Discussion | 20 comments

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• DarrinDecember 07, 2011 - 9:04 am

  I should have called Mr. Runner when I had to deal with the Board of Equalization last year. The Board of Equalization felt that I owed tax on some non-existent sales. They admitted that they made up the numbers. As soon as one agent came to the conclusion that the Board of Equalization was at fault for the error, that person was removed from the case. The process would start all over again every few months as I explained the sitution to the new agent and faxed in all the documentation to them again. I was passed from agent to agent for 15 - 18 months.

• bobDecember 07, 2011 - 9:09 am

  Any cash business...especially restaurants can run adrift when it comes to reporting earnings and eventually paying taxes on them.

• ErinDecember 07, 2011 - 10:57 am

  @Darrin....now that was not only a waste of your time but also a waste of taxpayer dollars.....Ridiculous how they can harass people like you......'

• billDecember 07, 2011 - 2:07 pm

  CHP (Can Harass People) They lie! They have no Integrity and now looks like they go collect taxes ? What a currupt organization the CHP have evolved to... State revenue generators and collectors !

• mikeDecember 07, 2011 - 4:42 pm

  you are obviously a criminal you idiot..... only hillbillys like you need to hide things.......... always blaming EVERONE ELSE........ get a clue

• mikeDecember 07, 2011 - 4:39 pm

  obviously people are not putting 2 and 2 together. the owner of poor reds also owned econopage....... remember them???? they went bankrupt in late 90's and shut off thousands of pagers... oh yes and front page news in sac bee??? hmmmmm ... then... mike adams went on to buy an apple hill farm.... where did that $$$ come from? oh yes and then turned it into stonesthrow winery.... where did that $$$$ come from?? oh and then he and his wife bought st. pauly inn..... where did that $$$ come from?? last but not least.... poor reds........ can you say SKIMMING OFF THE TOP????????? DUH!!!! KARMA IN THE WORKS!!!!!!

• Guy.December 07, 2011 - 7:18 pm

  Whoa....Mike, let's not personally insult his wife. I've never heard of econopage, care to elaborate? How were the Adams involved with that?

• DougDecember 07, 2011 - 9:23 pm

  The Board of Equalization rarely asks the CHP to accompany them to a business unless there is a need to do so. It's likely that there is more involved then just collecting back taxes. Of course the "Communications Director" David Duran for the elected Second Equalization District Board of Equalization Member George Runner, would have to make the politically soothing statement urging any taxpayer who runs afoul of the law to call Mr. Runner. Why does each Board Member have its own communications director? Does each Member have it's own little fiefdom in their Equalization District? Well, the answer is yes they do. On the positive side, generally speaking, the Board of Equalization relative to other state agencies, does provide fairly good customer service. But on the other hand, studies have also shown that the larger the political contribution, the more likely it is that a petitioner's tax case is ruled in the petitioner's favor by the California Board of Equalization. Aren't we Californian's lucky to be the only state in the nation to have an elected tax board administering its tax programs. Well maybe, unless of course you want those tax programs administered efficiently, and the crooks to pay the consequences for stealing the sales tax you as the consumer pay to them.

• Chuck HollandDecember 07, 2011 - 9:32 pm

  The CHP was most likely needed to ensure the BOE agents didn't partake of to many Gold Cadillac's before returning to Sacramento.

• mark hansenDecember 08, 2011 - 8:42 am

  they were just installing a handy Gold Cadillac cam, goes right to their cruiser after two drinks

• mikeDecember 08, 2011 - 8:43 am

  you are right...... that wasn't cool..... econopage was a pager store before cellphones came to light. i believe he owned about 7 stores in the bay area and a couple in sac area. i only know what i read in the papers when it was big news. i guess he wasn't paying taxes and all of his customers pagers were turned off and they all lost a lot of money.... and he was sitting pretty in his 4000 sq foot house in greenstone, had bmw, etc.... then went on to buy stones throw winery.......

• LeeDecember 08, 2011 - 10:42 am

  This guy makes his money by buying a business not paying his bills and then selling out or bailing on it. He's done it to a lot of people.

• mikeDecember 08, 2011 - 2:41 pm

  exactly!!!! how does one person keep doing this and get away with it???? when does karma come into this?? he has screwed so many people in this county yet continues to thrive.........

• WOW.....December 08, 2011 - 2:46 pm

  you were right Mike...I did a little looking on line. Check these out..... http://www.recordnet.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/19970131/A_BIZ/301319907 http://articles.sfgate.com/1997-10-24/business/17758992_1_paging-carriers-customers-pagers http://articles.sfgate.com/1997-10-25/business/17759567_1_econopage-pagenet-pagemart http://www.bizjournals.com/phoenix/stories/1997/10/27/story8.html?page=all He must have some money stashed away from that business venture!! What's next?!

• kathyDecember 11, 2011 - 6:29 pm

  how come the DA is not investigating this? he will do this to somebody else. this is a pattern. do you have any ideas ? maybe we should go to the bee and tell them? he has so many lawsuits against him. he owes so many people money because he lost the suits. and yet continues to thrive. this is so wrong to get away with this for so long.

• WOW......December 17, 2011 - 12:18 pm

  @Kathy, well it looks like we don’t need to do anything now, our local law enforcement was busy at work all along. This investigation must have been in the works for months. They even collected and investigated their household trash! A lot of time and money went into building this case. It was a long time coming but once they got started, they didn’t stop! Appears to be a very through investigation of current violations as well as past violations, dating all the way back to the econopage days. Just imagine the economic state our county would be in if all of our local businesses behaved in this manner! I try to spend my money locally as often as possible to help support our community, not just to line the business owners pockets with my tax dollars! http://www.mtdemocrat.com/featured-content/featured-stories/search-warrant-was-much-broader-than-poor-reds/

• And here's more............December 08, 2011 - 3:50 pm

  Actually, Stone's Throw Winery went into foreclosure at the beginning of this year. The amount owed at the time of foreclosure was roughly $1,000,000 more than the original purchase price. In 1997 he bought it for $300,000, in 2011 he walked away from a $1,343,559.53 loan. I'd say that's a pretty good profit, wouldn't you?

• mikeDecember 08, 2011 - 4:25 pm

  and why does this continue??? i don't get it..... maybe we should all look at this and say..... hmmmmmm it actually does pay to be dishonest, screw your friends, the IRS, because really you can get away with it and live a very nice lifestyle.......... at least in el dorado county

• HangtownDecember 08, 2011 - 5:06 pm

  And, once again folks; Where is Pantywaist?

• WOW......December 14, 2011 - 3:33 pm

  These are most of the lawsuits he was involved in in El Dorado county. There are more in Sacramento county. I don’t know of anyone else who has been sued this many times, much less even gone to court this much . But, nothing seems to faze him. ADAMS, MICHAEL DEFENDANT CAL VISTA HOME LOANS INC. VS MICHAEL ADAMS ETAL .PCU20110149 UNLAWFUL DETAINER - COMMERCIAL LIMITED 4/14/2011 ADAMS, MICHAEL RALPH DEFENDANT L.A. COMMERCIAL GROUP VS MOTHER LODE, LLC ET AL PCL20090186 COLLECTION - LIMITED 2/26/2009 ADAMS, MICHAEL CROSS-DEFENDANT POOR REDS INC VS MOTHERLODE LLC ETAL PC20080420 OTHER CONTRACT - UNLIMITED 7/15/2008 ADAMS, MICHAEL CROSS-COMPLAINANT POOR REDS INC VS MOTHER LODE LLC ETAL PC20080420 OTHER CONTRACT - UNLIMITED 7/15/2008 ADAMS, MICHAEL DEFENDANT POOR REDS INC VS MOTHER LODE LLC ETAL PC20080420 OTHER CONTRACT - UNLIMITED 7/15/2008 ADAMS, MICHAEL DEFENDANT BUDGET FINANCE VS MICHAEL ADAMS ET AL. PC20080534 OTHER REAL PROPERTY - UNLIMITED 8/26/2008 ADAMS, MICHAEL DEFENDANT RICHARD FESSLER VS MICHAEL ADAMS ET AL. PC20080634 BREACH OF CONTRACT - UNLIMITED10/2/2008 ADAMS, MICHAEL PLAINTIFF MICHAEL ADAMS VS ACCREDITED HOME LENDERS, ETAL PC20070182 CIVIL COMPLAINT 3/26/2007 ADAMS, MICHAEL R DEFENDANT HOUSEHOLD FINANCE VS MICHAEL ADAMS PCL20070439 LIMITED/COLLECTION 6/18/2007 ADAMS, MICHAEL R DEFENDANT HOUSEHOLD FINANCE VS MICHAEL ADAMS PCL20070440 LIMITED/COLLECTION 6/18/2007 ADAMS, MICHAEL R DEFENDANT HOUSEHOLD FINANCE CORP VS MICHAEL ADAMS PCL20070558 LIMITED/COLLECTION 8/3/2007 ADAMS, MICHAEL AGENT FOR SERVICE BONNIE G. WRIGHT VS. MOTHERLODE LLC PSC20070388 SMALL CLAIMS 8/29/2007 ADAMS, MICHAEL CROSS-DEFENDANT MICHAEL ADAMS ET AL V MOTHER LODE REC. ET AL PC20060436 BREACH OF CONTRAC T8/25/2006 ADAMS, MICHAEL DEFENDANT CENTURION CAPITAL VS MICHAEL ADAMS PCL20060048 LIMITED/COLLECTION 1/27/2006 ADAMS, MICHAEL SM CL DEFENDANT CONFORTI PLUMBING VS MICHAEL ADAMS PSC20050139 SMALL CLAIMS 3/10/2005 ADAMS, MICHAEL DEFENDANT VIOLA TARA VS MICHAEL & DONALD ADAMS PC20020123 PI/PD - MOTOR VEHICLE 3/6/2002 ADAMS, MICHAEL DEFENDANT VIOLA M. TARA VS MICHAEL ADAMS ET AL PC20020757 HARASSMENT 12/10/2002 ADAMS, MICHAEL DEFENDANT SCOTT A. COBEN, et.al. VS. MICHAEL ADAMS, et.al. PC20040228 DECLARATORY RELIEF 5/11/2004 ADAMS, MICHAEL DEFENDANT DAVID ADAMS ET AL VS. MICHAEL ADAMS ET AL PC20040544 BREACH OF CONTRACT 11/15/2004 ADAMS, MICHAEL DEFENDANT MICHAEL ADAMS VS KATHIE BERG SV2337 PI/PD - MOTOR VEHICLE 5/25/1999