Who Are We?
A Group of Engaged
Citizens for Transparent and
Accountable Government
When issues impact Tallahassee citizens and local government, we provide ethical and practical solutions. As taxpayers, we demand government accountability from leaders who are ethically and fiscally responsible. We learn the facts on the issues and share them transparently with you, never compromising our principles. We are a group of knowledgeable, experienced and engaged citizens.
Causes We Care About, and So Should You!
City budget issues
We want Tallahassee citizens to be involved in creating a balanced city budget and holding government accountable to spend responsibly.
City commission ethics
We advocate for our local leaders to behave ethically, and we hold them to a high standard of quality service.
Post-Hurricane Hermine
We want to help shape the way the Tallahassee community reacts in natural crisis situations, to organize and improve future response efforts.
City budget issues
We want Tallahassee citizens to be involved in creating a balanced city budget and holding government accountable to spend responsibly.
City commission ethics
We advocate for our local leaders to behave ethically, and we hold them to a high standard of quality service.
Post-Hurricane Hermine
We want to help shape the way the Tallahassee community reacts in natural crisis situations, to organize and improve future response efforts.
Tallahassee Downtown
Improvement Authority
We keep a watchful eye on business interests and conflicts, resulting most recently in the resignation of TDIA’s executive director.
Tax fairness
We’ve worked with statewide tax watchdog, Florida TaxWatch, to identify tax cut solutions, because Tallahassee’s growth must be balanced by how much people can afford to pay.
Short-term vacation rentals
We want to help shape the way the Tallahassee community reacts in natural crisis situations, to organize and improve future response efforts.
Tallahassee Downtown
Improvement Authority
We keep a watchful eye on business interests and conflicts, resulting most recently in the resignation of TDIA’s executive director.
Tax fairness
We’ve worked with statewide tax watchdog, Florida TaxWatch, to identify tax cut solutions, because Tallahassee’s growth must be balanced by how much people can afford to pay.
Short-term vacation rentals
We want to help shape the way the Tallahassee community reacts in natural crisis situations, to organize and improve future response efforts.
About Us
Citizens for Responsible Spending is an engaged group of former Florida CEOs and state agency and association leaders who have pooled their decades of experience to help ensure transparent and accountable government.
Barney T. Bishop III
Founder and Chair
An outspoken advocate for the free enterprise system, Barney is the immediate past President & CEO of Associated Industries of Florida (AIF), which is known as The Voice of Florida Business. A lobbyist since 1979 he has been called by a state newspaper “a business lobbyist icon.”
Barney is a serial entrepreneur who just founded his third company in 2011 – Barney Bishop Consulting. He also is a contributor to the Southern Political Reporter and Sunshine State News, and he has appeared on the national Fox News and Fox Business News discussing such issues as mega-resorts and over-regulation by the EPA.