Dear Piedmont Fellow Residents:
I realize that everyone who cares will have their own reasons for voting yes or no on the Measure Y Parcel Tax on the November 6 ballot, and that some may be undecided. I care and ask that you read my attached reasons for voting NO.
I am not a Tea Party type. Generally I am a good left-wing Democrat (but I don't drink all of the left-wing Kool-Aid). I think our police and fire services and employees are first rate and, together with our schools, make Piedmont a wonderful place to live. I am a tax-tolerant citizen who believes in taxes for the public benefit. I have proudly paid my taxes and, until Measure A, voted yes on every City tax measure on the ballot during my almost 40 years as a Piedmont resident.
I also believe, however, that the proposed Measure Y parcel tax, like the proposed Measure A sewer surtax raises very important governance issues. I simply do not trust the City Council or the City Administrator with the public's finances or taxes, whether the public money or tax is for a special or general purpose.
I worked hard to defeat Measure A and I will work hard to defeat Measure Y. I have found our city government at the very top, at the City Administrator and Council levels, programmatically lies about the big issues, wastes our taxes on foolish games and has become unaccountable. I believe in good sewers, undergrounding electric lines and youth sports facilities, but I believe our City government, has been dismissive and disrespectful of the majority of City residents and has perverted all of those worthy endeavors for the benefit of narrow private agendas. In the process, our City government has wasted millions of our tax dollars. It is elitist, arrogant, out of touch and out of control and cannot be trusted to pursue the values I treasure and hold dear. I have come to the conclusion that the reason the City Administrator has gotten away with shameful conduct of important public business is because those ultimately responsible on the Council have given him permission. I believe in ground level direct action democracy. I believe in open and honest government, which are absent in Piedmont.
I will be distributing the attached as a leaflet to as many houses in Piedmont as I can. I urge you to share the attached with other Piedmont voters.
Thomas D. Clark
Piedmont United to Stop Feeding the Crocodile
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