EDITORIAL: Rep. Pete Stark, D-Md.

It would be unfair to suggest that Rep. Pete Stark claimed his Maryland house as his principal residence just to get a $3,800 tax break. Stark had a legitimate basis to claim that his 3,600-square foot home on 6-plus acres in the Washington suburbs fits the definition of his primary home. He admittedly spends far more time there than he does in the Fremont townhouse he rents for his twice-monthly visits to his district.

We’ll leave it to Anne Arundel County officials to determine whether Stark qualifies for Maryland’s homestead tax credit. The 77-year-old Stark, elected to Congress in 1972, said he bought his Maryland house in 1988 and lives there with his wife and two school-age children.

The issue for voters in Stark’s 13th Congressional District is whether he remains in sufficient touch with their communities and concerns when he considers his “home” to be 3,000 miles away.

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(Editorial, “Rep. Pete Stark, D-Md.,” San Francisco Chronicle, 3/24/09)