Former City Councilman Carl DeMaio is determined to stay involved in city government, even though he didn’t win the San Diego mayor's race.
DeMaio plans on heading up two watchdog groups. One, the California Reform Council, focuses on balancing the state budget without tax increases and on improving performance and transparency in state government. The group is part of the Reason Foundation, a libertarian think tank based in Los Angeles.
The other group, Reform San Diego, which DeMaio founded, will focus on promoting the financial reforms he championed while in office. Those include pension reform and streamlining city government.
DeMaio said the fact that he lost the mayoral election doesn’t mean he can’t be involved.
"I’m not going to let one loss end the important work of shining a light on government," he said, "of examining ways to achieve cost savings in departments and put those monies back into the services that we’ve lost."
Joining the watchdog groups puts DeMaio back on familiar ground. Before he was elected to office, DeMaio created and later sold two businesses that taught government agencies and private business how to operate more efficiently.
