Posted by Brent Howard on Fri, Aug 20, 2010 @ 04:46 PM
| GENERAL ELECTION 2010 |
| Race For Clark County Assessor |
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By Vernon Robison
Moapa Valley Progress
Published August 4, 2010
The election for Clark County Assessor is sometimes viewed as a minor race among voters. It deals with complex administrative issues and lesser known candidates. It receives less media coverage than higher profile races. But with the current period of free-falling property values in the region, the Assessors office, which determines the taxable value of properties in Clark County, takes on an added importance this election year to homeowners.
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Shafe began working for the County back in 1986 in the Finance Department. She recalls that one of her first projects was to work on block grants funding new fire stations in Logandale and Overton and a new community center complex in Moapa.
Shafe has worked in the Assessor's office for 15 years; serving 13 years as the office's Assistant Director. She emphasizes how important that experience is to the current race.
"In order to have the office run smoothly you need a leader with experience in actually running the office," she said. "I have that experience. Some say that this is just a figurehead position without any real hands-on work. But that is not true. It is really a County Department Head position and it requires someone with experience in the office supervising and setting policy. A person coming in who didn't have experience here would have a huge ramping up period before they could start to be effective."
Republican challenger Gerrit Hale has less experience in the Assessor's office but has a rich background in the private sector. Nearly 20 years ago, he started his own appraisal company. It started out small with just him working in the basement of his home and eventually built into a major operation with seven figure revenues and a national client base, Hale said. But when the financial markets collapsed in 2008, his national client base dried up and disappeared leaving him with very little business.
Hale said that he came to Nevada two years ago from Southern California to get in on the start-up of a solar energy company. But the company met with challenges early on due to regional economic conditions and became a longer term proposition than expected, Hale said.
It was then that he was offered a position in the Clark County Assessor's Office and accepted it. He has worked there for just over a year, now.
Once Hale got into the position, he started recognizing areas that could be improved and run more efficiently. He felt that his appraisal experience would fit well in the Assessor position. "The opportunity arose this year to run for the office," he said. "I felt I had the education and depth of experience to do the job as it should be done. I'm the only candidate with real private sector appraisal experience. I haven't just read it in a book, I've practiced it. That gives me a distinct advantage. So here I am."
The maverick independent candidate in the Assessor race is Brent Howard. Howard feels that the office of Assessor ought to be a non-partisan position and so has done the legwork, and gathered the signatures required to enter the race as an Independent candidate. "I don't think that the Assessor should be beholden to any political party that might push property assessments one way or another depending on the winds of politics," Howard said.
Howard has lived in Las Vegas for most of his life. His family moved there in 1964 when he was seven years old. He attended Clark County public schools and got a degree from UNLV. He runs his own accounting business, BHI Bookkeeping in Las Vegas. "I specialize in accounting; math, business law, statistics," he said. "I am used to analyzing problems and coming up with solutions."
As the owner of several properties in the Vegas valley, Howard has locked horns with the Assessor's office frequently. He said that he has had to make numerous appeals on values assigned to his properties by the Assessor, dealing with several points of dispute. "I have repeatedly asked questions dealing with how the office came to its valuation and have never received a full answer," Howard said.
Howard stated that he has been going through the appeals process for the past two years, a process which has led him to finally file lawsuits against the State Equalization Board and the Governor's Office.
"I think that one of the problems is that we have had the same group of people running the Assessor's office for the past 18 years," Howard said. "After 18 years of very little oversight, it is time to clear it out and bring in some new people with new ideas."
One of the main issues on which Howard is running is that of transparency. He is calling for a new system in the Assessor's office requiring full disclosure of the complete calculation of assessed values made available to the public.
To illustrate the current problem, Howard makes a comparison to a consumer visiting a grocery store. "When you check out at the register, the clerk gives you a receipt that shows every item, the amount that each thing cost, and then shows the total cost," Howard said. "That is as it should be. But as things are, the Assessor is giving taxpayers just the total cost at the bottom. They aren't providing the important calculations that brought about that total."
Howard believes that taxpayers should receive a full schedule which lists all the factors leading to a property valuation. This would allow the property owner to review each of the line items and to see how the Assessor arrived at the value for his/her property. If some of the items don't look quite right, the property owner can then dispute those specific things and come to a resolution, Howard said.
"As things are, you have a number of appraisers in the office that are operating independently and not sharing their full calculations with the public," Howard said. "How can you expect to come to uniform and equal values that way?"
Howard believes that what he describes as a lack of transparency in the Assessor's office is part of a larger political conspiracy in the state to keep property values artificially high in order to help balance the budget deficit. "They do this by keeping all the calculations to themselves," Howard said. "But that practice is not in keeping with state law. That information shouldn't be hidden from the public."
Gerrit Hale stops short of believing in a state-wide conspiracy. "There are some people who believe it," he said. "But I don't know about that. Look, my job as Assessor can be summed up simply. It would be to make sure that we do a fair appraisal of the property. The problem of the state treasury and the budget deficit would not be my problem. That would be for the legislature to handle. The Assessor shouldn't be concerned with it."
But Hale wonders if the methods used in Nevada for valuing property are the best way to reach a fair appraisal. He points out that Nevada is the only state that still uses a replacement cost method rather than a market value determination. That means that the taxable value is assigned based on the cost of the improvements existing on the property minus depreciation, rather than on straight and simple market valuation.
"In that respect we are a little behind the rest of the country," Hale said. Hale recognizes that changing this would be a state legislative issue and not one for the Assessor's office. Still he believes that many things could be done by the Assessor to move more toward a fairer market based approach, especially in the current market environment. Hale points out that, in the current down market, real estate values on property have often drifted well below the replacement cost of the improvements on those properties. But, according to state law, assessed value is not allowed to exceed market value.
"So, as things are, they (Assessor's office) are trying to make a market determination on value using a replacement cost method," Hale said. "In other words, the Assessor's office tends toward closing the tax rolls based mainly on the replacement cost method and then it waits for people to appeal the value."
Hale says this is borne out by the fact that the Assessor's office had 8300 appeals against it in the last tax year. "The trouble is that the only way for taxpayers in Clark County to be assured of a proper assessment is to file an appeal," he said. "People shouldn't have to do that. The Assessor's office should be more pro-active than that, especially in such a dynamic market."
Rather than just wait for the taxpayer appeals to come in, Hale suggests that the Assessor's office should pro-actively back-test its replacement value determinations against the market to ensure an appropriate appraisal is made on each property.
But while Shafe admits to the sharp increase in appeals filed against the Assessor's office during the last tax year, she claims that the increase was more about sharp market forces than about Assessor office methods. "We saw property owners calling in because, while they had seen a decrease in their property values, they had an increase in their tax bill," Shafe said. "It was understandable that they wanted an explanation."
Shafe explained that Nevada property tax increases are capped at 3 percent per year for residential properties. "During the real estate boom a given homeowner might have seen his home value go up 40 percent, but he only saw a 3 percent tax increase during that time because of the cap," Shafe said. "On the downside though, values might have dropped by 15-20 percent but the homeowner would still see another 3 percent increase in his tax bill. That's because the value still hadn't fallen below the protection of the 3 percent cap."
Shafe said that in 2009, the Assessor's office proactively re-valued all homes, looking closely at sales in the area and what was happening in the market.
On the subject of transparency, Shafe responded with an explanation of the Assessor's procedure in dealing with appeals. She explained that each appealing homeowner was scheduled for a meeting where someone from the Assessor's office went over the process for reaching the valuation.
"In each case, we showed them comparable sales in the area and other information and by the time we were finished, most people understood where the valuation came from," Shafe said. "Sometimes the property owners brought in additional information that we didn't know about the property. In those cases we reviewed it and, if appropriate, offered a recommendation of reduction."
Shafe stated that of the 8,300 appeals in the prior tax year, 7,000 of them were resolved before they ever went before the Board of Equalization. "Of the 1300 that did go to the Board," Shafe said, "our valuations were upheld in two out of three cases."
There are some things about the Assessor's office that Shafe feels could be improved, however. For one, she would bring more technology to the office operations to offer better customer service to the public. The election for Clark County Assessor is sometimes viewed as a minor race among voters. It deals with complex administrative issues and lesser known candidates. It receives less media coverage than higher profile races. But with the current period of free-falling property values in the region, the Assessors office, which determines the taxable value of properties in Clark County, takes on an added importance this election year to homeowners.
She said that she would bring additional improvements to the Assessor's website. "Currently we have a good website and a lot of people use it," she said. "But it would be great if transactions could be done online."
Shafe would also like to set up the Assessor's office to be able to accept debit and credit card payments instead of cash and checks only. This would save on the need for collections and would provide better customer service.
There is one thing that she would not change, though. "The Assessor's office is one of the only departments at the county where, when the public calls in on the phone, they are answered by a real person instead of a computer," Shafe said. "We have made a conscious decision to do that for our customers and we have gotten good feedback for it. That is something that I wouldn't change."
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Posted by Brent Howard on Tue, Jul 27, 2010 @ 11:33 AM
Los Angeles County Assessor settled a 12 year old lawsuit that alleged that the county systematically shortchanged property tax payers when refunding overpayment. The settlement is $45 million to be paid back to taxpayers. The Los Angeles County Assessor did not pay interest on the refunds or give notice on the right to get a refund or interest. Los Angeles Times Monday May 31, 2010 titled "Clock ticking on property tax refunds"
Here is a copy of the settlement that shows what happened and as one individual took on the Los Angeles County Assessor.
I have filed a lawsuit against the Clark County Assessor with the goal of stopping the systematic actions of the Assessor to not Fully Disclose the complete calculation of taxable values of property and not follow the Nevada Constitution requirement of Uniform and Equal values. These actions are keeping Clark County Assessed property values artificially high and taking cash out of the pockets of law abiding citizens.
I have also asked to rollback all Clark County property values to the year 2000 which is the last time a Nevada Statute was complied with that would have a state reference manual that would specifically state how all property values would be calculated across the state that would meet the Uniform and Equal Value requirement of the Nevada Constitution.
Just like the Los Angeles County Assessor, the Clark County Assessor thinks they have done nothing wrong and replied with a motion to dismiss. Is this the kind of State and Local Government that you want to live in?
I am also an Unaffiliated Independent Candidate for Clark County Assessor. Please register Independent and Vote Independent! The time is now for change. If you wait it could be to late.
Vote Brent Howard for Clark County Assessor and Contribute to the campaign so that I can make the changes so there is Full Disclosure and Uniform and Equal Values for all Clark County property owner.
Posted by Brent Howard on Fri, Jul 23, 2010 @ 09:29 AM
5 Ways the Assessor is not following the law!
The Clark County Assessor is not following Nevada Statue, Constitution and Supreme Court Decisions. This affect you because there is a Nevada conspiracy to keep values higher than actual to help fund State and Local government budgets, This takes money out of your pocket!
- 1. All information presented to the public must be in an easily understood and readily available format. NRS 361.0435 I have asked for a comprehensive, written, mathematical schedule that shows exactly how my Taxable values were calculated and after 20 months this has never been given to me.
- 2. The Nevada Constitution (Article 10,Section 1) "The legislature shall provide by law for a uniform and equal rate of assessment and taxation" The Assessor is not providing "Full Disclosure" of how taxable values are calculated so it is impossible for the Assessor to prove that they are following the Constitution. I know from my appeals of my 5 properties that they are not being handled in an "Uniform and Equal manner".
- 3. The Nevada Tax commission shall "establish and maintain a manual of assessment policies and procedures. NRS 360.215 (9)This has not been done for 10 years.
- 4. The County Assessor shall use the standards for appraising that are adopted by the Nevada Tax Commission NRS 361.260 (7). Since the manual does not exist, how can the Assessor follow it? The Assessor can not make up their own methods.
- 5. Nevada Supreme Court decisions (State Board of Equalization v. Barta) states that "Nevertheless, they assert that merely because their properties' full cash values were not exceeded does not establish that the valuations were just and equitable" "Nevada's Constitution guarantees "a uniform and equal rate of assessment and taxation, that guarantee of equality should be the boards of equalization's predominint concern, and that concern is not satisfied by merely ensuring that a property's taxable value does not exceed it's full cash value. Under Bakst, a valuation developed in violation of taxpayaer's constitutional right to a uniform and equal rate of assessment and taxation is an unjust valuation, and in upholding an assessor's unconstitutional methodologies, the State Board applies a fundamentally wrong principle."
Vote Independent Brent Howard for Clark County Assessor! www.mybhi.com 702-501-2204
When I am elected, I can solve these problems for you. I do need your help to get elected. Please send contributions to 2385 N. Decatur Blvd., Las Vegas, NV 89108
Posted by Brent Howard on Mon, Jul 12, 2010 @ 12:15 PM
Republican candidate for Clark County Assessor Garrit Hale was interviewed on the am 670 Steve Wark show today and Independent Candidate for Clark County Assessor called in by phone. We had a very good discussion of the problems at the Clark County Assessor's office. Democrat candidate for Assessor and Assistant Assessor Michele shafe and Garrit Hale both work at the Assessor's office. Garrit Hale would accomplish more positive change for property owners than Michel Shafe, but if you want Full Disclosure, Uniform and Equal values and Reappraisals Anytime you would have to vote for Independent Candidate Brent Howard for Clark County Assessor.
Brent Howard stated on the show with Steve Wark that there is a conspiracy at the Assessor's office to keep taxable property values higher than the really are in an effort to help fund the budget shortages of our State and Local Governments. Garrit Hale felt that it was just complacently by the employees of the Assessor's office. Brent Howard stated that property value calculations were not fully disclosed and without full disclosure how could the Clark County Assessor possibly prove that they are meeting the NevadaConstitution's requirement of Uniform and Equal value of property values and taxes. Garrit Hale pointed out that it put the Assessor's office in a tough spot without a manual from the Nevada Tax Commission to show how the 17 county assessors should calculate their property taxes. Brent Howard stated one of his reasons for his lawsuit against the Clark County Assessor, Nevada Tax Commission, State Board of Equalization and others is to make the Nevada Tax Commission publish the reference manual required by law that meets Nevada's Constitution that has not been done for 10 years now. Brent Howard also pointed out that the Assessor's office sent him a letter that states the Clark County Assessor does not try to prove their calculations of property values until their is an appeal. Therefore the values seem to be calculated in an arbitrary and capricious manner which the 14th amendment of the US constituion states should be ruled unconstitutional.
There was also a discussion of Mass Appraisals by the Clark County Assessor. Brent Howard stated that he asked for the calculations to be fully disclosed and has never been given any of the calculations by the Clark County Assessor. Garrit Hale stated that it was a complicated process and more should be done for property owners to easily understand Mass Appraisals.
After about a 45 minute discussion Steve Wark thanked me for calling and stated he would get me on his show again and I appreciate that. Steve Wark is a very knowledgable and entertaining political talk show host and political consultant. Steve Wark then continuted the discussion with Garrit Hale to discuss how full disclosure would be accomplished and how uniform and equal values of property should be approached. Garrit Hale pointed out that there is some discloure and should be more. Garrit Hale stopped short of complete full disclosure of property value calculations and was not clear on how he would produce Uniform and Equal values of property values in Clark County and accross the state of Nevada.
Independent candidate Brent Howard is the best candidate for the Clark County Assessor to accomplish Full Disclosure, Uniform and Equal Values and Reappraisal Anytime.
Posted by Brent Howard on Thu, Jun 24, 2010 @ 09:38 AM
"That's according to Michele Shafe, assistant director of the office. The featured public speaker Friday, June 11, at the Leadership Forum of the Laughlin Economic Development Corporation, she explained the office's duties in Nevada Revised Statute 361 and Nevada Administrative Code 361." The Laughlin Nevada Times June 24, 2010 Assessor's office: Laughlin beats vegas in tax values for homes. "She said that with fewer workers the fast response upon which the office prides itself will take longer. Of 140 full-time positions, 17 are slated to be cut as part of a requested 8 percent reduction, coming to $1.2 million. Courtesy notifications to owners also have been eliminated."
Clark County Assistant Assessor Michele Shafe is using Assessor resources to go to Laughlin, Nevada and explain how the Assessor office works? She went there to campaign on Assessor time when there are 17 full time positions to be cut. Michele Shafe is flaunting her arrogance that she believes she is above the law. Nevada Statutes clearly states that an employee of state or local government can not use government resources or employee time to campaign for office. This also shows her disinterest in managing Clark County Assessor financial resources in fiscally prudent manner. How many other employees went with her? What did it cost for traveling expenses? Did she give out any campaign information? Could this time be more productive in the office?
The Leadership Forum of the Laughlin Economic Development Corporation would rather have Full Disclosure, Uniform and Equal Values and Reappraisal Anytime as I would implement when elected as Clark County Assessor.
Posted by Brent Howard on Sun, Jun 20, 2010 @ 04:47 PM
When you appeal your property values calculated by the Clark County Assessor, it is appealed to the Clark County Board of Equalization and then to the State Board of Equalization. These appeal hearings are ignoring the Due Process Clause and equal protection of the law of the United State Constitution's 14th Amendment.
The 14th Amendment states "No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of Law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws."
Due Process Clause requires that legal proceedings be conducted in a fair, public and competent manner by an impartial judge who will allow the interested parties to present fully their complaints, grievances and defenses. The Due Process Clause governs civil, criminal, and administrative proceedings from the pretrial stage through final appeal, and proceedings that produce ARBITRARY OR CAPRICIOUS results will be overturned as unconstitutional.
Arbitrary means based on or subject to individual discretion or preference or sometimes impulse. Capricious means determined by chance or impulse or whim rather than by necessity or reason.
The Clark County Assessor does not show a comprehensive mathematical schedule that shows exactly how they started with relevant comparable sales and ended up at taxable property value. Without full disclosure on how each property's taxable values was arrived at, there can be no way for the Assessor to prove that they are not acting in an Arbitrary or Capricious manner. Therefore all appeal findings should be ruled Unconstitutional and remanded back to the boards with the order that the boards make the Assessor fully disclose all procedures and studies and that there would be a comprehensive mathematical schedule for all properties that proves that the Assessor's office meets the Nevada Constitution Uniform and Equal Values of Properties . Pretrial stage should be considered the conversations between property owner and Clark County Assessor and therefore all property owners that contacted the Assessor office should be allowed to have a new discussion about their property values.
The Clark County Board of Equalization and the State Board of Equalization did not function as a competent or fair administrative hearing in the 5 hearing that I have presented my case. They are not acting competent when they ignore my requests for full disclosure or my presentation of Nevada Statutes, Constitution and Supreme Court hearings that have been completely ignored by both boards. These boards are not acting in a fair manner when the majority of cases before them are ruled in the favor of the Clark County Assessor.
The equal protection of the law clause demands that the equal protection of the laws and without full disclosure there can be no way for the Clark County Assessor to prove that they are equally applying the law.
www.usconstitution.net
Posted by Brent Howard on Sat, Jun 19, 2010 @ 12:55 PM
The two party system of government in the United States is ruining our country. A vote for Democrats or Republicans is a vote to continue their destruction. Look at this picture of pelicans covered in Oil from an oil spill. 
President Obama should have thrown every possible solution at this problem to try to lessen the effects, but currently all the two party system lead by Democrats have done is nothing but to defend their Union contributors by not suspending the Jones act. The republicans have not shouted loud enough to suspend the Jones act, because it seems they like the political capital that they hope to get in the upcoming election. The Jones only allows for Union employees to work in the ocean for the government. Look at the shoreline pictures.
Last Sunday on Fox News Hucklebee had a 1 hour show that showed on camera many companies that proved on TV that they could stop the Two Party disaster in the Gulf with technologies that could get much if not all of the oil out of the water. Vote Independent in the next election to stop their disinterest in solving the problems of our country.
"The Democrats and Republicans are two heads of the same evil dragon" This was said by Ralph Nader. If Ralph Nader would have been elected President in this last election, he would not have waited 60 days and still did nothing but get BP to promise to give $20 billion dollars in damages.
f The Assessor's office is not in charge of the Gulf oil disaster, but they operate in the same manner, by only being interested in their own money and power. They are not interested in the voice of the people and for Full Disclosure of everything that is going on. Did you know in the Gulf that the US government gave their OK to where this oil well was to be drilled knowing that this was an experimental drilling procedure. This is what shows the Two Party system and big corporations are destroying our country for their own best interests.
The Soviet Union had what is called the Politburo. We as a people of the United States have been told through the media that they oppressed their people and did not have open elections. Did you know that they had elections? They had a congress. They had laws. The Politburo is an organization of Political Leaders and wealthy Government Employees. This group hand picked who would be on the ballot. Their congress they voted almost 99% of time for what the Politburo wanted. The United States is run in the same way, but we call in Democracy. Vote Independent! Do not throw away your vote to the Politburo on the United States. This is the group of Political Leaders, Union and Private Sector Unions and Corporations. Their Politburo is not interested in solving the Gulf Disaster unless it financially benefits them.
Here is a picture of a Pelican in the middle of the Oil Spill in the Gulf Coast. This people of Clark County, Nevada and the entire United States are also stuck in a oily disaster. Their oily disaster is the Two Party system. Just like the bird does not know how to get out of the oil. How do we? First thing is do not vote Democrat of Republican. Independent elected officials not controlled could actually solve problems like these. It is common sense. There is no common sense in our current two party system.
Posted by Brent Howard on Mon, Jun 14, 2010 @ 03:22 PM
Nevada Attorney Genral Catherine Cortez Maston and Deputy Attorney General Dawn Nala Kemp have filed an order to dismiss my case filed in Clark County District Court to bring justice to the process of calculating property values in Clark County.
The Attorney General's office have asked for the following remedies in their motion to dismiss:
1. Howard takes nothing by way of his Complaint;
2. The Court dismiss with prejudice Howard's state constitutional and statutory claims by way of his Complaint against the State;
3. The Court hold that judicial review pursuant to Nrs Chapter 361 and NRS Chapter 233B is Howard's exclusive remedy in the appeals of the taxable values of the Subject Properties;
4. The Court dismiss with prejudice the claims against the NTC, Department and Governor by way of the Petition for Judicial Review;
5. The Court dismiss all of Howard's claims on behalf of all of Clark County;
6. The Court dismiss Howard's claims for all tax years but the 2009-2010 tax year that was heard by the state board;
7. The Court order Attorneys fees and costs paid to the State; an,
8. The Court order such further relief in law or equity that it deems just and proper.
So, if you disagree with the actions of your government, you should pay attorney fees to the State and all of my or your claims are unworthy of presentation before the Court. This seems to be the conclusion of the State of Nevada. Instead of understanding that there is a problem and work towards a solution that meets Nevada Statute, Constitution and Supreme Court.
The following is the motion to dismiss that was mailed to me today.
Dismiss 1, Dismiss 2, Dismiss 3, Dismiss 4, Dismiss 5, Dismiss 6, Dismiss 7
I am looking for legal help in this case. After all I am trying to solve the problems in calculating property values for all property owners in Clark County.
Posted by Brent Howard on Tue, Jun 08, 2010 @ 08:07 AM
"I would seriously consider signing a transparency pledge." stated by Clark County Assistant Assessor Michele Shafe. Do you really want to elect as the Assessor an individual that is not sure of the importance of full transparency or full disclosure? Without transparency by the government, the residents have no hope of making sure their government acts in a legal fair manner.
Michele Shafe is a lier when she states "I will ensure that the Assessor's office continues to be open and transparent to the public. We do provide public records as requested by the public.In my 23 years with the county. I have always been committed to providing openness regarding government processes to the public. I will ensure that the Assessor's office continues to be accessible to the public and open in our discussions and explanations of assessment policies and procedures. I will continue to follow all laws governing the Assessor's office. " I have tried to get detailed budget information about the Clark County Assessor's office and they want to charge me thousands of dollars or they have just refused to give me the information. I have asked during my appeal process of the last two years for a comprehensive detailed schedule that shows exactly how my property values were calculated and the Assessor's office has refused to give it to me. The Assessor's office is not following Nevada Statutes, Constitution and Supreme Court rulings as I have stated on my website and in my lawsuit against the Assessor's office. The Assessor's department does not fully disclose or have open transparency, does not follow Nevada laws and that is why Michele Shafe is a lier.
Michele Shafe misleads the voters of Clark County when she runs as a Democrat and states she is a conservative. Michele Shafe states "My political philosophy is conservative. In my 23 years with the county, I have been a fiscal conservative when it comes to dealing with the public's money. On social issues, I am mostly conservative. She sounds like a Republican running as a Democrat. Does she run as a Democrat because there are more registered Democrats that Republicans in Clark County?
Do not vote in Michele Shafe for Clark County Assessor. For an Assessor's office that will have full disclosure and operate in a fair an legal manner, vote for Independent Brent Howard for Assessor in the general election in November.
www.lvrj.com/politics/candidates under the Clark County Assessor tab. Please read about Brent Howard and Michele Shafe.
Posted by Brent Howard on Sun, Jun 06, 2010 @ 12:35 PM
Clark County Assessor Mark Schofield was paid $5,000 cash bribe for a reduction in property taxes. This was testimony in 2006 by Mike Galardi under oath in the G String trial of corrupt politicians. Mike Galardi's testimony helped convict and prison Former County Commissioners Kincaid-Chauncey, Dario Herrera, Erin Kenny and Lance Malone. Our system of Government is so corrupt that there was no charges brought against Clark County Assessor Mark Schofield.
The prosecutors say the nine that Galardi testified under oath that he gave bribes to shouldn't be allowed to testify, because this case is only about Herrera and Kincaid-Chauncey. The defense attorneys wanted testimony of others that Galardi testified he bribed but that did not happen. This seems like the Clark County District Attorney gave a free pass to Clark County Assessor Mark Schofield. Could this be because Galardi testified the he gave $20,000 to District Attorney David Roger to get close to him. Roger denise it but says, "It would be improper for me to comment." I guess if Clark County Assessor Mark Schofield was charged the Clark County District Attorney David Roger would have to charge himself. What a world we live in?
I guess we are just supposed to believe when Clark County Assessor Mark Schofield states "No favors or any type of impropriety occurred as a result of this contribution." I wonder if this is another example of Mormon influence over our state and local government. Could it be that Kincaid-Chauncey, Herrera, Kenny and/or Malone are not mormons and that is why charges were filed and they were convicted and went to jail?
This is why the residents of Clark County need full disclosure of all calculations of all property values? We could then see if there are properties that are given special treatment in calculating their property values. I believe that many properties are given special treatment or there would be specific comprehensive mathematical schedules that show exactly how the property value was calculated. Since there are many properties that do not even show up on the assessor's website, this system is a perfect situation for bribes to occur.
See lvrj.com article April 26, 2006 written by Adrienne Packer titled Political Corruption Trial: Attorney calls himself to testify
See 8newsnow.com article written by Brian Allen titled G-String: List of Nine Witnesses and alleged bribe amounts