150 at Rally Voice Anger on Waste of Tax Dollars : Thousand Oaks: A local lawmaker urges his audience to vote against politicians who squander public money.

Ernest Siracusa is fed up with the government wasting his money. The 48-year-old Thousand Oaks resident owns a market research company, has a family and has been paying taxes for years. And he doesn’t think his elected representatives are doing a good job of spending his tax dollars.

“I think we need to have a whole new philosophy of government,” Siracusa said. “We need to throw the bastards out of office and put in people that will listen to us.”

Siracusa and about 150 other angry taxpayers attended a rally in Thousand Oaks on Saturday afternoon to listen to speakers--some of them politicians, actually--tell them that they should take their voting power and elect local, state and federal officials who won’t waste their money.

“Rallies like this are just another reminder to those in office . . . that there is a world of angry taxpayers out there,” said Assemblyman Tom McClintock (R-Thousand Oaks), who had attended two such rallies Saturday morning before speaking at the Conejo Community Center.

The demonstration in Thousand Oaks was one of about 200 rallies held nationwide during Taxpayer’s Action Day ‘91, said Melinda Wiman, an organizer with Citizens Against Government Waste, a nonprofit government watchdog group. The day was planned as an opportunity for citizens nationwide to protest against government waste and mismanagement and increasing taxes, she said.

“Coincidentally, today is the day the post office delivers property taxes,” said Jerry Robings of the Ventura County Taxpayers Assn. “I think people are apathetic. Typically they say, ‘What can I do?’ and then forget about it. If people come out and find that there are groups they can get involved with, it gets them off their couch.”

Besides organizations such as Tax Reform Immediately and United Organization of Taxpayers, other interest groups set up tables full of pamphlets and newsletters to lure potential voters for their causes.

Thousand Oaks Mayor Frank Schillo was there to defend the controversial Jungleland project, and people from the office of Rep. William E. Dannemeyer (R-Fullerton) were there stumping for his Senate race.

“It’s surprising how little people want to be involved,” said Lou Riddering, 68, of Oxnard, who came because a friend asked him to. “I would hope that the grass-roots movement still has a voice in our government.”

McClintock, like many speakers at the rally, urged his audience to vote people who squander taxpayer money out of office. “Find out how your local representatives voted, and then write a letter, but not to them, but to your local papers so other people know about it,” McClintock said. “The power of 150 angry people who are organized is awesome.”

“He has a point,” said Edgar Mueller, a 24-year-old Simi Valley engineer who is a member of Ventura County Young Republicans. “You vote with your wallet, right?”