Yesterdays’ OC Register had a feature story on Reed Royalty, President and Founder of OC Taxpayers Association entitled “tax group proud of November ballot successes.”
I will agree that we all had winners and losers in this latest election. However I thought it would be interesting to comment on who exactly are the members of this Association. In my south County phone book I find names with multiple listings such as Abbott, Abraham, Adams, Alexander, Armstrong, Avila, Bailey, Baker, Barnes, Bates, Black, Bonilla, Bradley, Brown, Burns and Butler. And that’s just a sampling from A and B. In central O.C. that book probably has a sizeable listing of Nguyen, Quan, Ramirez and Rivera families.
In my view these are all Orange County Taxpayers. Private citizens who get W 2’s for filing their income taxes. Now let’s look at the OC Taxpayer’s Association web site.
“OCTax members include Cox Cable, SBC, The Irvine Company, Edison, Sempra Energy, Segerstrom & Sons, Trammell Crow, the Disney Resort, Chapman University, the Marriott and Hanford hotel chains, Intratek, Hearthside Homes, ACS State and Local Solutions, Orco Block, Mission Geoscience, Ware Disposal, Building Industry Association, Fluor, Curt Pringle & Associates, Inland Group, Medix Ambulance, Nossaman Guthner Knox & Elliot, Rancho Mission Viejo, Bruce Properties, the Orange County Department of Education, The Toll Roads, and many other prominent businesses, elected officials, and homeowners.”
I would venture to guess that the vast funding of OC Tax comes from “special interest” corporations such as those listed above. The Register article includes the honorable Curt Pringle, Mayor of Anaheim as an individual. i.e. If you check out the OC Tax web site Curt’s firm, Curt Pringle and Associates are members, not Curt as a private individual. Curt’s legitimate business relates to assisting property developers. I am not singling out Mr. Pringle but he is the only individual listed in the article.
No. Not sour grapes. But perhaps it’s time for another group to be formed who truly represent Orange County Citizen Taxpayers, not Special Interest Orange County Corporate taxpayers. There is a vast difference.
Larry Gilbert. Those are my thougths. What are yours?
Larry,
Great idea! Reed’s organization seems to have morphed into the OC Tax Proponents Association…
That this is an organzation dominated by special interests needs further exposure. Good start! Unfortunately, at least until now, our major newspaper has somewhat empowered this organization and not shone the light on its membership. Taxpayers? Yes, but a special sub-group vs. John Q. citizen —
I seem to always be able to read an Op-Ed piece in the Register from Reed Royalty.
I seem to always be able to read a letter to the editor in the Register from Larry Gilbert.
Reed’s a big fish.
Larry’s not.
Would this latest rant stem from the fact that the OC Taxpayers Association, along with over 2/3 of Orange County, supported Measure M?
Poster 3,
Who cares? I used to write guest op-eds in the Register – but I don’t need them anymore. I haven’t submitted anything to them in a very long time.
The point Larry made is that it sure looks like Reed’s organization has been compromised by some of its institutional members. He has a point…
Us little fish need to band together against the big sharks.
Repeal the 16th amendment to set the little fish free and let the sharks feast on themselves.
To me these “501” non-tax paying orginazations should be taxed on there gross income, instead of the W-2 people.
Art,
I dont’ necessarily agree with you on Larry’s topic.
I guess my point was that the OC Taxpayers Association has an agenda and has always had an agenda. But, so does Larry and his favorite organizations.
And, the OC Taxpayers Association’s agenda is generally consistent with that of the OC Register.
Therefore, the Register will huff and puff about things and let the OC Taxpayers Association help them out as if they were “third-party” observers when both organizations have an agenda that overlaps.
But, like I said, Larry has his own agenda and organizations he quotes have an agenda as well.
So, really what is the point of Larry’s post except to highlight that he needs to attach himself to a “Big Dog” organization that will let his voice be heard beyond O-Juice and Letters to the Editor.
No one should be surprised that organizations – even those that claim to be representing “taxpayers” – have overt or hidden agendas.
OC Tax just has a better package and financial pipeline for their political view’s and Larry is just jealous.
Anonymous 3
Although I am not keeping score perhaps you might check to see that the Register has possibly published more Op Ed’s written by me this year than Reed. That’s a lame attempt to deflect my message.
We need to peel back the onion to see who is really behind the OC Taxpayers Association “curtain”
and Reed’s efforts. Earlier today, shortly after posting my blog entry, I received an email from a Mission Viejo resident that I may post on his behalf relating to his follow-up with Reed on OC Tax. I will request that he post directly or grant me permission to do so on his behalf.
One of my favorite quotes is from president Ronald Reagan. “Trust But Verify.” I do not have any grievance with Reed Royalty but we deserve to know whose Agenda he is promoting.
Anonymous entry #7.
Are you joking? Did you see the recommendations of the OC Register Editorial Board in this latest election? Perhaps I can remind you that they supported a YES on Prop 90 and a NO on Measure M, both issues that I invested a great deal of my time and efforts promoting.
There is one “Big Dog” organization that I am proud to be a member of where we fight to protect property rights for people that we may often never meet. It’s called the Castle Coalition, the grass roots affiliate of the Institute for Justice which represents numerous victims of eminent domain abuses across this Nation.
As a former Rotarian let me quote my involvement. Simply stated it’s called “service above self.”
OC Tax “pipeline” is the problem. Who are these high rollers that contributed over $2.5 million in support of Measure M? With the exception of the Auto Club and the Orange County Business Council they stayed behind the curtain to avoid public exposure.
Enjoy your weekend.
Larry
Larry,
Like I said, OC Tax and every other organization has an agenda.
OC Tax just packages it better and has a catchy title that misleads others into thinking that they represent “ordinary” taxpayers (if they even exist).
I have no problem at all with you “peeling the onion” to expose the inner core at OC Tax.
I think that organization could use some “daylight” and you could provide it. I’ll be an interested observer.
But, please don’t tell me that YOU don’t have an agenda, as well.
Enjoy the weekend, as well.
UPDATE: Having received an email reply to this blog report from Mayor Curt Pringle let me state the following.
Although listed as Curt Pringle and Associates this is Curt’s family business. As such I would agree that, even though his clients are as stated, his membership is as an individual.
Furthermore nothing in my post questions the honesty of the OC Tax members. Their motives are not hidden. Their agenda is not a secret. They simply have a responsibility to their stakeholders to maximize their ROI. We experienced that with the Simon Property Groups corporate welfare in Mission Viejo. If we, the no name W-2 taxpayers of Orange County, let them off the hook with their GUARANTEE to provide infrastructure connected to development in the 1990’s (Measure M Ballot argument) they will bulldoze ahead utililizing our additional sales tax payments for said development related traffic relief.
PS: South County Report.
Mission Viejo’s Diablo’s lost a tough PAC 5 Division playoff game to Santa Margarita’s Eagles at Saddleback College last night. The people sitting nearby questioned my prediction that the Eagles would go for a two point conversion at the end of the game. Watching Eric Reisinger, their quarteback, eat us up all night made it obvious to me that that was to be their plan and it worked.
Eagles 24, Diablo’s 23. No excuses. Even though Warren Reuland, our top wide receiver, was out due to an injury over the past two games, we lost and can only look forward to next year.