Have you ever seen anyone with such a hard on to get Chevron? Tom Butt, Richmond City Councilmember—and no friend of the San Ramon based oil concern with major refineries in Richmond—has plastered the e-mail below far and wide to help Supervisor John Gioia recruit just the right someone for the Assessment Board of Appeals from supervisoral district (D-1). The message is clear:
Time to stick it to Chevron!
From: Butt, Tom [mailto:tom.butt@intres.com]
Sent: Thursday, October 22, 2009 8:35 AM
Subject: TOM BUTT E-FORUM: Gioia Soliciting Applicants for Assessment Appeals Board
District 1 County Supervisor John Gioia will be nominating a replacement for termed out Assessment Appeals Board member Joe Fisher. If you are qualified and interested in applying or know someone who is, please contact Supervisor Gioia.
The appointee needs to be either: a licensed real estate broker, a CPA, a lawyer or a certified appraiser; those are state law requirements. In the past, real estate brokers were generally appointed since this had never been a high visibility board and usually just dealt with assessment appeals from single family homes. The Chevron case was the first time that an assessment appeal for a refinery actually went to a hearing decision. There is a pending Chevron appeal which has even greater tax ramifications then the previous one.
Persons interested in appointment should contact:
John Gioia-District 1
Contra Costa County Board of Supervisors
11780 San Pablo Ave., Suite D
El Cerrito, CA 94530
Phone: (510) 374-3231
Fax: (510) 374-3429
jgioi@bos.cccounty.us
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
Board of Supervisors Appoints El Cerrito resident Art Walenta to the West County Seat on the Assessment Appeals Board
On Tuesday, November 10th, the Board of Supervisors appointed my recommended nominee, Arthur Walenta, to the Contra Costa Assessment Appeals Board. This five-person Assessment Appeals Board is responsible for reviewing and ruling on property tax disputes. (All property owners have the right to appeal the assessed value of their property.) Each Supervisor nominates candidates to represent his or her district.
Mr. Walenta joins the Appeals Board at an important time. The Board is currently reviewing a property tax appeal by the Chevron Corporation, which claims the County has over assessed the value of Chevron’s Richmond Refinery. Mr. Walenta’s background and experience make him an excellent board member to consider this, and all appeals.
An El Cerrito resident, Art Walenta is retired after a 37-year career as an attorney in the Contra Costa District Attorney’s Office and County Counsel’s office. He served for 10 years as the attorney for the Assessment Appeals Board. When he retired from the County, he was the Assistant County Counsel. Mr. Walenta has a B.S. degree in Business from U.C. Berkeley and a law degree from Harvard Law School.
His long history of professional and community service includes serving as Chair of the Northern California County Counsel School Attorneys Section; as a trial referee for the State Bar Court, and on the Board of Directors for the Bay Area Girl Scout Council. He’s received numerous awards including the University Student Cooperative Association 2007 Alumnus of the Year.
Mr. Walenta remains active in community service. He’s a member of “Attorneys for Children,” which fund-raises for children in homeless shelters in Alameda County; a member of the El Cerrito Democratic Club; a Health Educator for Kaiser Permanente, where he teaches self-help to people suffering from chronic illnesses, and President of the Berkeley Student Cooperative Alumni Association, which provides assistance and advice to U.C. students.
Thank you for running this announcement from my E-FORUM. You can read on my website about a recent appointment. Is there something about the announcement that was not factual?
Edi, if you lived in Richmond you would know that Tom Butt is on the Richmond city council and is famous for his dislike of Chevron. He’s clearly encouraging a get-Chevron person to apply for the Assessment Appeals Board in order to turn the next property tax appeal against Chevron.
The last person Gioia appointed sided with Chevron on their appeal.
If Butt is or is not a fan of Chevron, you could NOT tell that from the message above. Letting people know that there is a pending Chevron Appeal and that it has been a unique situation in the recent past is NOT telling people how to rule, or whatever.