race. He has accused Hahn of deliberately trying to mislead voters, citing a mailer picturing candidate Hahn with the supervisor and his son, City Atty. James Kenneth Hahn. The picture was taken at a Democratic fund-raiser.

Candidate Hahn has accused Lynch of trying to divert attention away from his “mismanagement” of the assessor’s office. He points to his endorsements from former Assessor Alexander Pope and Mayor Tom Bradley, who had previously endorsed Lynch.

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.

Countywide, voters will decide whether to raise the sales tax by half a cent, with the revenues going to jails, transit projects or both.

Also on the ballot is the largest bond measure in county history. It would raise property taxes to pay for an $817-million array of recreational and cultural facilities. If approved by two-thirds of the voters, the owner of a home assessed at $250,000 would pay about $20 a year.

In the city of Los Angeles, voters will decide on five measures, including proposals to raise property taxes for a new 911 emergency telephone system and a $100-million housing bond.

In West Hollywood, voters will decide whether to allow for a legal gambling establishment, modeled after the large card clubs in Commerce and Bell Gardens.

The county’s longest ballot is in Santa Monica, where voters must wade through 89 local and state contests and measures. Voters will be required to visit two voting booths.

In what is viewed as a referendum on the city’s tolerant attitude toward the homeless, Santa Monica voters will decide whether the city attorney should be elected. They also will consider changes to the city’s tough rent control law.

In Carson and Cerritos, voters will be asked if they support a ban on fireworks. Voters in Hawthorne, La Verne and San Marino will decide if they want to pay higher taxes for more police.

Also to be decided Tuesday are Municipal Court judgeships in Downey and Santa Monica, the mayor of Inglewood, City Council races in Alhambra and Lawndale and a number of seats on local college, school and water boards.

ELECTION NIGHT LINEUP

LOS ANGELES COUNTY

County Assessor: John J. Lynch, incumbent vs. Kenneth P. Hahn, deputy assessor.

Proposition A: Raises local sales tax by half a cent for construction and operation of county jails.

Proposition B: Biggest bond issue in county history to increase property taxes by $10-a-year on home assessed at $125,000 to pay for $817 million in recreational and cultural projects.

Proposition C: Boosts local sales tax by half a cent for transit projects.

LOS ANGELES CITY

Proposition J: Increases property taxes by $12.50 a year for average 1,500-square-foot home for a new 911 emergency telephone system.

Proposition K: Raises property taxes by $4.95 a year for the owner of a home assessed at $119,000 for a $100-million housing bond. It would pay for low-interest loans to non-profit groups to buy and rehabilitate low-income housing and homeless shelters.

Proposition L: Amends Charter to apply anti-apartheid rules to competitively bid contracts.

Proposition M: Eliminates Charter provision limiting pension benefits for city employees to those provided under the county retirement system.

Proposition N: Amends Charter to provide a uniform method of recounts in municipal elections.