Issue #9, by Bill Russell

Si Kahn has been a civil rights, labor, and community organizer and folksinger for more than 25 years. He has helped working people work together to get things done. He wrote a book on how to become a successful organizer and fundraiser, and how to effect social change through grassroots organization and mobilization. Beginning in 1996, in the midst of our chapter's activism to eliminate the unfair California Sales tax on graphic art, Lloyd Dangle recommended I read Si Kahn's book, Organizing: A Guide for Grassroots Leaders. Looking back, I think we Guild members organized ourselves and accomplished something very big.

Not enough can be said about the ambitious Sales Tax Initiative that our tiny Northern California Chapter undertook. For seven years, we fought little and large battles on legislative, judicial and regulatory levels to end the tax. It required in large part the leadership of a few key members and the commitment and money of our entire membership. This process helped grow our chapter but it also put our chapter close to debt, costing nearly $80,000. As a result it taught us a lot about governance and oversight.

But I needed more insight. I asked Jeff Fohl, NorCal president from 2000 to 2002 and Lloyd Dangle, NorCal president from 1996 to 1998 for their thoughts about our brand of organizing, fundraising and particularly about how our grassroots effort benefited the chapter.

Bill Russell: Did you celebrate recently when you paid up the last lawyer's fee?

Jeff Fohl: Yes, we did have a little celebration – we had some wonderful cakes made by Hae Yuon Kim at her studio. Eric Miethke even drove out from Sacramento for the presentation of the check. It wasn’t as big a celebration as we had after the State Supreme Court decision.

B.R:: It wasn't long after our chapter was formed that we were, in a big way fulfilling the Guild mandate of protecting the economic interests of its members. Did you ever have any doubts about what we were getting ourselves into?

J.F.: No, I didn’t really have any doubts about it. To me it was a clear case of the tax law being applied in an uneven and arbitrary way to people in the graphic arts community. Of course, I didn’t want the Chapter to get into financial trouble, but when we compared the amount of money and time we were spending to the aggregate of money and time that the entire workforce in California was burdened with, it always seemed to make sense.

B.R:: During the height of the (sales tax) awareness campaign, what creative kinds of activism do you recall that was fun or inspired?

J.F.: I think that the party we had after the State Supreme Court ruled in favor of Heather Preston in her case against the BOE was a great event and really galvanized the chapter for the work that still had to be done. It was great to get so many of the key players together in one room and show our gratitude to each of them. In terms of creativity, I don’t know if we ever got as inspired as the All-Rights Refusniks campaign (against all rights contracts) though.

B.R:: Anyone you would care to acknowledge or just a fond memory?

J.F.: I would like to thank all the individuals that Lloyd mentions (below), but I would like to give extra special thanks to Lloyd for really being the prime mover who got it going in the first place He kept the momentum going, even after he was elected National President, and had less time for it. Thanks Lloyd, it wouldn’t have happened without you. I would also like to thank Eric Miethke for his patience and enthusiasm. Even though it took us forever to pay his well-deserved fees, he was always incredibly supportive of our efforts.

B.R: Lloyd, did you have a "guide" for what we were doing in the Sales Tax Initiative? Was the Si Kahn book, informing you during that period?

Lloyd Dangle: There was no guide. We had to stumble through the effort making every possible mistake along the way until we eventually found the people who knew the way to make the changes happen. We started out using the process citizens are generally thought to follow to address their problems, which were a dead end. Then we copied the corporate tactics, which appear to be the real way things are done today. Si Kahn has written several incredible books about community organizing which are powerful and inspirational, and in a general way informed us on what we could do and what we might achieve, but snaking our way through the labyrinth of California tax policy was another matter altogether.

B.R: What creative kinds of activism do you recall that was fun or inspired?

L.D. When we started out trying to galvanize the artists around an effort to fight the tax consequences we faced in California, we did what came naturally, protesting, holding little rallies with skits and inspired bits of political theater. I also wrote some articles and cartoons criticizing the Board of Equalization (BOE) in unflattering terms. All of that stuff was a lot of fun and made us feel good, but later we had to pay for it when we discovered that we had alienated people in Sacramento who might otherwise have helped us. Like I said, we made mistakes along the way. Anyway, we got their attention in Sacramento and eventually were recognized as serious people who wanted to sit down and work out reasonable policies and regulations.

B.R: What do you consider are the long lasting benefits of this campaign for our chapter?

L.D. The long-lasting benefits to artists are that they are no longer required to collect such a large percentage of sales tax in relation to their fees that they are likely to accumulate large amounts of back taxes and expose themselves to financial peril. I guess you could say the biggest beneficiaries are artists who are "clueless" about sales tax collection requirements or those who received erroneous information from the BOE. A related benefit that I think is important is that without collection windfalls out there for auditors to uncover. There just isn't the incentive to audit every graphic designer and illustrator they can find.
As for long-lasting benefits to the chapter I'm not so sure. I'd hope it would have some lasting impact on the level of membership and commitment, but people tend to forget once their problems are solved. I think the chapter and the organization is only as strong and attractive as its current effort merit.

B.R: Anyone you would care to acknowledge or just a fond memory?

L.D. The people who made the changes in the tax regulations possible were, attorney Eric J Miethke, attorney Nicholas Blonder, who represented Heather Preston in Preston v. Board of Equalization all the way to the California Supreme Court, Heather Preston herself, attorney Daniel Abraham, Paul Mavrides, Rhoda Grossman, and chapter members Mike Friedrich, Sharon Beals, Molly Knappen, Jeff Fohl, Juliette Robbins, Pete Friedrich, and everybody on the chapter level who helped raise money and raise awareness. Also Eileen Weingard, Peleg Top, and the members at the Southern California Guild chapter who did their part.

There are many fond memories, but I'll never forget the day that the California Supreme Court decided in the case of Preston v. BOE. Eric Miethke called to say that the Supreme Court "had handed the Board of Equalization their (collective) head on a platter." It meant that the world as we knew it had changed.

More about the Sales Tax Initiative can be found at this link.

Comments, speaker suggestions, etc. to Bill@Billustration.com

You can also see the archive of Bill's past columns.