Grassroots Corner - January 17, 2020

Our California State Director Marty Sturmer, was elected to the Board Of Directors of Americans for Fair Taxation at its June 4, 2019 telephone conference.

Marty and Ron Babin (see Grassroots Corner from November 28, 2019) are our 2 newest directors.

Marty was a rebel looking for a cause when he learned about The FAIRtax.  But first let’s examine some of his personal history.

Marty, a native of San Mateo, California, recently retired from a 20-year career with the City of San Francisco.  He moved to Colfax, California, east of the capital, Sacramento.

Marty had been a stay-at-home dad raising a son and a daughter.  Marty’s son married a Japanese girl and now lives in Tokyo with 2 daughters of his own.  They come often to visit, and Marty and his Wife, Deb, go there.  Marty’s daughter is in medical school.  Deb is an attorney (more about Her shortly), born and raised in San Francisco.

Marty had been looking for a way to contain the excesses of the IRS.  Here’s why.

Deb worked for a NY law firm but was based in San Francisco.  Deb handled many insurance defense cases, and her work required her to travel.  Because of the travel, mostly to 5 or 6 states where Deb earned income, she had to file state returns which had an impact on her federal return and on each other.
 

The back-and-forth became the closest thing on earth to a perpetual motion machine which, by the way, does not exist in physics, only in tax law.  The process simply never came to rest.  And then it was time to start a new year.

The process was taking too much out of the Sturmers, who never knew what their finances would be.  There had to be a better way.

Marty began reading about the principles of good taxation and discovered The FAIRtax.  This discovery took place about the time the Tea Party movement was starting up.  The FAIRtax checked all the “good taxaton” boxes.

Marty’s early FAIRtax colleagues included Jim Donnell, who led the California FAIRtax effort at the time, and Dr. Ken Smith.

Marty’s motivation and energy towards The FAIRtax, prodded by his first-hand experience with the IRS, remain unabated.  His team has had weekly telephone calls for years.

Active members of Marty’s team include Dave Rideaut, Sergey Armishev, Frank Wagener, Nancy Keesee, and John Wesley Nobles.  Nancy and John Wesley live in Southern California’s high desert.  John Wesley Nobles had a radio podcast called FAIRtax Time.

When the team heard a few years ago Your Editor was in Santa Monica, California, Marty, John-Wesley and Nancy each drove down to meet.  For Marty the drive was six hours one-way.

The team has been going to university campuses every month to promote The FAIRtax brand out to the next generation.  UC Davis will soon be added to the list of universities.

The California Team Goes to conventions of all parties: Republican, Democrat, Independent.  This summer there is a state fair in Sacramento, and Marty is thinking of setting up a booth.

We welcome Marty to the national board, where he has been a regular and valued contributor.
 

As a reminder, we have event insurance coverage available, but you have to let us know.  Once the event is underway, it’s too late.  If you are planning an event, let me know the who-what-when and where, and I will get you a certificate of insurance.
 

 

We need more of you to send in pictures and news.  If you have anything to share, please EMAIL your material to me, text me 908-578-4975, Fax me 908-598-2888.

When others see your activity, they are inspired, and the process snowballs.  When the process snowballs, Representatives, Senators and, yes, even the President start to take notice and listen to Us.

Don’t forget to order your FAIRtax gear from The FAIRtax Logo Store

---