Selling Donor Names of Nonprofit Groups

The Times series on direct mail fund-raising (March 3-4) unfairly casts the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Assn. in a poor light because pertinent facts were not included.

Howard Jarvis signed the contract with Butcher-Forde for more than direct mail services. It included other services such as political consulting. Jarvis also was acknowledging commercial loans Butcher-Forde provided to help get the organization up and running.

The contract questioned in the article was altered at our first opportunity, eight years ago, in 1988. It conforms to current industry standards. Direct mail consultants Bill Butcher and Arnold Forde no longer work for the organization.

The article implies that most of the money sent to the organization was simply passed through to the consultants. Only buried toward the end of the article does the writer acknowledge that the association has continually fought for Proposition 13 and the taxpayers.

When you consider: Proposition 13 saved Californians $195 billion (and is constantly under attack and must be defended by this organization); that the Jarvis organization’s Proposition 7, to index the state income tax, saved Californians $82 billion; that another Jarvis association measure, Proposition 62, was just validated by the Supreme Court, empowering taxpayers by requiring a vote on tax increases; that our many successful lawsuits and campaigns against local and state taxes have saved billions more; that we are the only taxpayer group in the United States that employs both full-time attorneys and a full-time lobbyist fighting for our issues, it is clear our members’ money is spent with substantial impact for exactly the effect they desire.

JOEL FOX, President

Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Assn.

Los Angeles

* Thanks to The Times and Tracy Weber for the March 3 article.

Rarely have I been so disappointed as I was upon learning that the Jarvis California Tax Reduction Movement and the Committee to Preserve Social Security have been dishonest with their donors.

I feel naive and violated at having been duped into making contributions over the years to enrich direct mail promoters. No more donations to these organizations, ever!

JOHN R. YEOMANS

Los Angeles