Howard Jarvis

Howard Arnold Jarvis (September 22, 1903 – August 12, 1986) was an American businessman, lobbyist, and politician. He was a tax policy activist responsible for passage of California's Proposition 13 in 1978.

Early life and education
Jarvis was born in Magna, Utah. Although he was raised as a Mormon, he smoked cigars and drank vodka as an adult.

He graduated from Utah State University. In Utah, he had some political involvement working with his father's campaigns and his own. His father was a state Supreme Court judge and, unlike Jarvis, a member of the Democratic Party. Howard Jarvis was active in the Republican Party and also ran small town newspapers. He served as a press officer for Herbert Hoover's 1932 presidential campaign and supported Barry Goldwater in 1964.

He moved to California in the 1930s due to a suggestion by Earl Warren. Jarvis bought his home at 515 North Crescent Heights Boulevard in Los Angeles for $8,000 in 1941. By 1976, it was assessed at $80,000. He married his third wife, Estelle Garcia, around 1965.

Political career
Jarvis was a Republican primary candidate for the U.S. Senate in California in 1962, but the nomination and the election went to the moderate Republican Thomas Kuchel. Subsequently, he ran several times for Mayor of Los Angeles on an anti-tax platform and gained a reputation as a harsh critic of government. He founded the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association in 1978.

The HJTA pushed for the passage of California Proposition 13 in 1978. The proposition adjusted the property tax rate, pegging it at 1% of the purchase price of the property. This proposal was popular, largely due to the high inflation and associated rises in property taxes through the 1970s. Jarvis and his wife collected tens of thousands of signatures to enable Prop. 13 to appear on a statewide ballot, for which he garnered national attention. The ballot measure passed with nearly two-thirds of the vote. Two years later, voters in Massachusetts enacted a similar measure.

In the campaign, Jarvis argued that lowering property tax rates would cause landlords to pass savings onto renters, who were upset at their rapidly rising rents driven by the high inflation of the 1970s. Most landlords did not do this, which became a motivating factor for rent control.

Awards
In 1979, Jarvis received the S. Roger Horchow Award for Greatest Public Service by a Private Citizen, an award given out annually by Jefferson Awards.

DUI arrest
Jarvis was arrested for DUI on March 15, 1978 Jarvis was pulled over in Ventura county by officer Michael Kipp for driving at a high rate of speed and swerving across lanes. Kipp testified that Jarvis failed three sobriety tests and was unable to recite the alphabet. Kipper further stated that during their interaction Jarvis denied driving the car and remarked "That's right, I'm Howard Jarvis and you realize what you've done to yourself". During the trial Jarvis argued that his erratic driving was the result of threats against his life which triggered fear and anxiety.

Racial slurs
Jarvis was heard referring to one of his Jewish opponents as a "lying kike lawyer from Brooklyn". The incident was reported during the failed Proposition 9 campaign of 1980. Proposition 9 was an effort championed by Jarvis designed to limit income taxes in California. Following a debate with attorney and former assemblyman William T. Bagley on San Francisco television station KPIX Jarvis reportedly commended Bagley for his debate performance and, as Bagley recalls it, stated "You're not like Reiner. He is a goddamned lying lawyer kike son of a bitch from Brookyln." Jarvis was referring to Los Angeles city controller Ira Reiner, who is Jewish, and was a strong opponent of Proposition 9. San Francisco Examiner reporter Jim Wood recalled hearing Jarvis only say "lying kike lawyer from Brooklyn" in reference to Reiner.

Jarvis was criticized by Asian-American groups for using the slur "Japs" after the defeat of Proposition 9 "The public employees have won the first battle like the Japs won the first battle at Pearl Harbor, but the United States won the war." remarked Jarvis following the election. The slur also appears in print in Jarvis' 1979 book "I'm Mad as Hell: The Exclusive Story of the Tax Revolt and Its Leader".

Film appearance
In 1980, he had a cameo appearance in the film Airplane!, playing an incredibly patient taxicab passenger. His character apparently spends the entire movie sitting in an empty cab waiting for the driver (played by Robert Hays) to return, with the meter running all the while. Jarvis has the final line in the movie, which he says after the end credits; he looks at his watch and says "Well, I'll give him another twenty minutes, but that's it!" The inside joke was that Jarvis would never have paid for such a charge in real life.

Death
Jarvis died in 1986 in Los Angeles at the age of 82, of complications of a blood disease.