Assessor John Noguez, Under Fire in Corruption Probe, Takes Leave of Absence

By Gene Maddaus Fri., Jun. 1 2012 at 3:56 PM

John Noguez

Assessor John Noguez, who is the target of a "pay-to-play" investigation, said today that he would take a voluntary leave of absence.

In a letter to the Board of Supervisors, Noguez said he wanted to restore "public confidence in the professionalism, integrity, and impartiality of the Assessor's Office."

L.A. Weekly also learned today that the D.A.'s office has issued a grand jury subpoena to at least one witness in the case.

D.A. Steve Cooley called on Noguez to resign two weeks ago. Since then, Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky has been talking to Noguez in an effort to get him to step aside, at least temporarily.

"This is a positive development in the Assessor's Office," Yaroslavsky said. "The Assessor's Office is under a cloud. The decision by the assessor to take a leave of absence will allow the office to breathe again."

In a statement, Cooley called Noguez's decision "a step in the right direction."

"Hopefully, this will help get the Assessor's Office back on track," Cooley said. "It will have no impact on the criminal investigation being conducted by this office."

Noguez asked the board to appoint a chief deputy, who will assume the duties of the office while Noguez focuses on his defense. Noguez said his leave will begin once the chief deputy is appointed.

Noguez will be continue to be paid while he is on leave, said his attorney, Michael Proctor. He makes $193,000 per year.

"Right now he's going to focus day by day on the circumstances of the investigation and the political climate," Proctor said. "He's leaving open the idea that he might return under the right circumstances."

Proctor said that Noguez was stepping aside "to support the office he has loved and served for over 27 years."

Noguez's top lieutenant, George Renkei, has been working as chief of staff on an interim basis since Chris Carlos resigned in February as the investigation began to heat up.

The D.A.'s office opened an inquiry into Noguez and his relationship with tax agent Ramin Salari after receiving a complaint last November. As L.A. Weekly detailed in April, Noguez is accused of directing a friend and campaign supporter, Scott Schenter, to lower property values in hopes of reaping campaign contributions.

The D.A.'s office has searched Noguez's home, the assessor's office locations and Salari's home in Phoenix.

Yaroslavsky is asking the Board of Supervisors to seek the appointment of a temporary replacement for Noguez at its meeting on Wednesday.
Noguez Leave of Absence

Tags:

assessor, corruption, John Noguez, Scott Schenter, Steve Cooley

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Cid1972

With so many costume shops in this large city, how can we choose the right fox?

Jprguad57

The assesor's office has been corrupt just like the Building and Safety Dept. for years but kept it all under the radar until now. And I am talking all the way back to the 60's .

Sam Infusia

How convenient.

A Veteran Deputy Assessor

John... John... John,So many in your department had faith in you. You will NEVER regain their trust. You have shamed yourself and the organization you claimed to serve. You SHOULD be ashamed to continue to draw your $192,000 per year salary while performing NO service to the taxpayers. RESIGN ALREADY!!

Wong doings

The shame is in this witch hunt that has been perpetrated by former political opponent John Wong.

John Dortch was an assessor employee who ran against Noguez in the primary. When he failed, he support John Wong against Noguez in the main election. He conveniently was also the first to file a complaint which he bragged about in a times article today. Sure Dortch wants Noguez to step down, he wants his job.

What about Randy Economy, the "hero" of Los Cerritos Community News? He was John Wong's campaign manager. I bet he has an interest in bringing Noguez down. I wonder who his suggestion will be for who takes the job.

Noguez looks bad, but I thought it was innocent until proven guilty no matter how bad it looks. His political opponents have staged a coup. Don't put new foxes in to run the henhouse. We need outside leadership, well outside.

ConcernedTaxPayer

I agree with this statement. There are a lot of people who are being targeted, who have NOTHING to do with John or his dealings with Ramin!. John Dortch, has been some kind of pain in the rear end since he lost his bid. Wong's campaign manager has started a witch hunt against mostly innocent people - Eric Hagenson-really? This guy is no criminal, PLEASE! Whatever John, Scott and Ramin did, keep it under perspective. There are people who have nothing to do with this whose lives are being ruined. Look into Schenter's past, he's PROBABLY been doing dirty deals for a long time. Long before the Noguez campaign. Now Schenter is throwing Noguez under the bus because he wants to save his own skin? It will be disgusting if Schenter gets any type of "witness immunity". He's the true criminal here. If John did give preferential treatment to Ramin, that's a whole separate matter. Things are so muddled up that the TRUE facts are not coming out. Story #1, Scott Schenter profiting for himself. Story #2, John giving Ramin preferential treatment. That's it. Now the sharks are circling and they are taking down innocent people. John was the boss, he told people what to do. If you worked for John, you did what John told you to do. It's that simple. By the way, it's really disgusting how some employees at the Assessor's office are targeting each other. Harassment against these so called "wrong doers" is out of control and completely unfair! This is still the USA correct? People are acting like this is the Salem Witch Trials.

John Dortch

To set the record straight: I neverspoke with the news media aboutfiling a complaint. Don't believeeverything you read or make assumptions based upon your bias.By the way, the complaint is wellfounded and valid!

brianhews

Mr. Wong Doings:

Brian Hews, Publisher of Los Cerritos Community News and Randy Economy's boss. Randy was not John Wong's Manager he was a minion who made phone calls and was unpaid. Mr. Wong raised 49,000 in the campaign do you think he could afford to pay?Since I have no dog in the fight and I authorized Randy to run the articles, you are dead wrong on your assumption. So Mr. Reyes, or Mr Reinke, or whoever your are, look at the facts and don't view this case through biased glasses go to my website loscerritosnews.net and see Noguez Timeline.