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Welcome to this website. It
is provided as a public service by John Thompson, a long-time (but sadly not any longer) LBTS resident, condo unit-owner and
former director, and organizing member, director and officer of the Citizens Initiative Committee and
its predecessor, the Citizens Action Committee.
After military service and three years Princeton graduate study in
economics and governmental affairs, Thompson joined the U.S. Foreign Service where he served in a job comparable to that
of a town mamager at two large American Embassies in Europe. Later he was Director of NATO's Infrastructure Division and chaired
the 16-nation NATO Committee responsible for $2 billion a year in high-tech and military facilities procurement.
Those tasks demanded a high degree of factual accuracy, objective
analysis and intel- lectual honesty. Thompson's Ambassadors, and later his Secretary General and the 16 sovereign nations
he served at NATO for 11 years, would have accepted nothing less.
Thus, when he began to attend town commission meetings after
retiring to LBTS, Thompson was stunned to observe the extent to which relevant facts were often ignored, or
even concealed or distorted, during commission debates. As a NATO committee chairman who had taken pains to be
impartial, and pro-actively to help each committee member present his national positions clearly, he was shocked by the extent
to which the LBTS Mayor exploited his position as chair -- and even used parliamentary trickery -- to accomplish his own objectives
at the expense of other commission members.
Long a student of governmental affairs and a firm believer in the biblical
maxim, "Ye shall know the truth, and the truth will make you free," Thompson therefore did what he could to inform his
LBTS friends and neighbors of what he perceived to be the true facts and the real issues. He did that first at public
meetings and then through a newsletter that he edited for the former LBTS Citizens Action Committee, and later through opinion
pieces he has submitted to the By-the-Sea Times since its publication.
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| John Thompson (photo courtesy of Marc Furth) |
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Table of Contents
Massive Tax Increase from 2000 to 2006
Illegal, Inequitable Fire Assessment
Illegal Storm-Water-Utility Assessment
The Great South/North-Beach Civic Ass'n Scam
A number of his writings, thought to have continuing interest and relevance
to public affairs in LBTS have been selected to form this website. The theme is "LBTS Tax Facts," but it must be
recognized that tax matters are closely intertwined with many other aspects of municipal affairs, not least of which are fire-suppression
contracting, capital improvements, “development,” and the height issue.
Few of these reports could be considered "light reading." Some do contain an
occasional element of humor, but they are not intended to entertain our readers. Nor should you look for late-breaking
news here. You will find that in By-the-Sea Times, at www.bytheseatimes.com. Rather, we offer an archive to which concerned LBTS citizens and taxpayers can refer whenever they have questions
on municipal tax issues, or when they want to subject to a reality check something questionable they may have heard during
a commission meeting.
Every effort has been taken to insure both factual accuracy and objective analysis,
but a few errors will inadvertently have slipped in. We therefore welcome and will carefully consider any reports of
inaccuracies which visitors to this website may perceive. We ask you to send
any such reports to lbts-tax-facts@earthlink.net.
Enjoy the website!
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