Opinion
Where’s the tea party?
By Amanda Shavers-DavisOn April 15, approximately 1,000 concerned citizens crowded the steps of the Cullman County Courthouse. Picket signs in tow, they expressed their outrage over the proposed federal government bailouts and the tax increases they believed would follow.
“I balance my books ... if I don’t have it, I don’t spend it. Yet our government doesn’t seem to be balancing their books,” said one participant.
“We’re no longer the silent majority,” said another. “We’re getting loud.”
The silent majority decided against “getting loud” Tuesday evening.
Not including media, 12 Cullman citizens attended a local public meeting hosted by Sen. Zeb Little at Cullman City Hall. Little called the meeting to explain how the Jefferson County occupational tax might impact his constituents and to give them a chance to express their opinions on the matter before he had an opportunity to vote on the bill on Friday.
A quick history ...
Workers in Jefferson County currently pay an occupational tax. Earlier this year, a court ruled the tax unconstitutional making the funds unavailable to the county. As a result, Jefferson County has partially shut down its government due to lack of revenue. The future of the tax was in the hands of the state legislature last week.
I don’t know if any of those 12 in attendance Tuesday were at the courthouse Tea Party, but I do know there were at least 988 people who should have been there.
The Times alerted the public days in advance of the meeting with a front page story (posted online) and reminders on Twitter. Still, only 12 concerned taxpayers came.
Also absent from Little’s meeting were local officials. In April, The Times reported Cullman County Commission Chairman James Graves, County Commissioner Wayne Willingham, Good Hope Mayor Corey Harbison, West Point Mayor Kenneth Kilgo, Garden City Mayor Harden Davis and Fairview Mayor Randall Shedd were in attendance at the courthouse Tea Party. Did I mention 3,000 Cullman County residents work in Jefferson County? I understand not all city and county officials could make it on three days’ notice, but couldn’t one?
Why did approximately 1,000 people protest the potential for tax increases, but not attend a meeting to discuss a tax that has been and may continue to affect local residents?
Where were the picket signs? Where was the grassroots movement to protect the rights of those local tax payers not represented on the Jefferson County Commission. Why didn’t 1,000 concerned citizens from Cullman, and other counties surrounding Jefferson, picket signs in tow, not crowd the steps of the Capitol to protest their taxation without representation? Were was the outrage expressed so intensely back in April?
I’m not saying what our elected officials should have done regarding the occupational tax.
I am pointing out that on April 15, approximately 1,000 concerned citizens gathered because they felt their taxes were too high. They felt they weren’t being represented at a federal level. Those citizens had an opportunity last week to take lessons learned from a nationwide event and apply it locally. They could have affected real change immediately. They could have let legislators know they were against the taxation of 3,000 Cullman residents.
They didn’t.
The “silent majority” remained silent.
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