Pair of Taxpayer Activists Plan Watchdog Group for East County

Citing the city of Bell scandal, taxpayer activists David Smyle and Russell Buckley of La Mesa say they are launching a watchdog group to monitor East County public agencies and their spending.

“The ... idea was Russell Buckley’s and mine,” said Smyle, who helped found the La Mesa Chamber of Commerce three years ago. “There is no formal organization at this time. We are in the process of gathering interest to see if the group has anywhere to go.”

Smyle, president of a commercial mortgage banking firm in La Mesa, also was chief financial officer of the chamber until recently. He said the watchdog group—still unnamed—will scrutinize “city, county, water and any other agency taking funds from the public to operate.”

With pension benefits at the Helix Water District drawing special attention, Smyle and Buckley say such agencies “have gone under the radar with regards to spending public money on excessive employee benefits and unnecessary expenses without regard to the people who fund their operations or the long-term consequences of their actions and decisions.”

In reply to an e-mail query, Smyle said Monday:

Only within the last few years with the looming state and local budget crises have the issues of the excessive public pensions and benefits come to the forefront—in large part because the public was not engaged or aware of the excesses.

Bell is a good example how something so outrageous can go undetected for so long. The more visible the issues, the more educated the public can become.

Unfortunately, unless you are retired, most people don’t have the time or energy to investigate these issues on their own as they are working full time trying to make ends meet, so we hope to find a way to educate them along with the other watchdogs and hopefully garner a strong enough voice to be heard.

Smyle didn’t yet know what form the group will take, but it may apply for nonprofit status for donation purposes—“if it gets to that point, probably,” he said. A website is “hopefully” in the works.

Despite the existence of the San Diego County Taxpayers Association—formed in the 1940s—the East County group will not be a competing organization, Smyle said. 

“We are a complement, as they do a great job of representing the taxpayer, and we just want to piggyback off their expertise and efforts,” he said. 

He said this organization would “get people engaged to attend public forums and City Council/board meetings, write letters, e-mails, editorials, etc., to let the public agencies know we are watching their decisions and are going to hold them accountable for their votes.”

Smyle said the group also will let people know “how they can protest and fight proposed actions such as water rate increases and tax increases.”

News of the nascent group was first posted Sunday on La Mesa Today, which quoted Smyle as saying: “If interested in being part of the group or staying informed on information and events, send an e-mail with your contact information to eastcountytaxhawks@gmail.com. There is strength in numbers. Just ask Egypt. We can make a difference. Get involved.”