Mocking taxpayers

Los Angeles County Assessor John Noguez stands accused of abusing the public office to which voters elected him. He remains in custody on charges of accepting bribes for the purpose of decreasing the value of properties so that homeowners pay less taxes.

There is no doubt that this is a bad situation for a public official. But it has not prevented Noguez from continuing to receive his full salary of $197,000 as well as getting a $5,000 raise—all without working for the past six months.

Last June, Noguez placed himself on a paid leave of absence to focus on preparing a legal defense against the charges he is facing. Three months into his absence, before the deadline when he could be removed from his position, Noguez returned momentarily to his office, effectively resetting the clock. Now Noguez has been imprisoned since October, unable to make his $1.16-million bail.

A few days ago, the Board of Supervisors of Los Angeles County considered removing Noguez from his county assessor position when he had been absent for three months, but they gave up on this.

We think this all shows a colossal lack of respect for taxpayers.

It is unacceptable that Noguez got a raise in the midst of a criminal investigation. This absurdity is the product of a legal anomaly that grants automatic salary raises to county elected officials, including the sheriff and the district attorney. That is an unjustifiable privilege for a few politicians in this time of cuts and layoffs for lack of funds.

On the other hand, the decision the supervisors made to leave Noguez in his position respects the principle that everyone is innocent until found guilty, even though the supervisors had in their hands—and on paper—the possibility of removing an elected official who had failed to perform his duties for a period of three months.

It is not fair for taxpayers to be paying a salary and a raise to an official who has not worked for six months and is imprisoned facing charges of corruption during his administration. What would be fair is for him to have to return some of the money if found guilty.

In order to avoid a repeat of this situation, county authorities must change the regulations to prevent making a mockery of taxpayers.