January 5, 2025 My name is Marcy Charette. And to be totally honest, I never wanted to start a blog, so I’m hoping this is very temporary. A placeholder, maybe.

I got the idea for the Taxpayers Guild in a conversation with another taxpayer. I love Concord, really love this city. But government is doing what governments usually do. It takes our money and spends it, often on projects that help guarantee politicians look good. This isn’t new, it’s as old as the Roman Empire. But those in authority have picked up a couple of knuckleheaded ideas along the way — like the idea that they “know better.” Or that they, and not the people, are the Boss. They tend to forget they’re there to do what WE want, not what THEY want. For me, personally, it started with the Rundlett fiasco (yeah…I’m somewhat late to the game). And the Rundlett fiasco is still far from over. But there are strains of Rundlett-like thinking all through City and State government. It’s a concern.

The situation wouldn’t be as bad, maybe, if the economy were better, if we were in the middle of mind-numbing prosperity — but we’re not. A lot of folks in Concord are right on the edge of losing homes due to taxation. They can’t move into “cheaper” homes; there aren’t any. Inflation is killing all of us. Instead of tightening the belt on school and City projects, officials keep entertaining plans that have the word “millions” in them — lots and lots of millions of dollars — and those millions are going to come from me, and every one of the other 44,000 taxpayers in Concord. And a lot of those millions will be raised by going into debt, since they can’t squeeze blood from a stone. This has got to stop, for our sakes, for the sakes of our children and our grandchildren.

Many Americans have what one pundit calls a “Mother-may-I” approach to government. We treat them as if they’re the boss and we’re the servants (or worse), and it’s no wonder officials don’t do what we want. I really hope the Guild changes this for Concord. We need to remind government, firmly but politely, that we are in charge, and that they are there to do what we want. BEFORE it gets to the pitchfork-and-torches or tar-and-feather stages, which would bump up the Monitor’s circulation amazingly, but it’s not anything we want to see. We need to get a bit more savvy on how we present what we want to government (a learned skill — and not a hard one). We need to know what’s really going on — and then publicize it like crazy. And we need to network together like ours lives depend on it, because for a lot of us, it does.

Eventually, we’ll start a newsletter, one not written by me, but by YOU. After all, it’s not Marcy’s Guild, it’s the Taxpayers Guild. The newsletter will be a way we can share information, but we’re not quite there yet. This will be something we discuss during meetings. So come join us. I can’t wait to meet you on the 14th.