His name is Mike Bernard. A 1979 graduate of Washington State University, Bernard is the man behind a campaign to derail the UW’s efforts for half of its proposed $300 million Husky Stadium renovation project. (See the school’s Husky-fact-sheet). To him, managing this campaign isn’t really like work. It’s more a hobby.

“It started as three guys,” Bernard said. “We were at a function and there was some discussion about Husky Stadium funding and there was also discussion about Martin Stadium funding. So we thought ‘this is not a good thing.’”

What followed was an e-mail from all three dutiful Cougs to their friends and contacts from a distribution list. That’s when the campaign took on a life of its own starting last August.

“It got picked up by Cougfan, and then it got picked up by Dawgman and then we started getting calls from reporters,” Bernard recalls. “It’s kind of one of those grassroots things that snowballed.”

The original group of three snowballed into a managing group of 10, the e-mail list gained a couple hundred followers and Facebook group called “WAZZU fans against UW’s proposed money grab” now has about 2,000 members.

But for Bernard, it’s not about the numbers. It’s about getting his message across.

“We think it’s not a good use of the money aside from any Cougar-Husky issue. It’s not a good use of taxpayer dollars,” he said.

The UW is asking the Washington Legislature to extend existing King County taxes on hotels, restaurants and car rental tax revenue to raise $150 million for the preservation of the stadium. These taxes were established to fund the public funding portions of both Safeco Field and Qwest Field, and may expire earlier than expected. Bernard argues that these taxes “should go away.”

One person who probably wishes Bernard would go away is Senate budget Chairwoman, Margarita Prentice, D-Renton. Prentice, who introduced Senate Bill 6848 last January, had this to say about Bernard’s efforts in the Spokesman Review:

“I just think this is pretty pathetic,” she said. “The president of WSU should contact this guy and put a stop to it.”

Bernard’s response?

“I think that Senator Prentice should stick to making sure that the taxpayers get good value for their tax dollars,” he said. “If she thinks that putting in luxury boxes, lowering the field, and all the other stuff they’re putting in under the guise of safety, is a good use of taxpayer money then I guess that’s what her constituents want to do.”

Washington State University is funding a gradual renovation of Martin Stadium, the smallest Pac-10 football venue, through private donation. Bernard believes this is the right way to go, and that the UW should use its bountiful assets to fund the renovation, not through tax dollars.

“That’s how Oregon did it, that’s how Oregon State did it, it’s how WSU is doing it. I’m not a familiar with another team in the Pac-10 that’s done it using state money,” he said.

“It’s a ‘poor me’ thing that they’re doing out there that doesn’t hold water,” he added.

Note: I’ll have more from my conversation from Bernard later this week.