The FBI served three search warrants Tuesday morning, including one at the Contra Costa County Assessor’s Office in Martinez, according to the agency.
Cameron Polan, FBI spokesperson, said via email that the warrants were part of an “ongoing investigation.” The agency did not provide any further information.
In addition to targeting the assessor’s office, Polan said that the agency served warrants at two residences, one on Temple Drive in Pacheco, and another on West Arlington Street in Martinez. Outgoing assessor Gus Kramer lives on West Arlington, and recently elected Vince Robb lives on Temple Drive.
Robb, according to unofficial election results, won the June 2 primary race for Kramer’s seat.
In a statement posted on Facebook Tuesday afternoon, Contra Costa County Supervisor John Gioia, whose district includes Richmond, said, “While there are certain limitations on the Board of Supervisors’ authority because the County Assessor’s Office is under the direct control of publicly elected Assessor Gus Kramer, the Board is focused on ensuring the integrity of the property assessment process and will explore all available options for the Office’s continued operation and delivery of services in a fair and impartial manner.”
He noted that the board of supervisors censored Kramer in 2019, the year when a Contra Costa County Civil Grand Jury sought to have Kramer fired after alleged workplace harassment, but he avoided it after he represented himself in the case and won.
Gioia also said in his statement that every member of the five-person board endorsed Richmond resident and real estate attorney Floy Andrews in the race for Kramer’s seat in 2022.
The assessor oversees the department that assesses the value of properties in Contra Costa County, producing an official assessment role every year by July 1, and audits all entities doing business in the county and maintains a set of more than 12,000 maps for assessment purposes.
The county declined to provide any details about the situation, saying only that it
“will continue to cooperate with the investigation.”
For more than 30 years, Kramer was the assessor for eight consecutive terms despite facing some controversies, according to news reports. In 2019,
Another incident saw the county’s district attorney investigate land deals associated with Kramer in 2011 though no charges were filed. Afterward, two deputy district attorneys blew the whistle that former District Attorney Mark Peterson squashed the investigation to protect Kramer. Peterson would later resign in 2017 after being charged with felony perjury for spending thousands of campaign finance dollars on personal needs.
According to the county, Kramer began his career with the
Sheriff-Coroner’s Office before holding key roles in the Probation and Public Works Departments. In 1986, he was elected Martinez City Clerk.
Robb received 68% of the votes, beating two other candidates in a decisive election victory last week. According to his campaign website, he has worked in the office for 20 years, including most recently as assistant county assessor, the second in command. He was endorsed by Kramer.
After the election, Robb posted a note on his campaign website, saying, “I am grateful to you for believing in me and our campaign. Every time I asked, you stepped in and helped – and it made a difference. The energy and support you brought to me and this campaign fueled me along the campaign trail.”
This is a developing story, and Richmondside will update it when further details are available.
It’s important to note that the Assessors office determines valuations on properties in Contra Costa County. Gus’s many years of experience led him to honestly conduct the business of the Assessor, meeting with and resolving issues brought to him. His office successfully sued corporations who hid their assets from valuation and through hard work they found discrepancies that they persued into court for the purpose of recouping monies desperately needed for our schools and for departments to not get cheated. Vince was the only candidate with experience that ran for office and he clearly deserved the win. I shudder to think some members of the board endorsed an individual in 22 with no assessors office experience. Sounds like a good reason for them to stay out of endorsements. But 2 of that board weren’t even ON it in 2022 and I would suggest some of the corrupt and biased Supervisors board are now finally gone. Do better John.
Hope Gus and Robb will come out OK….could they have been “set up” by folks who want them out of office and “progressive” RPA member Floy Andrews?? I would never want a “progressive” running the powerful County Assessors office