The county assessor has resigned following several years of controversy in the assessor's office. The assessor was criticized for coming to the office only sporadically (1), for awarding a $48,750 no-bid contract to a political consultant, and for allegedly conducting campaign activities using government resources.

On May 10, law enforcement officers raided the assessor's office, denying employees access to their workspaces. Investigators were seen removing documents from the office. The search warrant said that the investigators were seeking calendars, correspondence and other records regarding the assessor's association with a political consultant and the possible use of public resources for campaign purposes. Several employees have also been called to testify before a grand jury. (2)

The assessor defended the consultant's contract, saying the consultant was hired to serve as a labor relations consultant; improve the office's efficiency and public accountability; develop a "community relations/community outreach strategy;" come up with a "customer satisfaction improvement plan" for the office; and prepare a newsletter to help taxpayers understand the services provided by the assessor's office. The assessor has steadfastly denied using public resources for campaign purposes. (3)

Citing family life's stresses and blaming the office's bureaucracy, the assessor has resigned. The assessor, a former supervisor, agreed to stay in office for one month to provide time to find a successor. (4)

I am not speaking of San Bernardino County Assessor Bill Postmus. While this outline of events seems eerily similar to the events of the last several months in San Bernardino County, it, in fact, describes the San Francisco Assessor's Office, during the terms of two assessors. Assessor-Recorder Doris Ward, a former supervisor, was criticized for the hiring of a political consultant, for being an infrequent presence in the office, and for doing political work with government resources. Her office was raided by 25 FBI agents, and her staff called to testify before a grand jury. Ward lost her re-election bid in 2002, and her successor, Mabel Teng, took office in January 2003. Assessor-Recorder Teng, also a former supervisor, resigned on April 14, 2005. She had been criticized for hiring or promoting 16 campaign contributors and workers. (4)

While the particulars of Assessor Postmus' situation and of Assessor-Recorders Ward and Teng can be debated, there is no doubt that there are some striking similarities between the two situations. While Assessor Postmus has not yet resigned, it would certainly not be without precedent. Both Ward and Teng were former supervisors turned assessor, as is Postmus. All faced difficulties in their new offices, and two of them are no longer assessor. One faced an election just months after a law enforcement raid on the office, which certainly contributed to her defeat, and the other resigned.

However, even though the similarities are numerous, there are some notable differences. While no arrest or indictment was made in the investigation of Assessor-Recorder Ward, an arrest was made in Assessor Postmus' office. Even so, the political activities seem far more obvious in Assessor-Recorder Ward's office. For instance, there was a written memo from Ward's political consultant, Claude Everhart, that stated that "fewer dollars will have to be spent on your [Ward's] campaign" if he were put on the public payroll. (2) No such "smoking gun" has been made public in Assessor Postmus' case, if it even exists. Add to that, public affairs consultant Mike Richman seems to be cooperating fully with DA investigators. While the amount and circumstances of his hiring bear an unmistakable similarity to that of the San Francisco consultant, Richman has not been shown to have acted in an inappropriate way. 

Those differences illuminate the most significant difference between the two cases. The entirety of the investigation of Assessor-Recorder Ward involved actual political corruption--using public resources for electioneering. In Assessor Postmus' office, no similar indictments have been handed down. Instead, the indictments relate to procedural matters--destruction of evidence, presenting false evidence, etc. This difference makes the situation for Adam Aleman, and therefore Assessor Postmus, both better and worse. While the original subject of the investigation--campaign activities in a political office--has not yet proven to be valid, that crime would be more difficult to prove. But a crime was apparently committed during that investigation, and the prosecution of those crimes will be far easier than the prosecution of the use of government resources for campaign purposes. 

Regardless, it is almost as if Assessor Postmus did thorough research to determine how former supervisors-turned-assessor had failed, and imitated them perfectly. The comparison between these two stories has proven the old adage, "History repeats itself."

Following Mabel Teng's resignation, Phil Ting, a financial professional with experience in appraisal of real estate, was appointed as Assessor-Recorder, and then elected several months later. Should there be a vacancy in the San Bernardino County Assessor's Office, the Board of Supervisors would do well to imitate this model. (5)
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1. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/1995/05/30/MN2567.DTL&type=printable
2. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2002/05/11/MN50154.DTL&type=printable
3. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2001/12/18/MN67575.DTL&type=printable
4. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2005/04/15/MNG29C9CTI1.DTL&type=printable
5. http://www.sfgov.org/site/assessor_index.asp?id=36890