WEBCAST: Fighting ‘city hall’ successful for small business

THORNTON
November 1, 2006 1:15pm

A Central Valley reclamation district says it expects to comply with most if not all of a court order to open its books to the public, its attorney says.

A San Joaquin County Superior Court has ruled that Reclamation District 348, which covers ab9ut 4,000 acres in the Thornton area, has no grounds to restrict public access to its records.

The district’s attorney, John Rudquist, says it should be able to comply with most of the order by Nov. 6, the date it interprets as the deadline. He said unresolved is how electronic records will be provided and even, as of Tuesday, who would do the copying of the records.

Mary Grundman is a small business owner in the district who has led the efforts to open the district’s books. Those efforts have involved a lawsuit and public pressure.

How has it affected her business, Linear Business Services LLC of Thornton? We talked with her in a marina restaurant within a few feet of one of the levees governed by the reclamation district about the campaign.

(Listen to the interview by clicking on the link below.)

"For years, RD-348 has rejected the people's right to know and acted as if it were above the law. Now, a judge has ruled otherwise," Ms. Grundman says. "This case represents a victory for the people's right to know and, specifically, for the rights of people who have suffered because of RD-348's arrogance and incompetence."