PublicWatchdog.org  is the only tangible remnant of Citizens for Responsible Government, an association of Park Ridge citizens formed in 2002 to ensure that our local governmental units – The City of Park Ridge, Elementary School District 64, High School District 207, the Park Ridge Recreation and Park District, and the agencies that work in concert with them – would expend public funds and conduct their operations with the same foresight, judgment and economy that the majority of our citizens would employ in acting for themselves.

CRG was guided by the following principles:

• Responsible government requires broad public participation by an informed citizenry that can be achieved only through the timely dissemination of complete and accurate information and vigorous public debate.

• Government operations must be transparent so that both our elected and appointed officials can be held strictly accountable to their constituents.

• Fiscal policies must be value-based and focused on common sense cost-effectiveness that, whenever possible, complements rather than competes with private enterprise and investment.

• Government initiatives that further special interests or place long-term demands on public resources require the highest level of public scrutiny.

• The best way to maximize the value of our public resources is through synergy and cooperation between the units of local government who consume them.

• Partisan party politics have no place in local government, which should operate free of external political influences.

During its short-lived existence, CRG participated actively in the political process, both by advocating positions on matters of public policy and by supporting those who concurred with those positions.

Despite CRG’s demise, PublicWatchdog remains true to those principles.