Taxed Into Revolt : Celeste Mergens, an El Cajon Housewife, Leads the Charge of a Burgeoning Grass-Roots Anti-Tax Movement

Celeste Mergens, a polite, soft-spoken woman who is still a little uncomfortable in her new role as tax revolt leader, found inspiration in an unlikely source.

The Duke on late-night television.

In an old war movie, John Wayne tells a frightened comrade on the eve of battle that all battles are won by scared men who would rather be someplace else.

“I thought, yeah, that’s right. That’s just like me,” Mergens said. “I was nervous, but I knew I had to do it.”

We the People, an anti-tax citizens group that opposes new federal taxes and calls for more efficient use of existing tax revenue, was born out of this El Cajon homemaker’s financial frustration; she was fed up with the government swallowing a bigger and bigger chunk of her husband’s paycheck.

“I kept waiting for someone to get elected to do something to stop these taxes,” Mergens said. “But I finally realized it would happen only if people got involved.

“Our message is either return to ethical government, or we’re going to vote these politicians out of office.”

Her new calling has stepped up the tempo in what was an already busy and crowded home.

The phone rings. Her 6-year-old drips homemade clay on the rug. The 5-year-old climbs the furniture. The 4-year-old makes enough popcorn for an army. The 2-year-old spits up oversalted popcorn. The baby needs nursing. The dog climbs on the sofa. The doorbell rings.

At the heart of this perpetual motion is Mergens, a 28-year-old mother of five who has found time to organize the burgeoning tax-revolt movement of self-described middle- and lower-class “patriots.”

Also known as PATRIOT--People Against Taxes Revolt in Our Time--the group staged its first demonstration July 12 at San Diego Harbor.

The protesters condemned President Bush for recently suggesting a need for more taxes and criticized Congress for what it called inefficient use of existing tax money and for relying on special-interest groups for reelection campaign funds.

“I assumed Bush was on our side,” Mergens said. “He should have said: ‘Read my lips. I lied.’ And Congress should use what money it has and cut the waste. They have so many obligations to the special-interest groups that they’ve stopped representing the people as a whole.”

An area resident since 1980, Mergens has no experience in political activism. She has rarely participated in community projects. Once, when living in San Ysidro, she and some friends painted a few rundown, graffiti-covered buildings that were an eyesore.

She married her husband, Donald, a property manager with a development company, in 1982 and has been busy rearing their children since then in a two-story house in the hills above El Cajon.

After writing to her legislators and getting virtually no response, Mergens decided to become an activist.

“I asked my congressmen to use innovation and courage to find solutions to the budget deficit,” she said. “We just got tired of all the taxes--48% of our income goes to taxes--and with insurance and all the other costs of raising a family, we’re just getting by.”

We the People plans to set up tax-protest demonstrations this summer in major cities across the nation, encourage voter registration and target for defeat those politicians who support new taxes and rely heavily on special-interest contributions.

The group’s next protest is scheduled for Thursday at the Embarcadero, near the County Administration Center, the site of the first demonstration. That was a symbolic re-enactment of the Boston Tea Party that culminated with Mergens throwing a handful of tea into the harbor.

Mergens said a wildlife official warned her that dumping tea into the ocean was a violation of state and federal laws and that she risked being arrested or fined. But she said the issue was too important to back down.

For the Thursday protest, police will put a few extra officers in the area, but no problems are expected, said Police Department spokesman Dave Cohen. There was one arrest at the first demonstration--a man who refused to relinquish his sign, which police said was mounted on a stick that was too large. The man later apologized.

“Every indication is that this group will be law-abiding,” Cohen said. “They’re engaged in free speech, and that’s what this country is all about. The only problem might be some traffic congestion.”

The group has focused its spotlight on federal and state taxes rather than local government. San Diego County government spokesman Bob Lerner said county officials are aware of the group but have not been contacted regarding the efficiency of county spending.

We the People’s sudden popularity is largely attributable to publicity from radio talk-show host and former Mayor Roger Hedgecock, whose support Mergens enlisted from the start. Using the airwaves, Mergens is encouraging a growing number of couch-potato tax haters to join the movement.

The crowd estimate at the first demonstration varied from 1,000 to 3,400, but there was no doubt about the anger among the diverse group. More than 400 people have volunteered their services--from printing flyers to making phone calls--and the list grows every day, Mergens said.

Some volunteers said Mergens was the reason they attended the protest.

“I just felt it was time to get involved. I thought, by golly, if a mother of five kids can take the time, then so can I,” said Ron Shane, an El Cajon contractor who dressed as Paul Revere at the July 12 demonstration.

Added Lee King, 73, a retired legal secretary: “I’ve been unhappy about all these taxes for a long, long time. My son-in-law loses half his pay to taxes.”

U.S. Rep. Jim Bate (D-San Diego) said he was not aware of We the People’s existence, but said he supports any citizens group that speaks its mind. Bates advised such groups to narrow their goals--such as targeting a specific politician for defeat--to be effective.

“If they’re condemning all of Congress, then they will probably be ineffective,” Bates said. “They need to target their message if they’re going to accomplish anything.”

Mergens said We the People is nonpartisan and accepts no donations, and she says she takes no money and has no aspirations for political office.

“Be in at the beginning of a major movement that will certainly swell to national proportions,” declares a flyer put out by Internet Associates, a small media-consultant firm volunteering its services. “ . . . It began with Samuel Adams in 1773. It continues with Celeste Mergens in 1990.”

Mergens laughed.

“Well, maybe that is a little dramatic, but we think this is just as critical a time,” she said. “The Constitution is hanging by a thread. When the people lose confidence in Congress, then it is now or never.”