NLV mayor opposes proposed rule for council meetings

Geoff Schumacher

Tuesday, Dec. 3, 1996 | 11:59 a.m.

North Las Vegas Mayor James Seastrand says a proposed ordinance would make it more difficult for the City Council to respond promptly to citizens' concerns.

Today, a citizen can have a matter heard and acted on at one City Council meeting by filing a "request to appear" in writing about a week before the council session.

Under a change proposed by Councilman John Rhodes, the "request to appear" process would be eliminated and citizens would be required to voice their complaint during the public forum section of a council meeting.

The problem, Seastrand said, is that the council can't act promptly on issues brought up during the public forum section. The state open meeting law requires three days public notice before the council can act on any issue. If an issue is raised during the public forum, it must be referred to the city staff for study and brought back for action at the next meeting.

"It is discrimination against citizens to require them to attend two council meetings when no other parties (business people, etc.) are required to attend more than one council meeting to gain action on their matter," Seastrand said.

Seastrand said the proposal, to be considered Wednesday night, "will jerk citizens around and smacks of an elitist attitude that sends a message that the City Council considers citizens second class and doesn't want to listen to them."

Rhodes said he sees the change as a way to "eliminate redundancy and paperwork." He said even with the current procedure of filing a "request to appear" form, matters are routinely referred to staff for study before action is taken.

"This is no different from the city of Las Vegas, Henderson, Clark County," Rhodes said. "It's just consistency. ... If it was limiting people from coming to speak their piece, that would be one thing. But it is not doing that."

Seastrand disputed the point that issues are routinely referred to staff for further study. If a request is filed a week before a council meeting, he said the staff is expected to research the matter and be prepared to recommend appropriate action at the next meeting.

He said that happens often. For example, he said, if a citizen complains to the council about a lack of police protection in his neighborhood, the council can deal with the problem immediately.

"The ordinance in its present form is serving our citizens well," Seastrand said. "If it isn't broke, what is supposed to be fixed?"