Antioch group takes Freitas to task on taxes

Dear Editor:

There is one plan Retired Environmental Manager and mayor candidate Don Freitas did have for Antioch: a plan to raise our property taxes.

You may have recalled back in April of this year receiving a mail in ballot for a Contra Costa Initiative which would have raised $8.7 million by increasing our property taxes. Before he retired this year, Don Frietas was the manager of that program and directed the taxpayer funded campaign for its passage.

The initiative was resoundingly defeated by homeowners. But not without controversy. Critics everywhere blasted Don Freitas’s spending of $1.45 million in taxpayer funds for promotion and propaganda in favor of the initiative to raise our property taxes.

Here are a few excerpts from newspaper articles talking about Don Freitas’s failed plan to tax homeowners:

It is impossible to discern from the $1 million taxpayer-funded study and propaganda effort, produced by an unaccountable group of government bureaucrats (Don Freitas, Project Manager) and their consultants, whether the ballot measure deserves support.”

Dan Borenstein, Contra Costa Times Columnist, April 1, 2012

The entire process cost approximately $1.43 million, the largest portion of which was $444,092.40 spent on campaigning, labeled as educational outreach by county staff (Don Freitas, Project Manager), as well as $346,800 on printing and mailing the ballots. Almost $435,000 was spent on analysis, research, the Engineer’s Report and action plan prior to the election.”

Allen Payton, Publisher, Antioch Herald, October 2012

So they’re (Don Freitas, Project Manager) spending $1.55 million on their tax-funded campaign, including amounts explicitly intended to support and promote the new tax scheme – an illegal misuse of public funds.”

Richard Soderholm, Contra Costa Times, March 29, 2012

Citizens for Democracy

Ralph A. Hernandez, Chairperson

Antioch


One Comment to “Antioch group takes Freitas to task on taxes”

  1. karl says:

    good to read you again rapph,

    what’s missing in your little article is, that mayor candidate agopian spend $ 120,000 of needed money, antioch tax money, i may add.
    in the june election agopian and harper voted and spend needed monies to eliminate the 4 year elected mayor position. now agopian and harper are running for that same position?
    this is kind of odd, but hey, it was not their money.
    $ 120,000 could have paid for 2 cso’s…….
    i also need to remind you that the house was in order when freitas lost the election.
    the people directly responsible for the condition our city is in, are the sitting council members kalinowski, rocha, harper, agopian, davis, and city manager jakel.
    they have failed us.
    they need to take responsibility and step down. all of them.

Leave a Reply to karl