Hollister
– Local attorney Joe Thompson’s lawsuit against the San Benito
County Council of Governments may get wrapped up before a single
person has been brought to court.
Hollister – Local attorney Joe Thompson’s lawsuit against the San Benito County Council of Governments may get wrapped up before a single person has been brought to court.
Thompson’s lawsuit focused on his unanswered public records request, a request that COG Executive Director Lisa Rheinheimer responded to last week. And although Thompson isn’t happy with COG’s answer, he said Wednesday that he’s not sure if he’s going to drop the suit.
Thompson, who appears regularly at county meetings to denounce government spending and regulations, included the request in a letter dated Dec. 10, 2006, and sent to COG’s then-Interim Executive Director Bob Davies and County Supervisor Pat Loe. After receiving no response for three months, Thompson filed a lawsuit in March asking the court to force COG to provide the information.
The lawsuit has not been served yet, and Thompson said that until he pays someone to serve the suit, it won’t move forward.
Rheinheimer responded to the request on April 3; in that response, Rheinheimer said the agency has no record of receiving Thompson’s original letter.
“Once County Counsel made us aware of your request we diligently investigated the availability of records,” Rheinheimer said.
The result? COG doesn’t have the numbers Thompson wants, Rheinheimer said.
“My understanding is that we don’t keep records of the things he’s asking for,” she said.
Thompson original request was to see COG’s expenditures for the past five years, calculated to include capital equipment costs as well as operating expenses. Thompson said the agency’s records – including the farebox recovery rate, which is calculated using operating cost alone – obscure the transit system’s true expense to local taxpayers.
Peter Scheer, executive director of the San Rafael-based California First Amendment Coalition, said state law only requires that COG turn over all relevant documents; the agency isn’t required to do any calculations or prepare any new documents.
Rheinheimer said COG has already given Thompson three of the agency’s fiscal audits, and she said he’s welcome peruse any of the other audits at the COG office.
Thompson acknowledged that COG’s financial practices are in line with other public transit agencies, but he said that it’s time to “tear down this wall” between the public and private sectors.
“If you were selling a newspaper, you’d want to know if you’re making a profit,” he said.
Anthony Ha covers local government for the Free Lance. Reach him at 831-637-5566 ext. 330 or [email protected].
