Young Kim: Perjurer or Tax Cheat?

Some people, particularly those seeking election in a district other than where they actually live, like to have it both ways. This appears to be the case for Young Kim, who is challenging Assemblywoman Sharon Quirk-Silva in the 65th Assembly district. Through a review of property tax records TheLiberalOC has found that Mrs. Kim and her husband Charles Kim are set to claim a $7,000 2014 Homeowners’ Property Tax Exemption for the La Habra home that they allegedly moved from in 2013, in order for her to challenge Assemblywoman Quirk-Silva.

Voter registration records indicate that Young Kim, Charles Kim, and two of their four children, registered to vote at an address in Fullerton in early January 2013. Young Kim’s remaining two children continue to be registered to vote at their parent’s previous address in La Habra. Young and Charles Kim are not the owners of their alleged residence in Fullerton. They do however continue to own the home in La Habra for which their tax bill indicates the $7,000 tax exemption.

In order to claim a homeowners property tax exemption the home must have been the principal place of residence of the owner on the lien date, January 1st. Homeowners’ Exemption claimants are responsible for notifying the assessor when they are no longer eligible for the exemption.

California Elections Code 2031, for the purpose of voter registration, states:

If a person has more than one residence and that person maintains a homeowner’s property tax exemption on the dwelling of one of the residences there shall be a rebuttable presumption that the residence subject to the homeowner’s property tax exemption is that person’s domicile. However, this presumption shall not apply in the event any other residence is listed as the person’s current residence address on any driver’s license, identification card or vehicle registration issued to that person by, and on file with, the Department of Motor Vehicles.

When registering to vote, the voter attests, under penalty of perjury, that they live in the residence they have registered at. We do not know what address is on Young Kim’s drivers license, or vehicle registration, but this poses a bit of a conundrum for Mrs. Kim. If she and her husband are indeed eligible for the tax exemption, then she would be ineligible to run for Assembly in the 65th Assembly District, and they both would have committed perjury on their voter registration forms. If, on the other hand, Young Kim and her husband do live at the Fullerton address where they are registered to vote, then they must be tax cheats.

Either way, this appears to demonstrate the type of character voters could expect from Young Kim if she were to be elected to the State Assembly? If so, is Young Kim really who the residents of the 65th Assembly District need representing them in Sacramento?

We don’t think so.

With less than a week until election day the voters of the 65th Assembly district will have to determine whether or not they feel Young Kim is a perjurer or a tax cheat as they decide who to vote for. We suggest that they consider in their voting calculations that there is no question where Assemblywoman Sharon Quirk-Silva lives. Her years of service as a Fullerton City Council member and Mayor, prior to her election to the State Assembly in 2012,have clearly established both her residency and ties to the district she currently represents.

While there is a possibility that some laws may have been broken, we doubt that District Attorney Tony Rackauckas will investigate the issue of Young Kim’s residency or false claim of a property tax exemption.

After all, Rackauckas has endorsed Young Kim for the State Assembly seat she seeks. He didn’t bother to investigate State Senator Mimi Walters for similar issues in 2012. A lawsuit was filed to remove Walters from the ballot in 2012 claiming that Walters and her husband, David, had lived in a 14,000-square-foot mansion in Laguna Niguel since 1999. The suit claimed that, early in 2012, Walters changed her voter registration to reflect that she was living in a 570-square-foot apartment in Irvine with no dishwasher or washer/dryer hook ups. The suit was unsuccessful, but DA Rackauckas didn’t bother to investigate. Walters is currently back living in, and registered to vote at, that same Laguna Niguel home and is running for Congress to replace Rep. John Campbell.

And we recall that back in March of 2010 we pointed out that Irvine’s Steven Choi had registered to vote in a tiny one bedroom apartment in order to qualify as a candidate for State Assembly. To our knowledge, the DA did nothing then as well.You can find that saga here.

Yesterday the Voice of OC reported that an Orange County District Attorney’s office investigator requested nomination papers filed by Santa Ana City Council candidate Miguel “Mike” Gonzalez, the city clerk confirmed last week, an indication that prosecutors could be investigating whether Gonzalez made false statements about his residency. Gonzalez is challenging Santa Ana Mayor Pro Tem Sal Tinajero in his bid for reelection.

We can hope that the DA’s sudden interest in the actual residence of Mr. Gonzalez may signal a willingness to investigate such matters. But we won’t be holding our breath waiting to see if he directs his investigators to look in to Young Kim’s actual place of residence.

Be it perjurer or tax cheat, Young Kim just can’t be trusted to represent the people of the 65th Assembly district.