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The questions were prepared by the League of Women Voters of Los Angeles County and asked of all candidates for this office.
See below for questions on
Qualifications,
Qualities,
Strategies
Click on a name for candidate information. See also more information about this contest.
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1. Please provide a brief list of your qualifications in bullet format, using an asterisk (*) to represent a bullet. (No more than 25 words for this section.)
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Answer from John Lewis Dortch:
- Experienced Manager, 30 years with the Assessor's Office
including 14 years as a senior manager responsible for half of the property assessments in the County and associated public service. Supervised a major division with over 300 employees.
- Educational Background - Bachelor of Science Degree in Business Administration with an emphasis in Management.
Answer from John R. Noguez:
- 25 years experience as Los Angeles County Deputy Assessor and State Certified Appraiser enables me to guarantee fair and accurate assessments on homes and businesses.
Answer from John "Lower Taxes" Loew:
*Over twenty years as a Deputy Assessor, appraising all types of real estate
Answer from Krish Kumar:
- Commercial Appraiser for the Santa Barbara County Assessor
- Residential Appraiser for the Los Angeles County Assessor
- Commercial Appraiser for the Los Angeles County Assessor
- Special Projects ( a program development division) Appraiser for the Los Angeles County Assessor
Answer from Adrian A. Gomez:
- 25 years with Assessor's office
- Principal Appraiser, 18 years in management
- Affirmative Action champion and former committee member
- "Outstanding" Performance Evaluation for last 6 years
Answer from John Y. Wong:
- L.A. County Assessment Appeals Board, Chairperson.
- Industrial/Commercial real estate broker.
- Small business owner.
- California State University, Los Angeles.
- Degree: BS Business Administration / Administrative Management.
Answer from Siavash "Sia" Gharib:
18-year veteran of the Office as Principal Appraiser.
Ph.D. from USC in Engineering.
Post-Doctoral fellowship at USC.
Value oil and gas properties and power plants.
Answer from Dan Kumaus:
- Educational Background-Bachelors and Masters in Business Administration
- Experience-33 years in the Assessor's Office
- Leadership skills and experience from the United States Marine Corp
Answer from Jose Cornejo:
- 18 years of experience working for State and Local Governments advocating for taxpayers.
- An outsider that will make Assessor's office fair, equitable, and transparent.
Answer from Yolanda T. Salazar:
- Deputy Assessor - 20 years * University of Southern California (USC) Graduate 1989 * BS, Business Administration, Finance* Taxbill Unraveller * State Certified Appraiser * International Association of Assessing Officers (IAAO) - Los Angeles County Chapter, President 2010*
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2. What qualities, skills, and experiences make you well-qualified to be an effective Assessor in L A. County? (no more than 125 words total for questions 2 and 3)
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Answer from Adrian A. Gomez:
The biggest lifetime investment a person makes is usually their home. I respect that trust they give me by valuing their property fairly. My extensive experience in appraisal covers properties in the Antelope Valley, luxury homes in the West & South beach areas and commercial, industrial and income producing properties. My technical and analytical skills will be directed to improve business operations I will focus on employee moral as this is closely linked to the quality of service they provide.
Answer from John Y. Wong:
I have served on the Los Angeles County Assessments Appeals Board for more than 15 years and its elected Chairperson for 5 of the last 10 years. I have seen the joy, happiness and sorrow of taxpayers. I have heard the taxpayers' complaints and have felt their anger. I will respond. The Assessment Appeals Board has lowered the Los Angeles County Assessment Roll more than 100 billion dollars during the last 15 years to allow taxpayers to exercise their right to have their tax assessment equalized.
I have started three small businesses and employed hundreds of workers in my food production companies. Seeing a company grow and be profitable does not come without problems. These problems include making the payroll each week, while keeping in mind that each employee has mouths to feed at home, planning sales forecast and reaching goals for investors.
I have also been an Industrial and Commercial real estate broker since 1975 and have seen the real estate market go up and down several times. The real estate market is now in a depressed mode and care must be used to bring the market back to a period of prosperity.
Answer from Krish Kumar:
By working for two different Assessors offices, I have gained a unique perspective on what makes a great Assessor and public servant.
Answer from Jose Cornejo:
I discovered the County Assessor does very little to reach out to working people. When people aren't fully educated about a process as complicated as tax assessment it means they are most likely paying more than their fair share of property taxes. That's fundamentally unfair and needs to be fixed.
I want to be known as the first Assessor in Los Angeles County history that's not just a bureaucrat but a true advocate for working families and tax payers.
I want the County Assessor's Office to be more open to the public. I want people to be able to at the click of a button or a quick call to fully understand how their property is assessed and how they can lower their taxes.
Answer from Siavash "Sia" Gharib:
I am an 18-year veteran of the Assessor's Office. I have a Ph.D. from the University of Southern California in Engineering, have valued oil and gas properties and power plants for property tax purposes, devised computer programs for the valuation of oil properties, defended major tax roll values before the Assessment Appeals Board and court of law for government (chief government expert witness), and spoken against the waste of public funds and non-equal treatment of taxpayers.
Answer from John Lewis Dortch:
With over 30 years on the job, I have risen through numerous promotional levels within the ranks of the office from Appraiser Trainee to Assessor's Divison Chief, a senior management position that I have held for the past 14 years. My duties as Division Chief included the responsibility of managing half of the property assessments in the County as well as the associated public relations and supervision of over 300 employees. I have worked with many local and State officials and leaders of the business community. I have an Advance Appraiser Certificate from the State Board of Equalization and have appraised all types of properties. My broad experience and educational background will enable me to lead the Assessor's Office efficiently and effectively.
Answer from John R. Noguez:
- As a Deputy to four County Assessors, and a State Certified Appraiser, as well as being the Mayor of Huntington Park, I won't need on-the-job training to efficiently manage the largest property tax jurisdiction in the nation, ensure fair and accurate assessments and continue and improve the fast and friendly public service provided when property owners need our help.
Answer from Yolanda T. Salazar:
- Deputy Assessor - 20 years * USC Graduate (1989) * BS,Business Administration, Finance*
Answer from John "Lower Taxes" Loew:
I am the first and so far only candidate for Assessor pledging to reduce my salary ten percent and forego a county owned vehicle. Leadership by example starts at the top. I am aware of the many layoffs in our community
and am willing to sacrifice as well, by taking a pay cut and lessening the burden of taxpayers in a small but symbolic way.
Answer from Dan Kumaus:
My 33 years experience and daily contact with the public have given me an excellent view of how the Assessor's office functions and how it affects the taxpayer.
My MBA allowed me to analyze the current operational model of the office and to develop a better one.
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3. What strategies will you employ to mitigate the effects of foreclosures and the depressed real estate market, so that property may be reassessed in a timely fashion and tax revenues may be maintained? No more than 125 words total for questions 2 and 3)
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Answer from John R. Noguez:
- As Assessor, my job and legal obligation would be to continue our pro-active, annual review of homes and condos affected by the decline in the real estate market and which has resulted in lower taxes for 400,000 properties so far and to make sure no-one pays more than their fair share under the protections of Proposition 13.
Answer from Siavash "Sia" Gharib:
At times of endemic foreclosures, the market realities are those that are prevalent. However, since the Assessor is to reflect in the assessment the facts pertaining to a specific date of value, he is bound to only consider utilizing Proposition 8 market valuation more often than in the past.
Answer from John "Lower Taxes" Loew:
The function of the Assesor is NOT to generate or maintain tax revenue! The Assessor is required by statute to identify and value all legally assessable property only!
The only way the Assessor can decrease the effects of foreclosure and the depressed real estate market is to rapidly process value declines at values that reflect the reality of the market.
Answer from Adrian A. Gomez:
I will expand proactive Prop. 8 assessment reductions to include sales in the late 80s and early 90s for properties in depressed areas. I will propose legislation to encourage long time Prop 13 beneficiaries to move within the county.
Answer from John Y. Wong:
The County Assessor does not and should not have the responsibility to maintain tax revenues, the assessor's job is to assess properties real and personal for its market value and I will do that without any interference.
When elected to be your County Assessor, I will assess each and every property with care and will listen and equalize assessments whenever it is needed. Rest assured, you as a taxpayer are never alone because I am there with you.
Answer from Yolanda T. Salazar:
Institute a new dynamic in HOW WE WORK (Thomas Edison's - THERE I$ ALWAY$ A BETTER WAY TO DO IT....FIND IT!) This Post 2007 Housing Bubble Proposition 8 Cycle (3rd year and counting) may last longer than the last Prop 8 Cycle (mid - 1990s lasted seven years). The Assessor's Business Model is rooted in the 1950s (Pyramidical/ Topdown). We 'caught up' with Information & Technology upgrades, and centralized our plants to four acessible 'Big Box' sites in 2002. However, we did not follow up those achievements with "How We Work" Enhancements. The Assessor is the Keeper of the Public$ Pur$e and should follow the lead of our greatest inventor, Thomas Edison.
Answer from Dan Kumaus:
Artificially maintaining revenues in the face of falling values is dishonest and against the taxpayer's best interest. The Assessor's job is to determine the most accurate Fair Market Value (FMV).
As outlined on my website, dankumaus.com, the MBA model that I have developed will allow us to streamline operations. This will give us time and resources to eliminate the backlog and update the tax roll with a more accurate FMV for the properties in Los Angeles County.
Answer from John Lewis Dortch:
The Assessor has a duty to assess properties fairly and accurately as mandated by law. The Assessor cannot place the generation of revenue above that duty. The Assessor is not a defender of the assessment roll!
I would accelerate assessment reviews and expand reviews to include more commercial and industrial properties. I will lower property taxes for property owners who qualify for a reduction.
Responses to questions asked of each candidate
are reproduced as submitted to the League.
Until 5:00 p.m. on April 5, 2010, candidates for Assessor must limit their answers to 150 words
total for all questions so that a paper Voters Guide may be published. After 5:00 p.m. on April 5, 2010, word limits will no longer apply.
The order of the candidates is random and changes daily. Candidates who did not respond are not listed on this page.
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League of Women Voters of California Education Fund
