Hollister
– If you’ve attended a government meeting in San Benito County,
you’ve probably heard Joe Thompson talk about the numerous problems
he has with local leaders and their policies. But this week,
Thompson isn’t just talking – he’s taking legal action.
Hollister – If you’ve attended a government meeting in San Benito County, you’ve probably heard Joe Thompson talk about the numerous problems he has with local leaders and their policies. But this week, Thompson isn’t just talking – he’s taking legal action.
Thompson, a Tres Pinos resident who practices law in Gilroy, filed a lawsuit Monday against the San Benito County Council of Governments, which is responsible for the county’s highways and public transit.
At the heart of Thompson’s complaint is a public records request he made on Dec. 10, 2006. More than three months later, Thompson has yet to receive a formal response. The state’s Public Records Act requires government agencies to respond to requests within 10 days, so Thompson is asking the court to mandate that COG provide the information he requested and issue a decree that the agency violated the Public Records Act.
COG has not yet been served with the lawsuit, and Thompson said that if his request is answered, he doesn’t plan to pursue the matter further.
Thompson’s records request is just the latest in many unanswered letters he’s sent to government leaders. He said there’s only one explanation for the lack of response.
“It’s arrogance,” he said.
COG Executive Director Lisa Rheinheimer, on the other hand, said Thompson is making a big deal out of nothing.
“Joe likes to stir things up,” Rheinheimer said.
A member of COG’s staff spoke to Thompson last week and the agency is working on fulfilling his request, Rheinheimer said, although she said COG doesn’t have all the information requested.
“We comply with all public records requests we receive,” Rheinheimer said.
Thompson wants to see the transit system’s financial figures for the past five years. The goal, he said, is to demonstrate that the County Express bus system has become a black hole for taxpayer dollars. Thompson said the information is particularly crucial as the county begins a revision of its general plan.
A longtime local government gadfly, Thompson said he’s been cutting back on his public meeting attendance, although he still appears before the Board of Supervisors on a regular basis.
His harshest and most sustained criticism is directed at government-run mass transit – a system that Thompson believes puts the county under “the iron fist of Karl Marx.”
Peter Scheer, executive director of the San Rafael-based California First Amendment Coalition, said state law only requires that COG turn over all the relevant documents. If the agency is compiling financial information to give Thompson the numbers he wants, there’s no clear legal deadline, Scheer said.
“But patience has its limits,” he said. “And three and a half months could be anyone’s limit.”
Anthony Ha covers local government for the Free Lance. Reach him at 831-637-5566 ext. 330 or [email protected].
