League of Women Voters of California Education Fund
Los Angeles County, CA June 8, 2010 Election
	John Y. Wong Answers Questions Candidate for Assessor; County of Los Angeles

The questions were prepared by the League of Women Voters of Los Angeles County and asked of all candidates for this office.
Read the answers from all candidates (who have responded).

Questions & Answers

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.)

• 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.

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)

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.

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)

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.

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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.

Read the answers from all candidates (who have responded).

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Created from information supplied by the candidate: April 9, 2010 17:09
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