Welcome
to the Silicon Valley Property Taxpayers’ Association
- Property Owners’ Public Enemy No. 1 portion of our Web Site.
If
you’re
a Silicon Valley property owner, in our opinion your No. 1 public enemy is Larry Tramutola!
Even if you’re
not a property owner, we feel you should be concerned about the admitted electoral
manipulation Mr. Tramutola and other political consultants so readily
employ under the guise of “improving” the hundreds of revenue district clients’
communities [like yours] they serve. We also feel you should be alarmed
by the fact that so may of these revenue districts so heartily embrace such manipulation!
So
who is Mr. Tramutola? He’s President, founder and Chief Executive Officer of
Tramutola, L.L.C. Mr. Tramutola
has been described as the leading expert
when it comes to passing difficult tax
measures and winning local elections. In this capacity he’s
proud
of the fact he’s the patriarch for what he describes as one of the country’s most successful political
consulting firms; having advised
and guided more than 400 communities to successful
passage of local tax measures with a success rate of over 95%
[if you want to examine Mr. Tramutola’s
impressive track record, you’re
invited to click
here]! For these reasons he’s
been labeled the
Billion Dollar Man [we’ll
just call him “Mr. Billionaire”]!
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Why in our opinion
is Mr. Tramutola the Northern California property owner’s
public enemy no. 1? Because according to him, the local tax or bond
measure which led you to this web site is “a
game” [is it a game to you?]; one in which
he excels! If you don’t
believe us, take a look at one of his three books [Sidewalk Strategies – Seven Winning Steps for Candidates, Causes
and Communities;
Winning Healthcare Elections; and, Winning Tax Elections (Sidewalk Strategies – Seven Winning Steps for Candidates, Causes
and Communities is
available for free at most Santa Clara County libraries)] which
have been described
as “must read” primers for anyone involved in planning successful tax
elections!
Mr.
Tramutola has such a positive
reputation in the local revenue district community that in all likelihood,
he has been retained [at public
expense] by the local revenue district which is promoting the new tax, bond or assessment measure which has
led you to
this web site [if you want to find out if your particular local revenue district is
one of Mr. Tramutola’s
past or present clients, you’re
invited to click
here]. Why would your local revenue district turn to a high priced
political consultant like Tramutola
when it’s
unlawful [Education Code, §7054(a)
if you’re a school or
community college district, and Government Code, §8314(a)
if you’re any
other
agency of the State] for to spend public money for political
campaign purposes? Because according
to Mr.
Tramutola: “wanting to win is nice but knowing how to win is
better” and make no mistake, he knows how to win!
In order to fully
appreciate the strategies [local revenue districts are instructed to follow to the nth degree] Mr. Billionaire
employs when advising local
revenue districts in their quest to further tax local property
owners only [remember, property owners already
provide more funding to local revenue districts than any other
revenue source], we ask you consider the
following:
According
to Mr. Tramutola, his
firm is one of the most successful political consulting firms in
the country. It has won over 400 local elections from conservative communities
like Orange County, to liberal San Francisco; is successful over 95% of the time;
and,
has assisted in passing billions of dollars in tax measures!
Mr. Tramutola
boasts he has
helped raise more taxes than anyone in America who is not
an elected official!
Although Mr. Tramutola
professes
being committed to improving the various communities he serves, what he really
cares about is winning the game [e.g., the particular
local revenue district’s
election which has led you to this web site]! Mr.
Tramutola’s
“game”
dictates
you first understand the rules, and the first rule is to learn the rules of
your particular election!”
Part
of Mr.
Tramutola’s
“game” dictates public
money be spent towards a pre-disposed political purpose
[e.g., the tax, bond or assessment measure which led you to this web
site], and it be spent on him before
a local revenue district
gets its tax measure on the ballot [because afterwards, no public money nor
public resources may be spent advocating or supporting the measure
itself (see above)].
Another
part of
Mr. Tramutola’s
“game”
dictates
that once a measure is placed on the
ballot a campaign plan
be developed, because every
political campaign needs a plan.” Make no mistake,
Mr. Tramutola
has
a plan!
Yet another
part of
Mr.
Tramutola’s
“game” is
his use of technology. According to Mr.
Tramutola,
technology provides the political consultant with the tools to target groups of people based
upon
assumptions and research about how people who share demographic traits react to
particular messages.
By
using easily available voter files, these consultants can identify unlimited
combinations of voters and send them targeted messages. And by blending polling
information, census data and tax assessor information, it is possible
for political consultants to
classify voters based upon even more demographic variables by identifying various issues and themes that may
resonate with different subsets of voters. Thus maybe you can now
begin to understand how Mr.
Tramutola
is able to conclude,
“the
possibilities are virtually endless!”
To
Mr.
Tramutola
technology is of paramount importance because
finding a
theme that resonates with local concerns becomes more important than
developing a
catchy slogan.
Because Mr. Tramutola
instructs that the first rule of his “game”
is to learn the rules of your particular election [see
above], it
becomes paramount determining
who actually votes [which is largely determined by the particular type of election
involved]. This is critically important insofar as elections for local measures
like the one that led you to this web site [that propose taxing only local
property owners] are concerned, because: only local
property owners have to pay; yet only local residents get
to vote
[and the two are not synonymous].
And
because
Mr.
Tramutola
embraces
new
technologies that allow campaigns to target various subsets of
voters [while ignoring others (see above)],
he recommends renters be sent one piece of mail concerning a local tax
or bond election, and homeowners be sent another. And given 40% or more of all local
property owners cannot vote [because they’re
either non-natural person residents (such as trusts,
estates, corporations, limited liability companies, partnerships, etc.);
or, non-citizen residents; or, local residents owning more than a
single property (notwithstanding the fact they stand to be taxed
some multiple number of times, they’re
given but a single vote); or,
nonresidents], Mr.
Tramutola
recommends they simply be ignored.
Another
important part of Mr.
Tramutola’s
“game” is the internet because it allows
people to communicate directly with others, and it is rapidly changing the face
of politics. For this reason most political campaigns these
days secure a web site to provide information to voters.
Undoubtedly the local revenue district that has led you to this web site has its
own why you should vote “yes” FAQ
internet page!
Aside
from the fact that more than 50% of voters are not
landowners [and as such, won’t
be paying a nickel of
the proposed bond, parcel tax nor special assessment made the subject of
the local election that has led you to this web site], Mr.
Tramutola
counsels
that
only 3 out of 10 registered voters actually end up voting in local elections. He also counsels that: people
are less likely to vote in an off year or for
a “specially
called”
election [versus a June primary or November general election], and likely
voters generally are older and more conservative than the population as a whole. Since older
voters may represent 50%-60% of likely voters in any single local election, Mr.
Tramutola
counsels that whenever possible, parcel tax measures in
particular incorporate an exemption for seniors
[e.g., thus just like non-landowners, seniors won’t
be
paying a nickel]. Since generally 10%-13% of the population consists of
seniors, we’ve
likely now identified in excess of 63% of the voting population that
won’t
be paying a nickel of
the proposed tax made the subject of
the local election that has led you to this web site [are you starting
to get the picture?].
Another
important part of Mr.
Tramutola’s “game” is
to never
engage the opposition. He
knows that the local revenue district that has led you to this web site
has the financial [see above] and manpower [its
hundreds of employees and supporters (like Saratoga’s
Friends of the Library)]
resources to fund and volunteer an effective “vote
yes”
campaign. Assuming opponents have no organization nor funds, why provide
them with a forum to publicize their message?
Furthermore
Mr. Tramutola
counsels local revenue districts that they can never win a tax measure that requires two-thirds approval if
they engage the opposition or otherwise attempt to deal with them. So
he recommends the
focus be on persuading the estimated 30% of undecided voters to
support these kinds of tax measures.
Because
Tramutola
considers local tax measures to be a “game,” he unabashedly admits “there is not one
campaign [he’s]...involved in [where he]...do[es] not
worry that by using [his] sophisticated tools to target, analyze and
segment voters, [he’s] in fact hurting the democratic process!”
We agree!
We
also agree with one more piece of Mr.
Tramutola’s
advice:
“if
someone is offering something free, [you should]
question its validity [because] rest assured the firm offering the free
service is going to make money somewhere down the line.”
Invariably the people who
are the most active in shaping or promoting your local revenue district’s
tax or bond measure [and the ones with the most to lose], claim to be working
for free!
Finally,
Mr. Tramutola
favors reducing the voter approval requirement for new special taxes
against property from the current two-thirds to 55%.
“”
If
you’re as bothered as we with
Mr. Tramutola’s
and
other similar political consultants’ electoral
philosophies; and,
the fact your particular local revenue district has so readily embraced
them with
such open arms [after all, “the
ends justify the means,”
don’t
they?];
we urge you to
VOTE NO on the local tax, bond or special assessment
measure which has led you to this web site!
Should you have
questions or comments, please address them to Silicon Valley Property
Taxpayers’ Association at:
info@svpta.net
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