New Assessor Envisions End to Old Conflict

Webster J. Guillory is a man accustomed to challenges. As the new assessor, he becomes the first African American to hold a countywide elected office.

“He will be a beacon for others of the black community to follow and to encourage,” said Ernesta Wright, a businesswoman in Santa Ana and member of the Black Chamber of Commerce of Orange County.

“It’s a big day for Orange County, not just for the African American community,” said Wayne Snyder, a telecommunications consultant who has sought Guillory’s help for such African American events as Black History Month. “I think it shows that the electorate in Orange County can see past color and race lines and see who’s going to best represent their interests.”

But succeeding Bradley Jacobs, the previous officeholder, is another hurdle.

Jacobs so inflamed county supervisors that they censured him for refusing to apply for a state loan that would help his office process property tax appeals quicker. They also set Jacobs’ pay at $104,000, making him the 11th-highest-paid assessor in the state, though the county ranks second among California counties in population and assessment roll value.

“I want a peaceful relationship with the board members,” Guillory, 54, said. “But, I have to add, the assessor is not the board’s revenue agent. We just value property.”

If it sounds like a contradiction, it is. Guillory, who during his 22 years as an assistant supported Jacobs philosophically, wants to run the assessor’s office “for the people . . . not the spenders.”

That attitude may make county supervisors uncomfortable. They endorsed Guillory’s opponent, James S. Bone, who echoed their complaints as he called for reforms in the assessor’s office.

But Guillory resoundingly defeated his opponent in November, garnering 55% of the vote.

Supervisor Tom Wilson, the board’s vice chairman, said he hopes the relationship isn’t business as usual but more productive.

“I’m not quite sure what Webster’s philosophy is and whether it will mirror Bradley Jacobs’ philosophy,” Wilson said. “But we’ll give him every benefit of the doubt and strike out from wherever it leads.”

Supervisor Charles V. Smith said: “I think Webster’s a good guy and I’m glad he doesn’t want to start off in an antagonistic mood.”

Guillory takes over supervision of 306 appraisers and other employees and an $18-million annual budget. The county has more than 950,000 units of property and its assessment roll is worth more than $200 billion, ranking it the fifth-largest in the nation in terms of population and roll value.

Guillory speaks proudly of the office’s accomplishments and its workload. But there is angst in his voice. In the past five years, Jacobs has gone before county supervisors to ask for money to hire more staff members. “It’s been denied all five times,” Guillory said.

One of his first duties as assessor, he said, will be to ask for 10 new positions. He also plans to ask the board for $90,000 for year 2000 computer protection software.

“When I began here 22 years ago,” Guillory said, “We had 287 people in the assessor’s office. In more than 20 years, we’ve only added 20 people to our staff while everything else in the county has doubled.”

Smith said he may vote favorably, especially on the computer request. On a recent tour of the assessor’s office, Smith said the computer system is “pretty archaic,” adding that “I would be sympathetic of the request.”

Guillory also could find himself in charge of much more without any additional hires. County Clerk-Recorder Gary L. Granville continues to advocate a merger of his and the assessor’s offices as a cost-cutting measure.

“I still favor putting those departments together,” Granville said. “Brad Jacobs did not want to do it until a complete audit was done of both departments. Webster has told me he will take a look at it.”

If a merger is approved, Granville said, his office could easily become a wing of the assessor’s office and “I would step aside.”

Guillory, an engineer before being named assistant assessor in 1977, would be up to the task, say those who know him. As a volunteer raising funds for numerous projects in the county’s black community, he is seen as a quiet, get-it-done leader.

His election isn’t simply a matter of opening the doors of opportunity to other African Americans, said Randy Jordan, pastor of Unity and Praise Fellowship in Laguna Hills.

“He’s going to have the opportunity to show that African Americans, put in the right position, can contribute very well to the needs of the community,” Jordan said.