New Times / News

Maldonado pays

BY COLIN RIGLEY

Lt. Governor Abel Maldonado’s family business reluctantly paid a $111,146 tax lien to the Internal Revenue Service on July 26 to avoid further embarrassment for the Santa Maria Republican.

In a statement penned by Maldonado’s brother Frank, president of Agro-Jal Farming Enterprises, he said Abel wanted to pay the lien after it was levied in April, but was outvoted by the other two company board members.

“What the two of us failed to realize was that even if Agro-Jal’s actions were 100 percent proper, the lien filed while we were disputing the bill would cause great political embarrassment to Abel,” Frank Maldonado said in the statement.

He added that the company paid the lien “under protest” because the directors “cannot sit by and see a family member unfairly tarnished by a board decision he strongly opposed.”

Agro-Jal has incurred about $294,000 in tax liens, ranging from federal to local agencies since 1992, according to public records. The most recent lien was paid off shortly after being made public by the Los Angeles Times.

Abel Maldonado, a former California senator, was appointed this year to serve as lieutenant governor. In a bid for reelection in November, he’ll face off against Gavin Newsom, the Democratic mayor of San Francisco.