Kevin Ross of Gilbert wants his reputation back, and Maricopa County Assessor Keith Russell just might have to get out of his way.
   Ross is challenging Russell in the Sept. 2 Republican primary for the office that Ross held for almost eight years before he was convicted in 2008 on a felony charge that was later overturned and dismissed. This race has received almost no attention compared to contests for sheriff and county attorney. But Ross did buy some splashy elections ads in the Tribune over the weekend, demonstrating that he’s serious about regaining a position of public trust.
   When Russell, then a Mesa-based private appraiser, first went after Ross as the incumbent in 2004, few doubted Ross would be re-elected. Ross was generally recognized for running a tight fiscal ship during his first two terms while working to limit the impact of rising private property values on county assessments which are used to calculate property taxes. Ross also had championed a constitutional exemption for low-income senior citizens so they could freeze county assessments on their homes.
   But then Ross was accused by state Attorney General Terry Goddard of misusing that new law and the assessor’s office to seek personal profit. Ross had reached a private business deal to use a list of senior citizens who applied for home assessment freezes to market reverse mortgages to them. Goddard’s office claimed Ross had to use confidential information to put the list together and filed felony charges against him.
   Ross didn’t make any money from the reverse-mortgage deal, but Russell benefited heavily from the criminal charges against his opponent and won the 2004 elections. Then Ross was stripped of his title in December 2004 after a trial court convicted him of conflict of interest.
    Almost a year later, the Arizona Court of Appeals threw out the conviction, saying the information that Ross used came from public records and he didn’t violate state laws. By this point, Ross had spent more than $100,000 in legal fees and his name was sullied.
   So in late January 2008, Ross filed notice that he wanted $8 million from Goddard’s office and Maricopa County. On Feb. 1, the Tribune wrote an editorial suggesting he would do far more to regain his lost reputation if he campaigned for and won back the office of county assessor.
   Ross told me in a telephone call shortly after the editorial was published that he understood the reasoning of the Tribune Editorial Board. But Ross explained he was looking at a lawsuit because he wanted someone to say in black-and-white that he had been wronged — and there’s no guarantee he could win an election.
   I responded there were no guarantees Ross could win a lawsuit, either, and it didn’t make sense to demand a huge amount of money from the same taxpayers that Ross had pledged to protect.
   Eventually, Ross took the high road, and now Russell has to make an affirmative case to Maricopa County voters that he deserves a second term.
   Russell’s stewardship hasn’t received any significant criticism. But he does face lingering resentment from a number of property owners because their market values have dropped this year but their county assessments are still rising.
   Russell has a credible explanation: state law limits the amount that a county assessment for individual parcels can climb each year. So many county assessments fell far behind market increases between 2005 and 2007 and still need to catch up.
   The question this year is whether enough Republican voters have heard and understand Russell’s explanation, or whether they believe Ross could handle the state limits differently.