I try to be an informed voter. I consider voting a privilege & would rather not vote at all than make haphazard marks on a ballot for candidates who I know little or nothing about. I think in voting we have a responsibility to others, as well as to ourselves, to know what political candidates stand for, what their background & qualifications are & how we feel they will best serve the interests of those who elect them & trust their judgment in decisions of matters that will affect their lives for a long time to come. I wouldn't even vote for a friend or a family member if I didn't think they would be my best representative as a public servant. That's why I think my vote for Sheila Keuhl for County Supervisor was a no brainer. Sheila's qualifications speak for themselves. Her record as a public servant is clear & upfront & I think her goal is to make life better for the people she serves, rather than for herself in particular.
Deciding on a vote for County Assessor was not such a fait accompli for me. I have never been able to wrap my mind around the professional background of Jeffrey Prang enough to get it. In fact the more research I do, the more questions arise for me. I understand that Prang's position as 2nd Assistant Manager in Pico Rivera was created for him as a political & personal favor by then mayor Chuck Fuentes, even though Prang possessed no direct experience or background as a city manager & City Councilman David Armenta said at the time that there was no need for another city manager. Prang was one of those city managers who was subsequently investigated for the misuse/abuse of Pico Rivera city credit cards. Pico Rivera Council member David Armenta also told a local news source that he suspected both Chuck Fuentes & Jeffrey Prang of misusing city funds to pay for meals for family members & others in an inappropriate way. I also understand that Prang denied these accusations, saying they were politically motivated & they were eventually excused. At the time of this investigation, former Pico Rivera Mayor Ron Bielke is quoted as saying "Pico Rivera is a political cesspool". I'm not familiar with the circumstances of Mr. Prang's dismissal from his managerial post in Pico Rivera City Hall, but I do know he moved on to another job as a "special assistant" in the office of his also long time friend Sheriff Lee Baca, another fluff job that was also allegedly created for him as a personal & political favor. Lee Baca himself resigned as head of the Sheriff's Department recently under a cloud of suspected corruption on his watch. It's never been clear to me what Prang's duties were there, or how relevant they were, but the position was eventually eliminated & so was Jeffrey Prang. Prang's current job also has dubious overtones & is also purported to be a "special assistant" position , once again, created for him by his long time friend, current assessor John Noguez, who has been released from jail pending his trial on more than 24 counts of corruption while performing his job as tax assessor, having traded lower tax assessments for contributions to his campaign. To me, Prang's intro into the 2014 race for tax assessor started out on weak legs since the job title he chose for the ballot was disallowed by a judge after legal action was taken, since the assessor's office does not use "Deputy Assessor" as a job title because there is no such thing. As I see it, using a false job title to run for public office is not only misleading, it is fraudulent. As far as I can tell, Prang had no responsibilities as a county assessor in any way, shape or form & any pretense as such is discounted by reliable sources. As far as Mr. Prang's contention that he had "no inkling" of the corruption charges brewing in the assessor's office at the time he took the job there, there was a lot of publicity about it beforehand & a former West Hollywood city official wrote in the comments section of a local blog: "Prang was desperate for employment & leveraged his friendship with Noguez , the highest openly gay elected official in L.A. County, to have a job created for him." In fact Prang defended Noguez & tried to convince others that the charges were politically motivated. Only 2 days before Noguez was arrested, Prang claimed the assessor's office possessed an affidavit that exonerated Noguez. I'm not aware that said affidavit ever materialized to prove or disprove Prang's claim. I'm given to understand that Prang's pushback against Noguez's critics was so aggressive that the Board of Supervisors collectively advised him to cease & desist. All of these "positions" were presumably at great expense to the taxpayers. The rest of the Noguez story is yet to be told. Prang was a no-show at the only public debate among all candidates for the assessor's office, ostensibly because he'd been convinced he was going to easily sail into the assessor's seat, but citing more pressing obligations to his duties as an official of West Hollywood. "You can't just remove one person from the top.." (& expect dependable results) one of the assessor candidates said during this debate. Based on these & other allegations , including sexual harassment charges against Prang that cost the city of West Hollywood big settlement bucks & Prang's withdrawal at one time from a State Assembly race, apparently in deferment to a long time friend who he felt "had a better chance of winning", I can find no redeeming qualities in this candidate for an office that demands integrity, honesty & especially trust with the public coffers. I don't know Jeffrey Prang well & I cannot personally attest that he does not possess those qualities. But my mind does feel compelled to summon the old adage "Birds of a feather flock together." And I will say I would rather be safe than sorry. That's why I am voting for John Morris for L.A. County Assessor. John has a long history of defending public safety & fighting corruption in many areas that affect the quality of our daily lives & has saved the taxpayers tens of millions of dollars. John has promised to protect Prop 13 from those who are trying to alter it in order to increase property taxes that will force many retired & senior citizens out of their homes. His record is immaculate & his character unquestionable, as stated in his endorsement by the Los Angeles Times & others. That's why I strongly believe that John Morris is the best choice to clean up this very important county office that is, as a whole, perceived as inherently corrupt.