Back in 2018 when Commissioner Danny Glidewell was a candidate for the Walton County BCC, he had worked to position himself as a trusted conservative vehemently opposed to taxes and expansive government. In 2022, he voted for a one cent sales tax increase.
Let’s examine his record and public statements.
Opposition to 1/2 Cent Sales Tax in 2017
In 2017, he served as the president of the Walton County Taxpayers Association, an anti-tax, limited government organization. One of their biggest and most successful battles was their fight against a 1/2 cent sales tax that was supposed to help improve roads and transportation infrastructure.
Check out these screenshots from Glidewell’s Facebook page where he mentions his relationship to the WCTA and their opposition to the sales tax:
You may be wondering why he and the organization were against the tax. Well, he makes it abundantly clear in these screenshots from his Facebook page:
The main thrust of their position is that the county has been raking in millions in tax dollars and that there are literally millions of dollars that can be deployed to improving roads and transportation issues. In short, the real problem isn’t lack of funds, but instead a failure of leadership to allocate funds to essential needs.
It is the classic limited government argument proffered by conservatives since the beginning of time.
“Government doesn’t need more money — it just needs to be better stewards of the money it already collects!”
Glidewell Supports One Cent Sales Tax in 2022
Hot damn! Wouldn’t you know it!
After getting elected, Commissioner Glidewell bailed on the WCTA and stopped being a member. He had already milked his membership for everything he could get.
And things continued to spiral and get worse for Walton County taxpayers.
Shockingly — the anti-tax crusader came out in support of a one cent sales tax measure with the funds earmarked for roads and transportation infrastructure.
In the time that Glidewell was first elected the county coffers had grown dramatically. By 2022, the budget had grown by a robust $90 million from $150,000,000 to $239,000,000. If Glidewell thought $150,000,000 was plenty of money to handle roads and infrastructure, surely an additional one cent sales tax was not needed if they now had an additional $90,000,000, right?
In the video below, we have clips of Glidewell testifying under oath in a deposition and his statements in support of the 2022 sales tax at the April 26, 2022 BCC meeting.
The reality is that Danny Glidewell failed to keep his word and cannot be trusted. He has repeatedly voted for boondoggles that cost the taxpayers’ money (e.g., the golf course money pit, the “Paper Bear” documentary project, etc.) and expressed support for higher taxes.