David Dodson Board of Equalization

The BOE was long known as a place for career politicians to collect a check while plotting their next move. Once one of California’s largest agencies with 5,000 employees, the BOE administered a variety of tax programs including sales taxes, cigarette taxes, and marijuana taxes. That all changed when an audit revealed inappropriate political behavior by former Board members. Now, the Board’s responsibilities have been confined to its historical constitutional duty of the oversight of California’s Property Tax system.

This is why I felt motivated to run against the political machine. The work being done by the dedicated professionals at the department is important. In my career running the Southern California BOE office I have seen three Assessor’s go to jail. Do we need a political board overseeing the two hundred state employees doing this work? Maybe not, but as long as it is here voters need to pay better attention and not send us another Mike Schaefer. I am disappointed about the democratic party’s fixation on defending their incumbents no matter who they are. Elections are about choices and I am hopeful that voters will do a little research and make an informed decision.