These days, living in Williamsville and loudly supporting Kevin Gaughan seems about as smart as walking into a Buffalo sports bar wearing a Bruins jersey and saying Ryan Miller is overrated.

Don’t think so? Not one but two grass-roots groups have sprung up arguing for the preservation of village government. Get off I-290 at the Main Street exit and you will know you are entering Williamsville by the welcome sign, the one that says “Get out Gaughan-ites,” a variation on the popular and more personal “Get out Gaughan” signs that dot village front lawns. (I couldn’t find any that said, “Welcome Kevin!”)

John Seymour can’t understand what all the fuss is about, and he was happy to explain why he thinks Gaughan’s initiative to eliminate village governments is worth public consideration. He’s not an “outsider” bent on destroying the Williamsville way of life. He’s just a guy living in the village who likes the idea of changing the status quo.

I wasn’t sure his kind existed. Gaughan insists that there are many others just like him. I had to meet one to see for myself.

Seymour, 56, is a father of three college- age men who has lived in the village since 1994. He moved to his house on Garrison Road because he wanted to be in the Williamsville School District, not because he wanted to live in the Village of Williamsville.

He never really thought much about his property tax bill, other than generally hating it. Then, in the summer and fall of 2008, he began seeing newspaper articles in which Gaughan made his case for downsizing government and dissolving villages. One story noted that it costs Erie County’s villages $5.6 million each year to sustain their politicians, while villages receive $7 million in sales tax.

“All of a sudden, it hit me,” Seymour said. “I always knew I was paying a little extra. Then I saw the discrepancy, and it really made me stop and think, ‘Why am I paying all this extra money?’ ”

So when Gaughan’s petition-pushers knocked on his door earlier this month, he couldn’t grab the pen from them fast enough.

Supporters of village government say the reason to pay more tax dollars than nonresidents of a village is to maintain the level of service that a village provides. To that, Seymour notes that the services provided by the Town of Amherst are nothing to sneeze at.

“We’re not going to see a drop-off in services if we dissolve the village government,” he said.

What about the argument that Williamsville residents don’t mind paying extra to enjoy village living? A study conducted by one of the grass-roots groups suggests that it costs less than $200 extra to live in the village. But Seymour said an examination of his taxes tells him he’s paying more than $700 annually for that privilege. But even if he were paying only $7 more, he said, he still wouldn’t want to do it.

“Any dollar extra in taxes that is unnecessary shouldn’t be there,” he said.

What Seymour is saying isn’t unusual, of course. You’re just not hearing it very often because Gaughan’s opponents are organized and outspoken, and they have the political establishment—for the most part—on their side.

The people who want change are not speaking as loudly right now. But Seymour said that it would be wrong to confuse their silence with acceptance. They plan to do their talking on petitions and in the voting booth.

“Change starts at the local level. The more local you can make it, the more you can make changes in your environment,” Seymour said. “Here, we can do it.”