FULLERTON : Residents to Protest Government Waste

Residents who are angry about what they say is excessive government spending plan to join in a national day of protest Saturday.

Taxpayer’s Action Day ’93 is organized nationally by Citizens Against Government Waste.

The organization has documented millions of wasted dollars, according to James O. Rector, who is organizing the Orange County rally.

“Taxes--I think they’re popping up all over,” Rector said. “I don’t like that one bit. I’m going to protest wasteful, wanton spending of my tax dollars.”

Rector, a Fullerton resident and systems engineer for Northrop, said he expects about 1,000 people from Orange, Los Angeles, Riverside, San Bernardino and other counties to turn out at the event.

Participants will protest “pork-barrel” spending by skewering three foam-filled cardboard pigs, made by Rector, he said.

In a game called “Pin the Pork on the Porker,” people will blame specific members of Congress and local government for alleged waste, Rector said.

“I’m one of the folks that believes that we’ve got to stop the wasting,” he said. “Then we’ll have plenty of money.”

Rector has been active with United We Stand America and is now the education director for the local chapter.

Some of the guests invited to the protest have been vocal opponents of the recently approved 2% Fullerton utility users tax.

But the protest is not related to that tax, Rector said.

The Fullerton Chamber of Commerce has argued that the utility tax, which the City Council passed on a 3-2 vote last July, needed a 4-1 vote.

The county auditor has said he will withhold $1 in property taxes from Fullerton for every dollar the city collects from the utility tax. The issue is now in court.

Rector emphasized that Saturday’s protest is about excessive spending, not taxation.

“We do have to pay for our government,” he said. “But there are senators and congressmen all across the country who are wasting our money.”

Rector said he invited local officials and congressional representatives to the protest, but they will not be speaking.

“If the elected officials are there, they will have to mill with the people,” Rector said.

He said people will then be able to state their concerns to their elected officials.

“I’d like to see them all come together and say, ‘Hey, we’re all (angry) about this tax thing. Let’s do something,’ ” Rector said.

The protest will be at the northwest corner of the Fullerton College campus, from 12:30 to 3 p.m.