Amador County – A debate Wednesday between County Assessor candidate Jay Elias and incumbent Jim Rooney included many pointed questions and answers, and got personal after a neighbor of Rooney’s used the opportunity to bring up a property dispute. Approximately 20 people were in attendance for the almost two hour debate at the Jackson Civic Center. The debate was hosted by Elias, who currently works in Rooney’s office. In what he described as a “loose” format, moderator Dane Addison read three questions the candidates had written for their opponent, who was then given roughly 60 seconds to respond. Each candidate was then offered 30 seconds for rebuttal. Rooney focused on his accomplishments during his seven and a half years in office. During that time, he said he has “proactively lowered over 3000 property assessments,” put “taxpayer forms and information online,” and “met a 68 percent workload increase during a time of staff reductions.” Elias spoke of her 23 years of appraisal experience, including 16 years as an Advanced Appraiser. She said that despite Rooney’s many claims of cost efficiency during a time of budget reductions, “there are still many efficiencies that can be introduced to save time and money.” If elected, she vowed to propose to exempt small homeowner projects like sheds and decks from assessment and reinstate declarations of new construction. She said that “many time saving innovations in that office have already come from my desk,” including putting “cost sheets on electronic spread sheets” and a “statistical method to process value reductions.” She also wants to increase transparency by making all roll corrections, or changes to the taxable value of a property, open to the public. She denied Rooney’s claim that there has been a 30 percent increase in wages, saying, “I know I haven’t seen that.” Rooney asked two questions related to Elias’ endorsements, and stressed “how important it is that an Assessor has a good relationship with the (Board of Supervisors) and (County Administrative Officer) because you’re budget and technology depend on it.” He spoke highly of his own relationship with surrounding counties, and said many of his endorsements have provided “moral and financial support.” Last year, he was voted by his peers to be executive secretary of the California Assessors’ Association, which puts him on track to be the group’s president in 2013. Elias spoke proudly of her endorsement from J.J. McClatchy, well-known owner of The Sacramento Bee and CEO of the McClatchy Management Company. The debate took a different tone after a man who is Rooney’s neighbor spoke of disputes they are having over their property line and “tree branches hanging into his yard.” The neighbor said it speaks to Rooney’s integrity. Addison said it was an “inappropriate” time for these comments, but Rooney chose to answer, saying he would be glad to settle the issue later. TSPN will have another story on this debate in an upcoming news broadcast. The Assessor’s race will be decided after votes are tallied on June 8th. Story by Alex Lane This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Friday, 04 June 2010 06:06
County Assessor Debate Highlights Accomplishments, Intentions
Written by Tom-
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Amador County – A debate Wednesday between County Assessor candidate Jay Elias and incumbent Jim Rooney included many pointed questions and answers, and got personal after a neighbor of Rooney’s used the opportunity to bring up a property dispute. Approximately 20 people were in attendance for the almost two hour debate at the Jackson Civic Center. The debate was hosted by Elias, who currently works in Rooney’s office. In what he described as a “loose” format, moderator Dane Addison read three questions the candidates had written for their opponent, who was then given roughly 60 seconds to respond. Each candidate was then offered 30 seconds for rebuttal. Rooney focused on his accomplishments during his seven and a half years in office. During that time, he said he has “proactively lowered over 3000 property assessments,” put “taxpayer forms and information online,” and “met a 68 percent workload increase during a time of staff reductions.” Elias spoke of her 23 years of appraisal experience, including 16 years as an Advanced Appraiser. She said that despite Rooney’s many claims of cost efficiency during a time of budget reductions, “there are still many efficiencies that can be introduced to save time and money.” If elected, she vowed to propose to exempt small homeowner projects like sheds and decks from assessment and reinstate declarations of new construction. She said that “many time saving innovations in that office have already come from my desk,” including putting “cost sheets on electronic spread sheets” and a “statistical method to process value reductions.” She also wants to increase transparency by making all roll corrections, or changes to the taxable value of a property, open to the public. She denied Rooney’s claim that there has been a 30 percent increase in wages, saying, “I know I haven’t seen that.” Rooney asked two questions related to Elias’ endorsements, and stressed “how important it is that an Assessor has a good relationship with the (Board of Supervisors) and (County Administrative Officer) because you’re budget and technology depend on it.” He spoke highly of his own relationship with surrounding counties, and said many of his endorsements have provided “moral and financial support.” Last year, he was voted by his peers to be executive secretary of the California Assessors’ Association, which puts him on track to be the group’s president in 2013. Elias spoke proudly of her endorsement from J.J. McClatchy, well-known owner of The Sacramento Bee and CEO of the McClatchy Management Company. The debate took a different tone after a man who is Rooney’s neighbor spoke of disputes they are having over their property line and “tree branches hanging into his yard.” The neighbor said it speaks to Rooney’s integrity. Addison said it was an “inappropriate” time for these comments, but Rooney chose to answer, saying he would be glad to settle the issue later. TSPN will have another story on this debate in an upcoming news broadcast. The Assessor’s race will be decided after votes are tallied on June 8th. Story by Alex Lane This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
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