Assessor Claude Parrish is an Orange County institution – and a character. He first won the office in 2014, 53% to 47%, defeating incumbent Webster J. Guillory, who was embroiled in a scandal.

The assessor’s job is to determine the value of property for taxation. Officially a nonpartisan seat, everyone knows Parrish is a Republican.

He turns 79 on July 27 and definitely is old school. Calling me back at the end of a workday, he said, “I try to take all calls and return calls. Even if they’re nasty, I take calls. But a lot of people call me up and thank me, which I appreciate.”

I asked about concerns he might be too old for the job. “I’m not going to talk about my age,” he said. “But I like what I do, and that’s that. I enjoy talking to people, and I’m talking to you.”

He’s also not into that newfangled technology called artificial intelligence, even though one of the main platforms, from Anthropic, is called Claude. “I like human beings, and I want human beings to be working for me,” he said. He recalled one of the first things he did upon taking office in 2015 was to set up the Taxpayer Advocate Office, with one advocate for residential and one for business. “I try to make things easy for the taxpayers. I was a taxpayer myself once.”

And if taxpayers still have problems, they can, he repeated, call him directly. If they make a good case, “We check it out, and sometimes we can actually give them a reduction.” He also opened a South County office in Mission Viejo and is planning one in North County.

He said he’s keen on applying Proposition 13, the 1978 measure that limited property taxes to 1% of assessed value, with increases capped at 2% a year. The tax revolt was led by the legendary Howard Jarvis, who died in 1986. Parrish said, “I used to smoke cigars with Howard Jarvis at the Century Plaza years ago. No kidding.”

The 2023-24 OC Grand Jury Review of the Assessor’s Office found Parrish “has returned a significant amount of money” to the county general fund, totaling $15 million from 2015-16 to 2022-23. “Well, I’m Scottish,” he said. “I don’t believe in wasting money. I know how hard money is for people to earn, and the last thing I want to do is take people’s hard-earned money and squander it.”

In 2023, a Confidential Investigation Report on Parrish was prepared for the County of Orange. The report came to light in 2025 in an LAist story, which summarized: Parrish allegedly “violated gender discrimination and retaliation policies and harassed a subordinate over her medical disability.” The person’s name is blacked out in the report released online. Parrish denied any wrongdoing.

“This person wanted to leave,” he told me. He told her, “OK,” and she could come back. “But she didn’t want to come back, so who knows? And she’s still working for the county.”

Parrish won reelection in 2018 with 69% and in 2022 with 71%.

This time he also has an opponent, La Palma Councilmember Janet Keo Conklin. 

In a May 5 Register interview, she said, “I will bring the same commitment to open, ethical government that defined my City Council tenure – ensuring accurate, transparent assessments so families and small businesses aren’t overtaxed.” And she promised “upgraded technology, so the office is more accessible, efficient and user-friendly.”

But then, as LAist reported May 8, “Former staffers accuse OC assessor candidate of misuse of campaign funds and sexual harassment.” Democratic Party leaders dropped their endorsement and told her to “lawyer up and drop out.” She told LAist, “I have not done anything wrong.”  

So much for her candidacy.

With President Biden leaving office at 82 and President Trump turning 80 next month, it’s not that unusual for Parrish to stay behind the wheel at 79. The main thing is making sure our taxes are as low as possible. For that, he can stay till he’s 100.

John Seiler is on the SCNG Editorial Board