Some St. Joseph residents have received mailers opposing the 63-cent school levy, according to officials of the pro-levy group “Our Children. Our Future. Our Decision.”

The mailers are marked “Paid for by Citizens Against Forever Tax.” That’s the same group that opposed the school levy/bond vote last April and was led by Ken Reeder.

Among other things, the mailers say “Our Tax Dollars are Going to Waste” and “Vote No on November 3rd!”

Mr. Reeder said in earlier reports that he would not oppose the campaign this time, but he is still listed as treasurer of Citizens Against Forever Tax on the Missouri Ethics Commission Web site. However, Mr. Reeder said Friday that he has been removed from the group as its treasurer. This move will be reflected in the eight-day report to the ethics commission on Monday, he said.

“They figured since I said I wasn’t going to oppose it, of course that’s a big difference than saying I would support it. Since I didn’t commit to opposing it, they really couldn’t use me for anything; there’s been kind of a flurry to get me off there officially,” Mr. Reeder said.

He didn’t disclose who “they” were, other than to say it was a group of local businessmen who were afraid to use their names for fear of retaliation.

In its latest report, The Missouri Ethics Commission lists Gordon Cook of Cook Consulting Co. in Parkville as the lone contributor to Citizens Against Forever Tax, with a $200 contribution. It also shows the group has $21,421 on hand.

In April, the primary contributor to Citizens Against Forever Tax was the American Democracy Alliance, which was the main contributor to Citizens Taking Charge, a Kansas City-area group that spent $40,000 to defeat the Buchanan County senior tax levy in August 2008.

American Democracy Alliance shared the same address as Graves Bartle Marcus & Garrett, a law firm at 1100 Main St., Suite 2600, in Kansas City.

Also aligned with Citizens Against Forever Tax in April was Jeff Roe, principal of Axiom Strategies and former campaign strategist for Congressman Sam Graves.

Jason Park, “Our Children. Our Future. Our Decision” campaign co-chairman, said opposition was something the group was expecting. What he had trouble with was outside forces trying to tell St. Joseph residents how to run their school district.

Speaking on behalf of himself and his wife, Stacey, who also is a campaign co-chair along with Allison and Todd Stewart, Mr. Park said the group will stick to its overall strategy.

“It motivates us to get the word out more about what this is about, and the fact that these are our kids, our community and we should be making the decisions on what kind of education they get,” he said.

“Our Children. Our Future. Our Decision” has raised about $50,000, a spokesman for the group said last week.

Alonzo Weston can be reached

at alonzow@npgco.com.