State attorney general says regents broke open meeting law

Wednesday, April 5, 2000 | 10:44 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- The state attorney general's office said the Board of Regents broke the open-meeting law when it held a closed-door session with Richard Moore, the founding president of the proposed state college in Henderson.

"Any future violation of the open-meeting law will likely result in a civil action being filed against the board," Deputy Attorney General Victoria Oldenburg warned.

Oldenburg said a closed meeting of the regents of the University and Community College System of Nevada on Feb. 10 strayed from its original intent of calling into question Moore's behavior in a public feud with Regent Steve Sisolak, who had expressed concerns about the creation of the new college.

Moore had called Sisolak "an enemy of this project" after the regent had said that UNLV and the Community College of Southern Nevada may be shortchanged if a new college is started.

The regents called Moore on the carpet to discuss his character, alleged misconduct and competence, but the closed-door discussion strayed to the conduct of Sisolak and to standards of behavior of the regents.

Oldenburg said the regents violated the law by not sticking to the Moore issue. She said the board ignored the advice of its counsel, Tom Ray, to stay on the subject.

"Discussing such additional matters in a closed session violated the spirit and intent of the open-meeting law," Oldenburg said.

She said an additional violation stemmed from the fact that the public agenda did not give a "clear and complete statement" of the topics to be discussed. The agenda did not detail the session would pertain to Moore.

"This is especially true given the strong and legitimate public interest" in Moore, Oldenburg said.

When the regents emerged from their closed session, they gave a vote of confidence to Moore. Regent Tom Kirkpatrick of Las Vegas voted against it. Sisolak and Regent Mark Alden of Las Vegas abstained.

There was nothing on the public agenda that allowed them to take the action, Oldenburg said.

Sisolak then asked the attorney general whether the meeting was a violation of law.

Oldenburg encouraged the board to seek Moore's consent in order to disclose the minutes of the closed meeting "so the public can know what took place during the session."

She also recommended regents attend open-meeting law seminars offered by the attorney general's office and suggested regents consult with the Association of Governing Boards for additional training on appropriate board conduct.

The regents were warned about three months ago about ignoring the open meeting law. Oldenburg said it was "an extremely close call as to whether a civil action should be filed" against the regents. After careful consideration "of who actually said what during the closed session, the attorney general's office decided to issue a warning rather than file suit."