Jan 23, 2020
You may not know who Howard Jarvis is, but if you live in California, he has had a major impact on your life without you even realizing it. Back in the 1970s, Jarvis was a Republican lobbyist who resented the power of big government. He led a massive campaign to slash property taxes in California, and succeeded in 1978 with the passing of Prop 13.
With its passing, property taxes were slashed to 1% of the purchase price, while also setting a cap of 2% on how much property taxes could be raised year-to-year.
While the initiative has saved Californians thousands of dollars, its long term impacts have had seriously negative consequences for many programs in California, chief among them being education.
Today Prop 13’s popularity in California has made it a Third Rail, threatening political death to any politician aiming to curb it.
Our guests today are Jason Cohn and Camille Servan-Schreiber, who have produced a film called “The First Angry Man,” which captures Howard Jarvis’ quest to put Prop 13 on the ballot, and further explores the long lasting consequences it has had on the state.. The film will can be seen at the SF Urban Film Festival as well as the SF Indie Film Festival, taking place February 2nd through the 9th. Later this year, a measure on the 2020 ballot will seek to roll back some of Prop 13s protections on commercial and industrial properties. In this episode, Jason, Camille and I discuss their film, as well as Prop 13s impact on California, and it’s future.
SFUFF 2020: https://sfurbanfilmfest.com/2020/#
The First Angry Man: https://breadandbutterfilms.com/portfolio/first-angry-man/
2:26 Getting Started
5:02 Oakland Homeless Issue
10:12 The First Angry Man
14:13 Prop 13
18:45 Who is Paying Taxes
19:32 Howard Jarvis
27:40 Why Should I Help?
29:59 Tax Revolt
36:05 Screening Information
37:17 Wrap Up