The Assessor-Clerk-Recorder Job use to be three jobs.
Assessor - Responsible for assessing real property for tax revenue purposes
Clerk - Responsible for issuing and recording documents OTHER THAN real estate related documents
Recorder - Responsible for recording real estate related documents (deeds, liens, etc)
Starting in the 1960's small counties started consolidating and computers an digitization changed a lot. Around 1995 Monterey County Consolidated all three into a single job.
The Assessor-Clerk-Recorder is an elected position. As of now, the only reporting is to the people. There should be cross check reporting to the Board of Supervisors -- otherwise individual crime against citizens can run rampant.
2/28/2026 - Emails will be added to this website exposing the assessing problems. and the SEI 700 problems detailed in Church and Camacho audits as well as websit home page will be added. other photos and facts will be added relatd to other matters. For now please see Supervisor Glenn Church Audit Documents and Assessor-Clerk Recorder Marina Camacho Audit documents for specfic details .
Unlawful assessing (documented) - we have detailed emails that show aggresssive and unlawful assessing for $100,000 that was reversed, but with demands to personally inspect the interior of the property that were excessive and a need to generate a lot of paperwork to avoid that invasion
Employee Fraud - The unlawful assessing emails seem to expose employee fraud and nobody was ever willing to take responsibility for the, work to and including the Assessor.
Unlawful assessing (circumstantial) - multiple stories of people overheard at the window sharing concerns
Excessive pay - Marina Camacho is currenlty making $350,000 a year. Senior "assessors" are making $225,000 per year and othes are making $125,000 and 175,000 per year. These are NOT professional appraisers. They are most like clerks. The rules and books for appriasing exist.
Improper Titles - Assessors are currently being called "appraisers" in a way that is suggestive and misleading. they get that title upon hire , and they have 1 year to pass a 100 question test with 70% or higher to keep the title of "appraiser". That confuses them with the profession of Appraising which requires far more experience, training and expertise.
Improper "Gang" Work - if you observe them at the counter , they frequently / always come to the counter for questions with 2 people. They seem to rarely show up by themselves and the older of the pair seems to be more talented at gas lighting and evasiion than the younger -- altough if you are not real estate literate, it may seem like they are being sincere about facts which they are not.
improper state guidelines - The guidelines for what and when assessing should transpare are 90% acceptable. The oddity is the "re-assessment" they put on "luxury kitchens and bathrooms". They allow for replumbing a home, re-roofing a home and comparable as part of "wear and tear" with no re-assessment as proper. However, a kitchen or bathroom that wears ot and is replaced is re-assessed and they are re-assessing at high rates comparable to retail cost, not nominal. This is very improper as a 100,000 kitchen remodel seldome if ever adds 100,000 the home. In addition , the guidlines for pricing things like decks are at extremely high rates. They've made it such that the wealthy get hammered for remodeling a home -- and that pushes people to do work without permits.
Biased Consideration - at this time it appears biased consideration has been extended to Supervisor Glenn Church and his properties. It may have been extended to his father and just carried over. 470 Hidden Valley is showing in some records at a 774 sf unrenovated home - that is owner occupied, yet he's claiming over $800/month in rental income on it. In other records online that typically pull from tax records, the property is a multi-unit prperty with as much as 2200sf. An aerial view, which assessors use, shows there may be numerous structurs on the property that far exceed 774 sf total living space.
Internet access to Fictitous names database - the fictitious names database use to be accessible via the internet. That has been retracted for no logical reason.
Cash Bank - their abilty to make change at the counter seemed to be hindered by the lack of a common cash bank. At this time there are questions about daily reconciliation for cash transactions
SEI 700 Filings - general concerns - The Clerk has been failing miserably at rewiving paper forms for completeness prior to accepting. the Efile system with the county is resulting in automatica stamping of documents with absent or incomplete information. The categorization of documents in the system is haphazzard and problematic. When people do not file there seems to be no followup.
SEI 700 Filings - Clerk's own filings are problematic - The Clerk herself is an SEI 700 filers and she his mssing filings, palying shell games ith properties, undervaluing real property on her statements, and engaging in data flipping to make visual audits more challenging.
SEI 700 Filings - State engagement - Some filers, like Supervisors have to file with the county -- but the state also requires their forms. The state has implemented new rules whereby the filer must file directly with the state separate from the county. What should be transpiring is a county filed document that is then forwarded to the state. What is transpiring is seperate filing -- opening up the possibilyt of "bifurcated filing" whereby different information is presented ot the county and the state -- as exmpliefied with Glenn Church.
Internet access to public records - The internet access for public records is not active. One has to go to the county seat and view records and pay $2/page for prints. This is improper this day in age.
Internet Access to APN/Tax info - the access is provided by a third party with limited use without a paid subscrption.