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Community Corner

2ND UPDATE: Assessor's Office Hit with Search Warrants; Prang Works There

DA gets search warrants for LA County Assessor's Office, where Weho Mayor Jeff Prang started working in March. Investigation underway into allegations of corruption and influence peddling by Assessor John Noguez. Prang not subject of investigation.

The workplace of West Hollywood Mayor Jeff Prang was served with search warrants on Wednesday morning.

Prang works for Los County Assessor John Noguez who was served with  search warrants for his home and office and 10 other locations. The Los Angeles District Attorney launched an integrity investigation in February into Noguez and the Assessor's office amidst allegations of corruption and influence peddling. 

Prang is not a subject of the iinvestigation since he only started working for the Assessor’s Office in March after nine months of being unemployed. Prang’s previous job was as Assistant City Manager in the city of Pico Riviera.

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According to the Huffington Post, prosecutors are looking at more than 100 properties to see if their assessed values were improperly reduced after Noguez was elected in November 2010.

Last week, former county appraiser Scott Schenter told the Los Angeles Times that he secretly reduced the assessed taxable value on high-priced homes in West Los Angeles by tens of millions of dollars, hoping the homeowners would contribute to Noguez's 2010 campaign.

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The LA Times and LA Weekly have been covering this story extensively for weeks, but the story went national following the search warrants. Fox News had coverage on its cable channel Wednesday night.

Calls to Prang for comment were not returned.

This scandal does not reflect upon the city of West Hollywood or Prang’s duties as mayor. All five city councilmembers have full time “day jobs” in addition to their duties as elected city officials.

Noguez was in attendance at Prang’s swearing in as mayor of West Hollywood on April 16.

For a much more detailed report on the investigation into Noguez and the LA County Assessor’s Office, click here to read the LA Weekly cover story from its April 20 issue.

UPDATE: Prang phoned Weho Patch to say he could not speak about the investigation since he is not the spokesperson for the Assessor’s Office.

Prang did explain his job duties, saying his job title is Special Assistant to Assessor John Noguez. He is liaison to the LA County Board of Supervisors, handles government affairs inside and outside of the county, community relations and legislation.

Prang previously worked under Assessor Kenny Hahn in 1992-93 in a similar position. Prang also worked as a Special Assistant to LA County Sheriff Lee Baca from 1999-2008. 

UPDATE #2: Prang sent the following statement to Patch:

"Under no circumstances am I involved in the issues related to the District Attorney's investigation. I joined the L.A. County Assessor's Office less than two months ago.  I was specifically hired to work as a liaison with the L.A. County Board of Supervisors and others agencies to enhance the public integrity and transparency of the office.  I hope that my many years in public service and strong reputation for managing with integrity will help to restore public confidence in the L.A. County Assessor's Office."

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