Countywide : Taxpayers Group Meeting to Focus on Bonds Crisis

A local taxpayers group will discuss the county financial crisis at its monthly meeting next week.

The Committees of Correspondence, which is made up of taxpayer activists and members of United We Stand, has emerged as a vocal critic of the County Board of Supervisors since the Dec. 6 bankruptcy.

The meeting will be Wednesday at 7 p.m. at Orange City Hall. Speakers will include Joel Fox, director of the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Assn.

Last month, the Committees of Correspondence called on supervisors to sign a pledge to reduce the size of county government, cut their salaries by 10%, reduce their staff expenses by 50%, eliminate their car allowances and reduce by 10% the salaries of the chief administrative officer and county auditor. The group also demanded that supervisors vow not to raise taxes or accept bailout money.

Only Supervisor Roger R. Stanton has signed the pledge. Two other supervisors--William G. Steiner and Marian Bergeson--responded to the pledge but did not sign it, said Carole Walters, a member of the Committees of Correspondence.

Steiner and Stanton also said they agree with the group’s demand that board meetings take place at night so that working people could attend, Walters said.

Bill Mello, a group leader, said he hopes more supervisors will sign the pledge in the next few days.

“We’ll keep after them,” Mello said.

At the Wednesday committee meeting, Walters said the group will discuss whether to launch recall efforts against supervisors. Walters said that she’s encouraged by the way the supervisors have responded to the group’s demands.

“I’m happy they are coming out in support of what we want,” Walters said.

While he didn’t sign the pledge, Steiner told Walters that he reduced his staff expenses by 13% before the crisis and planned to reduce it by an additional 14% soon, she said.