Jane Nerpel, Activist Who Fought for Prop. 13, Dies

Jane Nerpel, a feisty, sharp-tongued gadfly who was a leading San Fernando Valley organizer for the tax revolt that led to passage of Proposition 13, died Sunday of cancer. She was 72.

A Van Nuys housewife who never finished college, Nerpel also was the founder of Van Nuys-based Taxpayers Watchdog, a combative grass-roots organization dedicated to fighting government waste. The 1,500-member group, composed of volunteers--typically, determined conservatives like Nerpel--published a newsletter read by a number of public officials.

She also co-chaired successful campaigns to prohibit spending by the City of Los Angeles on the Olympics, to defeat a plan to raise taxes to hire more police officers, and to block construction of a race track and Olympic facilities on public land.

A disciple of Proposition 13 author Howard Jarvis, Nerpel recruited volunteers to gather what she estimated were 250,000 signatures in the Valley to qualify Proposition 13 for the ballot. At a victory party after the June, 1978, passage of the tax-cutting measure, draped across the wall was a banner that read, “We thank you Howard, we thank you Paul, but it’s Jane we thank most of all.” The second name was a reference to co-sponsor Paul Gann.

In a 1984 interview with The Times, she explained her activities in her customarily salty language: “I constantly hear people bitching about one thing or another. You don’t accomplish anything by screaming. You’ve got to get off your duff to do something.”

Councilman Ernani Bernardi, a close friend, said about her Monday: “I’ve never known of anyone who was more dedicated and more committed to public service than Jane Nerpel.”

She is survived by her husband, Chuck, a daughter, and two grandchildren. A reception will be held in her memory from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday at the Taxpayers Watchdog office, 14422 Victory Blvd., Van Nuys.

Her family requested that donations be made in her name to the City of Hope.