A Mommy Story

It seems all is not done with our local school levy issue.

I mean, the election is over, and the levy failed. No question there. And while I’m still working with a group to develop a community plan to improve our schools, I thought the political part was over. Yes, I was against the district and the City of Columbus over this issue, but the vote has been taken, the people decided, and we’re all back on the same team again, right?

Not so much.

This weekend, Aaron and I received a letter from the City of Columbus, informing us that we’re having our city taxes audited for the previous three years. The letter was dated November 7, two days after the election.

Suspicious, no? (Read on, I’ll explain why I think this might have been in the works before the election.)

I’m not sure what new information the city offices could now have to trigger an audit of our personal taxes. The audit will likely cost taxpayers far more than anything they could possibly get from us if they determine TurboTax led us astray. We’re not a large corporation – we’re two individuals who didn’t have a lot of income over the past three years as we tried to get back on our feet after layoffs. I’m not a great public figure, either. This regular mom lives a very mundane life, with a very small corner of the internet to write out my opinions.

It’s already highly unusual for an individual to receive an audit notice from the city, so to receive one immediately after the election results, when I was directly involved in an election issue as the opposition of a plan the city and the mayor supported reeks of political retaliation.

I know I was one of the more public figures involved, and likely the one with the fewest political connections. It was hard to not know about me in the school levy issue. It was here that I posted the audio of the mayor’s rants from the PTA meeting. (Note: I didn’t record the audio, but I was the one who agreed to host it.) I spoke on Ann Fisher’s WOSU radio show twice, my name given each time. Also, it’s not hard to find my full name in connection to my blog. It’s really easy, in fact. Just look at my Twitter page.

And thanks to the magic of IP tracking and StatCounter, I know that people from the City of Columbus offices were using their public computers to read through this little blog throughout October, leading up to the election and beyond. Why the sudden interest? They never bothered to pay me a visit until I posted about the PTA meeting. [Edited to add: they’ve read this post today, too. *waves hi*] If they are doing this as retaliation, they’ve possibly been planning it for the last month, waiting to see the election outcome.

I’ve heard through different channels that the teacher’s union is also possibly using retaliation against a teacher who chose to speak out against the levy, attempting to silence that teacher through intimidation. I don’t know all of the details, but if it’s true, it’s deplorable behavior from the very union that is supposed to be working for and looking out for its teachers.

A part of me wanted to believe this was purely coincidental, but the more I think about it, the more I can’t believe that would be the case. An audit notice, issued immediately after the election results, for someone who was a public face of the opposition against the city’s plans for the school district? Sorry, that doesn’t feel coincidental. There’s no profit in auditing a couple who doesn’t own a business or make a lot of money, so we’re unusual targets for an audit to begin with, much less a city audit. No, I think I struck a nerve, and someone feels the need to turn that anger onto my family.

I am concerned that this could be direct political retaliation in an attempt for someone like me, with no political or powerful connections, to be forced into submission through punishment and fear. You dare to challenge the city? Here, we’ll show you who’s really in charge by auditing you to make your life hell.

Here’s the thing, though. Friends and family know that I’m not someone to go quietly into the night when someone tries to silence me. (Bloggers…opinionated loud-mouths.) Instead, I’ll take them on head-on, questioning if my civil rights are being infringed on and directly asking how our city government – my own political party, for goodness sakes! – could possibly have become so corrupt.

Shame on the mayor and this city government if they’re using their positions of power to enact political retribution against me through a tax audit. I didn’t realize citizens weren’t allowed to speak our own minds in Columbus. You haven’t intimidated me at all. Rather, you’ve made me wonder what else is rotten in our city government?

Maybe it’s time for an audit of the City of Columbus? Perhaps we need to root out the corruption and political games that some would choose to use their positions of power to play, and ensure our city leaders are doing their job of serving all of the city, as they were elected to do.