Conservative commentary: Fresno council member shines light on colleagues’ spending

Sales tax, property tax, use tax, income tax, capital gains tax, payroll tax, estate tax, and more … with so many different taxes paid by the average person, it is no wonder the question of “how are my tax dollars being spent?” is such a common one. And the “how” is only the first part of the question. It is usually followed by “are my tax dollars being spent wisely?”

Most people know they cannot successfully get around paying taxes. Apparently, it was easier for Al Capone to run an incredibly profitable, and highly illegal, bootlegging and racketeering enterprise than it was to avoid the “tax man” who finally nabbed him for tax evasion. In fact, it is said “the only thing certain in life is death and taxes.” So, it is natural for the taxpayer to want an understanding of where the money is going and that it is of genuine benefit to the nation, state, city, or community as a whole.

There are copious examples of waste and abuse at the federal and state levels. One wonders where to even begin to deal with government waste. On the local level, Fresno voters recently found out how their tax dollars were being spent — in the form of $700,000 City Council operating budgets on such “district necessities” as movie tickets for interns, thousands for candy apples, sending flowers to each other, etc.

The next time you feel the economic pinch of wanting to take your family to the movies, maybe you will feel better knowing you helped send council interns to the movies instead, because each and every dollar in those operating budgets came out of Fresno residents’ wallets.

But it is not just in Fresno — this goes on everywhere. And it goes on everywhere because nearly every politician is in on it. Why would you call out waste and abuse from a colleague and possibly shine a light on your own?

So how did it come to light in this instance? Fresno has a political unicorn named Garry Bredefeld. He was the only member of the Fresno City Council to decline a credit card that would have gained him easy access to that $700,000 district operating budget.

Instead, he decided to research the other council members’ operating budgets, which have frighteningly little oversight and accountability. Over the last few months, Bredefeld brought various issues with suspicious aspects to the attention of media to see if there was any spark of journalistic curiosity that would lead to an investigation. Finding none, he remained undeterred in his quest to bring transparency to Fresno’s taxpayers. He and his staff compiled three years’ worth of receipts, invoices, and documentation to lift the veil on the heretofore unknown practices of lavish spending from these operating budgets turned personal piggy banks.

Bredefeld should not have had to investigate this. But, if there are no internal mechanisms within a city hall to monitor for waste and abuse and journalists stay on the sidelines, your last line of defense is an honest politician.

All-to-often we see elected officials stay silent out of, what they call, “respect for colleagues,” but is more accurately fear of retaliation. In city after city, you find the same thing — the elected officials are all in on the frivolous, wasteful spending together. Why are there so few politicians minding the taxpayers’ money? Well, one must be unwilling to participate in the time-honored tradition of abusing the taxpayer and be willing to call it out when he or she finds it — even if the abuser is sitting next to him or her in council chambers.

While citizens certainly want their elected officials working together to get things done, beware of the flipside — elected bodies that agree too much. The idea of “go along to get along” often enables government at its worst. We need leaders willing to go against the grain when necessary and shine a bright light on behalf of their constituents. Across our cities, state, and country we need more bright lights and to vote out a host of dim bulbs.

This story was originally published April 9, 2022 at 5:00 AM.