BS Ranch Perspective:
I attended three of the meeting regarding Voice United, and all we did was try to come up with a plan on how we were going to work on the city council and ways that we could make ourselves known and the things that the council was doing that was Wrong with the city. We just Used the Stats that were available to us, between the City of Rialto and the Sheriff's Department as Public Records and compared the two, then we made the argument at the City Council, We never collected any money, ever. At least at the three meetings that I was at there was not even the mention of money and or how or where we were going to get money to fight the city!! It was all public Volunteer as far as I knew, there was no exchanged of any Monies nor did anyone ask for any at the meetings that I attended.
BSRanch
Their lawyer says it's retaliation by a powerful local group and an attempt to muzzle free speech in the community.
A group calling itself Citizens for a Safer Rialto and its treasurer, Rialto resident Susan Ursuy, sued Linda Chapman, 59, and Judy Roberts, 63, along with an organization called Voice United. They are credited with persuading the City Council to reverse itself and vote to keep its Police Department and not hire the sheriff to police the city.
The suit was filed March 8 in Superior Court in San Bernardino and the council changed its vote March 21.
The suit is an effort to "chill individual rights to hold elected officials accountable,"said Michael Morguess, the women's attorney.
Money for the suit came from Young Homes, a Rancho Cucamonga developer and was used to retain a high-powered Los Angeles law firm, according to campaign finance and court documents.
The lawsuit alleges that Voice United, Chapman and Roberts violated state law by raising at least $1,000 and gathering almost 6,000 signatures for a ballot initiative that would have put the department's fate before the
voters without filing campaign disclosure forms."My clients have filed everything they believe is necessary," Morguess said.
In court documents Morguess filed, he said Ursuy and Citizens for a Safer Rialto have not shown that his clients raised $1,000.
Voice United filed a campaign finance disclosure form at the Rialto City Clerk's office showing the group did not raise any funds or make any expenditures.
Ursuy, who said she runs a youth group for kids called the San Bernardino Valley Young Marines, said she decided to file the suit to find out the sources of Voice United's funding. She said she got involved in the controversy surrounding the fate of the Police Department to improve the city's public safety. She supported the Sheriff's Department.
Ursuy referred questions to her attorney.
Her lawyer, Dana Reed, declined to comment.
Morguess said Ursuy's attorneys, Reed and Bradley Hertz of Reed and Davidson in Los Angeles, have been unresponsive.
"I have written to Mr. Hertz and asked him point blank, Tell us what you believe our clients have not filed,"' he said. Morguess said he got no response.
He said their failure to respond "says a lot that this is an attempt really to hassle what was a grass-roots effort within the city."
It does not matter if the suit is retaliatory if a law was broken, said Terry Francke, general counsel of Californians Aware, a First Amendment organization. He said he is unfamiliar with the specifics of the case.
"If they are violating the law, then they are accountable to that violation," he said.
Citizens for a Safer Rialto received a $20,000 contribution from Young Homes immediately after state documents show it was formed in December of 2005. Earlier this year, the group spent more than $14,000 on the legal services of Reed and Davidson.
The firm lists a number of prominent clients on its Web site, including NBC Universal, Northrop Grumman Corp., Sony Pictures Entertainment, the Motion Picture Association of America, William Lyon Homes, the Building Industry Association of Southern California and the California Association of Realtors.
Greta Hodges, a lifetime resident of Rialto who supported the Police Department, said she attended some Voice United meetings.
"I think it's disgusting that somebody's trying to sue two citizens, and they seem to think we don't have a right to say anything," she said.
Contact writer Jason Pesick at (909) 386-3861 or by e-mail at jason.pesick@sbsun.com.
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