Today’s Bee profiles the Valley Taxpayer’s Coalition and three of its leaders. Former Fresno City Council members Chris Mathys and Ken Steitz form the nucleus of this group, with the assistance of former City Manager and current Lincoln Club of Fresno County officer Jeff Reid. Reid is the policy guy, and no one read more and understands better the quagmire of government information than he.
Actually, this is my favorite "thing" about the taxpayer groups. They actually read legislation and fine print and when they point out the details it makes people crazy.
That having been said, I don’t support all of their viewpoints. But they are a critical counterweight to those in local and county government that would tax and spend without a thought, and an even better counterweight to business men and women that get a little wild on the spending side as well, with government money, of course.
So, let’s not be afraid of or hold taxpayer groups in contempt. We need ’em, even if we don’t always agree. Frankly, the survival of capitalism depends on them.