________________________
________________________
John Morris heads to Fall election showdown with West Hollywood City Councilman Jeff Prang. The winner will become the next Assessor of Los Angeles County.
By Brian Hews
Head District Attorney John Morris and West Hollywood City Councilman Jeffrey Prang survived Tuesday’s heated and crowded campaign for Los Angeles County Assessor and will be facing off against each other in the November 4th General Election.
The current Assessor John R. Noguez is currently facing more than two dozen felony charges of accepting bribes and turning his office over to former political contributors in exchange for lowering values of dozens of key properties across the sprawling county.
Morris, who was the only candidate in the race who did not have any ties to the Assessor’s office said that he was “in the position I want to be in, and I am grateful to the voters.”
“I am ready to clean up the mess that was created by John Noguez and to once again bring integrity and honesty to the taxpayers and to finally rid the Assessor’s office of corruption from the top down,” Morris told Hews Media Group-Community Newspaper in a telephone interview on Wednesday morning.
Prang, who is a longtime friend and ally of Noguez had attempted to distance himself from the criminal controversy that has swirled around the Assessor’s office for the past four years.
Morris said that the not spoken to Prang about the election results and said he “doesn’t plan to.”
Morris said he had a quiet election night at home with his wife and four children. In comparison, Prang held a glitzy election night affair at an exclusive spa in West Hollywood.
“I have never stopped, and won’t stop. This pay to play atmosphere is going to stop inside the Assessor’s office once and for all,” Morris said.
Prang told his supporters via his Facebook page: “With over 72% of the vote in, it would appear that if the trend continues, that I will finish in a strong first place as we head into the November runoff election! Thank you to everyone who voted for me and helped me achieve this remarkable victory!”
