Common Cause Unit Established in Redondo : Government: The whistle-blowing group is known for keeping tabs on politicians’ spending and ethics.

When South Bay politicians abuse campaign finance laws or act unethically, a new local group plans to be there to blow the whistle: the South Bay chapter of Common Cause, a political watchdog organization.

Common Cause, a Washington-based nonpartisan group known for keeping tabs on politicians’ financial and ethical practices, recently opened its 13th California chapter in Redondo Beach. The chapter plans to coordinate debates and maintain vigilance over South Bay politicians.

So far, the fledgling chapter counts 12 members, although about 2,000 Common Cause members live in the South Bay, said Greg Anderson, the 37-year-old Redondo Beach substitute teacher coordinating the new chapter. Anderson expects the local chapter to boost its membership as it becomes better known.

Although there are Common Cause units in Los Angeles and Long Beach, they were too distant to keep an eye on South Bay, Anderson said.

“The attitude of the South Bay is we look on ourselves as an entity of our own,” he said.

Since the chapter is still in its formative stages, Anderson said, it has not yet developed a detailed plan of action. But a number of activities are in the works, he said.

The group plans to sponsor a debate among the candidates for municipal office in Redondo Beach in the next few weeks, for instance, and there is talk of setting up ethics panels for various South Bay cities.

Cecilia Gallardo, field coordinator for Common Cause’s Los Angeles chapter, said she welcomes the group and has helped it organize. Having another local chapter could help the organization’s national and state drives to keep pressure on state and federal elected officials from that area, Gallardo said.

Last March, for instance, Common Cause distributed leaflets at the district offices of U.S. House members across the nation who signed a pledge to back campaign finance reform. A South Bay unit could have taken charge of that effort locally, group members say.

A unit in the South Bay could also help keep pressing the area’s elected officials to enact such reforms, officers of the group say. Said Anderson: “If we can decentralize Common Cause a little, then we have a little more control over what our elected officials are doing.”

Common Cause was founded in 1970 by John W. Gardner, a former secretary of health, education and welfare.

The group counts 270,000 members nationally who have been active in campaigns to enact “sunshine” laws opening government meetings to the public and to establish ethical standards for local, state and federal officials.