35 years after Prop. 13's passage, ordinary Californians still side with Howard Jarvis.

◼ Remembering Howard Jarvis, the regular guy who brought us tax fairness with Prop. 13 - James Lacy/LA Daily News

The story of Howard Jarvis, when it is recounted on occasions like this week's 35th anniversary of Proposition 13, is rightly remembered as the enormous political moment it was, when California and the nation were turned upside down by the largest tax cut in state history, giving momentum to Reagan's historic election as president two years later and changing politics and government in the Golden State forever....

During the Prop 13 campaign in June 1978, just about every politician, business association and labor union warned of dire consequences to the state if it was enacted. The measure had two things going for it: the support of an over-taxed electorate, and the determination of an otherwise ordinary guy named Howard Jarvis. When the votes were counted, the measure passed by 2-to-1 statewide. It lowered the property tax burden on average Californians by about 60 percent and, according to research by the economist Dr. Arthur Laffer, unleashed an unprecedented economic expansion. Overall property tax revenues came back in six years.

I am well aware that not everyone sees Prop. 13 the same way. Californians are still arguing about it 35 years later. But the polls show that ordinary Californians still side with Jarvis. I think one reason for that is that he lived among them.