Believing in people:
Christopher Finney and COAST
Like most cities, Cincinnati seeks to reduce crime, maintain its streets, and increase private investment. And, like all cities, it pays for these government services through the taxation of its residents--taxes that can place large burdens on individuals and families.
But luckily for the people of Cincinnati, there are individuals who are concerned about unnecessary tax increases, and work hard to fight against them. One such group of individuals is the Coalition Opposed to Additional Taxes and Spending, otherwise known as COAST.
Visit COAST’s website and you’ll see where they get their inspiration. It features a picture of the Boston Tea Party, which Sam Adams led in 1773, along with a brief history of the famous tax rebellion.
“Historically, the Boston Tea Party and Sam Adams represent the spirit of freedom and limited government that seems lost in today’s civil discourse,” says Christopher P. Finney, co-founder and legal counsel of COAST. “Like our forefathers, we believe in the power of people as opposed to big government, big business, and big labor.”
The organization’s mission is two-fold: to rein in southwest Ohio’s local state taxes “to within the rate of inflation,” and to keep government power in check. Finney and co-founder Thomas E. Brinkman, Jr. formed COAST in 1999 in response to a series of proposed tax levy increases scheduled for that year. The defeat of these measures foreshadowed the group’s future success in combating further tax increases and established COAST as a force to be reckoned with.
“We had been fighting this battle for a decade prior to COAST’s founding,” Finney said. “We did it in the name of a group called CUTS: Cincinnatians United Against Taxes and Spending.”
Like its predecessor, COAST is an evolving organization.
“COAST is more broad, dealing with state legislation, all local levies and excessive use of government power at all levels,” Finney said.
A recent example of COAST’s work is its fight against taxpayer-funded lobbying by the Ohio School Board.
“In the case of the Ohio School Boards Association, employees were using a taxpayer-assembled e-mail distribution list to advance a political campaign for high-tax advocates,” Finney said. “We stopped that by demanding equal access. COAST has undertaken about a dozen similar actions, most of which have been met with similar success.”
Finney is fond of exposing wrongdoing by filing lawsuits.
“Forcing government officials who abuse their authority to explain themselves to a federal judge can dramatically alter the balance of power in a tight tax fight,” he said.
But lawsuits don’t solve everything. COAST is currently tackling a proposed sales tax increase meant to pay for a new jail in Hamilton County. Last year, voters rejected a 25-cent increase in the sales tax, yet a majority of the three-member county commission voted afterwards to impose the tax increase and build the new jail anyway.
COAST—allied with diverse groups like the Libertarian Party, the NAACP, and the Green Party—put together a petition drive to bring the issue before the voters in this year’s election. They enlisted 631 volunteers and were able to collect 55,000 signatures within 45 days, which Mr. Finney says is a real feat in the Cincinnati area.
“We have a broad and cohesive coalition that is holding together nicely, and each group appeals to a specific constituency,” Finney said. “The dynamism is truly exciting.”.
Finney offers advice for other citizen leaders who are seeking to make an impact:
“The greatest lesson learned [from CUTS] was to do your homework, and speak from a position of knowledge,” Finney said. ”One of the most powerful weapons that advocates of limited government can have are a command of the facts. All too often, the people who want to endlessly grow government claim an exclusive franchise on information. Don't allow them to do it.”
By having good strategies, building strong coalitions, and knowing all the facts, Chrostopher Finney and the other members of COAST are winning the fight for accountable, transparent government in southwest Ohio.
Visit COAST online at gocoast.org.
