Joe Saino

For almost four years, he’s done what many average citizens don’t have the patience to do and what reporters often don’t have the resources to commit to.

Joe Saino, a former board member of Memphis Light, Gas and Water Division, is a self-appointed public watchdog and taxpayer advocate who’s spent the last few years targeting all manner of corruption, waste and inefficiency in local government. His effort won’t be a one-man operation, financed exclusively out of his own pocket, for much longer.

Saino – whose Web site, www.memphiswatchdog.org, includes a cartoon of an angry-looking guard dog near the top of the page – is in the process of setting up a new group he’s calling MEMPHISSHELBYREFORM. His plan is to round up 50 initial commitments of $500 each to get the project off the ground. He’s already secured almost 20 of those commitments.

The goal is to put some financial muscle and volunteers behind his efforts at researching and publicizing questionable practices and policies in local government. Not that those efforts have been for naught.

During a meeting of the Memphis Charter Commission in early 2007, for example, the sight of Saino rising to address the group during a period of public comment reportedly prompted one commissioner to groan, “Not you again.” Also last year, Saino parlayed his zeal for holding government accountable into what ultimately was an unsuccessful run for a seat on the Memphis City Council.

His campaign literature read: “Joe Saino – The next best thing to being a councilman yourself.”

Expanding the team

With his new group, Saino plans to continue working toward a list of specific objectives that include encouraging government to become more transparent. As part of that, he is pushing for the disclosure of more financial, personnel and project bid information on the Internet.

He also wants open records that are required to be provided to the public to be made available in electronic format.

What Saino said he’s found out over the years in his inspections of and requests for government records is that the information he’ll ask for starts out as something like a spreadsheet. He’ll then be given printed copies of that information which he has to pay for.

One of the most important things the creation of his new group means is Saino won’t have to do the grunt work alone any more.

Until now, he has filed a steady stream of open records requests on his own, paid for copies of those records, shaken down government officials and agencies that stonewall him and financed those occasions when he feels government officials need to be dragged into court to comply with his requests.

Finding understanding

Among his other accomplishments over the past few years is leading the push, along with businessman John Lunt and others, to form what is now the Memphis Charter Commission.

“Politicians understand two things. They understand votes, and they understand money,” said Saino, who publicizes his efforts on his Web site.

“So you receive some credibility when you are able to raise money. And you receive a lot of credibility when they think you’ve got 500 or 5,000 people who will listen to you and who can say, ‘Hey, we need this. And we need this law changed. And why did you guys do this?’”

Attorney Lester Lit, another candidate for City Council in 2007, is a supporter of Saino’s efforts and thinks the new advocacy group is sorely needed in Memphis. Lit said he plans on backing it in some way once the nonprofit group is established.

“It’s probably good to have a group like this, because apparently the politicians don’t listen to the average citizens,” Lit said. “Not on an individual basis anyway. They would listen to you if you were super-wealthy.

So in that regard, this is a good thing. This will get their attention.”

Saino’s plans at the moment for the fledgling group include building a new Web site and shifting data and research items on his existing Web site to the new one. He’s thinking about hiring a part-time secretary – someone who can do more of the research he does on his own now.

He’s also thinking about bringing on additional help to aid in keeping the Web site up to date and more fleshed out than he’s able to do now by himself.

“I’m going to keep on doing what I’m doing,” Saino said. “But, frankly, I need some help.”