{"id":569,"date":"2026-05-26T22:37:21","date_gmt":"2026-05-26T22:37:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=569"},"modified":"2026-05-26T22:37:21","modified_gmt":"2026-05-26T22:37:21","slug":"endorsement-vince-robb-is-only-qualified-candidate-for-contra-costa-county-assessor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=569","title":{"rendered":"Endorsement: Vince Robb is only qualified candidate for Contra Costa County Assessor"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n

Gus Kramer, Contra Costa County\u2019s \u201cBad Boy assessor,\u201d is retiring after 32 years.<\/p>\n

Read more Nick Spinner, Contra Costa County assessor candidate, answers Bay Area News Group\u2019s primary questionnaire<\/a><\/p>\n

Years frequently marred by scandals.<\/p>\n

Civil grand jury accusations. Censure fights. Allegations of retaliation, sexual harassment, improper land dealings, etc. Kramer denied wrongdoing, but the damage to public trust has lingered.<\/p>\n

Now, it\u2019s up to voters to choose among three candidates to replace Kramer \u2013 and determine who will oversee one of the most technical and financially critical offices in county government.<\/p>\n

In California, property taxes provide about a fifth of local governments\u2019 revenues, funding everything from police and fire departments to libraries, parks and schools. And it falls on elected assessors to determine the taxable value of real estate and business property within counties.<\/p>\n

In Contra Costa County, that means tracking far more than ranch houses in Walnut Creek or condos in Brentwood. Last year, the county\u2019s tax roll exceeded $290 billion. Among the 382,000 parcels tracked annually by the 180-person office are oil refineries in Richmond, life science labs in Hercules, financial service IT centers in Concord and logistics hubs in Antioch.<\/p>\n

In other words, this is a complicated job. It requires mastery of California valuation law, depreciation schedules, commercial appraisal standards and appeals procedures that can take years to understand.<\/p>\n

Vincent Robb is the only qualified candidate on June 2 ballots.<\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

Robb, 43, started working in the Assessor\u2019s Office a year after graduating college two decades ago, and he never left. Since becoming assistant county assessor in 2023, he has overseen nearly every division and function of the office, spanning mapping, ownership changes and exemptions. And he has managed appraisals across every property type.<\/p>\n

Robb is the only candidate with an appraiser license or any direct experience performing appraisals and assessments.<\/p>\n

Caveat emptor<\/h4>\n

However, he comes with an asterisk.<\/p>\n

As the right-hand man to Kramer for the last couple years, he is entering this race in the shadow of a man whose tenure was defined by scandals, including allegations that he used his power to punish his political enemies with inflated assessments.<\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

While nearly all of Kramer\u2019s alleged wrongdoing happened before Robb became a senior leader in the office, Robb himself was mentioned in a lawsuit against the county by a former department employee who accused him of race- and gender-based harassment and discrimination.<\/p>\n

That case was settled and dismissed, and an independent investigation found that those claims could not be substantiated.<\/p>\n

Read more Kismat Kathrani, Contra Costa County assessor candidate, answers Bay Area News Group\u2019s primary questionnaire<\/a><\/p>\n

Robb admitted to our editorial board that the Assessor Office\u2019s reputation needs repair. And he acknowledged that Kramer damaged public trust and made the office \u201ca bit more political than it probably should be.\u201d<\/p>\n

If elected, Robb told us he would rebuild relationships with local agencies, modernize property-tax systems and expand public education on assessments, exemptions, exclusions and Proposition 19.<\/p>\n

He says he has already changed internal reporting structures, participated in property-tax system work groups and trained staff to better explain assessments to the public.<\/p>\n

Despite the past turmoil surrounding this office, there is good reason to conclude it is a well-oiled machine working as it should. Audits by the California Board of Equalization have found it is compliant with state standards. In the most recent analysis, the Board of Equalization reviewed the office\u2019s assessments and found they were more than 99% accurate. They noted areas for improvement, but nothing in the Board\u2019s reports signal that the Assessor\u2019s Office is corrupt or dysfunctional.<\/p>\n

Understandable reservations<\/h4>\n

Many Contra Costa County voters want a clean break from Kramer. Under different circumstances, we could relate.<\/p>\n

But the two other candidates in this race are not qualified.<\/p>\n

Nick Spinner, 39, is a Crocket-based computer scientist and software and systems engineer who works for the county. He told our editorial board that he would use his experience maintaining the systems shared by the Assessor\u2019s, Tax Collector\u2019s and Auditor-Controller\u2019s offices to upgrade their technologies. This office and nearly every other assessor\u2019s office in the state need newer systems, but this is not an IT job. Its main mission is appraisals and defending billions of dollars in assessed value that help keep city, county and school services funded.<\/p>\n

Kismat Kathrani, 52, offers a variation on Spinner\u2019s same IT pitch. Based in San Ramon, Kathrani is president of a software company, which he says has helped government agencies automate. He told us he could use his two decades of experience managing large teams in the tech industry to transform the Assessor\u2019s Office with AI.<\/p>\n

But like Spinner, Kathrani has no appraisal experience. Moreover, Kathrani\u2019s company has neither produced appraisal software nor ever helped any assessor\u2019s office. We are not convinced he could transform an office he does not understand.<\/p>\n

Pure and simple, there is only one qualified candidate.<\/p>\n

Elect Vince Robb.<\/p>\n

To read our endorsements of other key races on East Bay voters\u2019 June 2 ballots and to read our interviews with dozens of candidates, please visit eastbaytimes.com\/opinion\/endorsements\/.<\/em><\/p>\n

Read more Genny Altwer, candidate for San Jose City Council District 9, answers Mercury News primary questionnaire<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Voters may want a clean break from ‘Bad Boy Assessor’ Gus Kramer. But the other candidates in this race aren’t qualified.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":568,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-569","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-opinion"],"yoast_head":"\nEndorsement: Vince Robb is only qualified candidate for Contra Costa County Assessor - Next City Digest<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=569\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Endorsement: Vince Robb is only qualified candidate for Contra Costa County Assessor - Next City Digest\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Voters may want a clean break from 'Bad Boy Assessor' Gus Kramer. 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