Mayor limits public comment at meetings

Mathis Winkler

Friday, Dec. 7, 2001 | 10:09 a.m.

Ruffled by rising requests from gadflies to have their say during City Council meetings, North Las Vegas Mayor Michael Montandon has stopped accepting public comment for most items that come before the council.

The mayor's move has come under fire from free-speech advocates and council critics who note that while the mayor's move may not be illegal, it stifles public participation at City Hall.

"In a heavy-handed attempt to silence those people whose voices they do not want to hear, (Montandon has) managed to silence everyone's voice," said Gary Peck, the executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union in Nevada. "This is a particularly ill-advised way to conduct government business."

One council critic said he's planning a lawsuit, and officials with the state Attorney General's office, while not commenting directly on the case, said they would likely look at the issue if presented with a complaint.

For the last few weeks, Montandon has limited public comment, but Wednesday, he said he was cutting off public discussion of the consent items, which are considered routine and non-controversial and all voted on with a single motion.

He said some in the audience have started to abuse his "extremely liberal" way of handling public comments and have forced him to fall back on the letter of the law.

Nevada's open meeting law requires elected boards to allow "all persons" to attend their meetings and schedule "a period devoted to comments by the general public" at some point on the agenda.

When one council critic accused the mayor of taking away his right to comment on the city's use of taxpayer dollars during Wednesday's meeting, Montandon countered that residents had other ways to be heard.

"Every couple of years," he said, "you vote."

People will also still be able to speak during public hearings and other business matters before the council, Montandon said.

While making it clear that he couldn't comment on the specifics of the situation in North Las Vegas before conducting an investigation, Nevada Deputy Attorney General Paul Taggart said Montandon's decision to halt public comments on consent agenda items could be a problem.

"The only way that public comment can be restricted is if it's clear on the agenda how public comment is going to occur," Taggart said.

The agenda for North Las Vegas city council meetings, however, still asks people to submit cards "if you wish to speak on any agenda item, or in the Public Forum" at the end of the meeting.

"It's something that we would want to look at," Taggart said, adding that the attorney general's office, which has sole jurisdiction over enforcing the open meeting law, would only conduct an investigation if someone files a complaint.

Mike Thomas, a longtime council critic, said he plans to sue the city because of the mayor's refusal to let him speak even though he submitted between 10 and 20 requests to comment on issues before council members cast their votes.

"To discuss something in the public forum (at the end of the meeting) that's already been decided on doesn't make sense," Thomas said, adding that recent proposals for large lawsuit settlements should not have ended up on the consent agenda in the first place.

"If I'm off topic, unruly or break decorum, the mayor can cut me off and ask me to leave," he said. "But it didn't even get that far. He just threw my cards (requesting to speak) out."

Thomas said he does not live in North Las Vegas, but is interested in city government issues because he is suing the city over his termination as a North Las Vegas police officer. He was fired in 1996 over charges that he failed to obey administrative orders and later rehired after an arbitrator ruled that he should not have been terminated.

Thomas again lost his job in 1999 for violation of department rules. Arbitration for his dismissal is now set for May 13, he said.

Leaders of other elected boards in the Las Vegas Valley said they didn't believe in limiting public comment.

Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman said that he has not refused to hear people wishing to talk. He added that he only cuts off speakers if their comments become discourteous or abusive.

But "Mayor Montandon's a pretty cool guy," Goodman said. "He must have a reason for doing what he's doing."

At least one of Montandon's colleagues on the council, however, seems to be concerned about the changes the mayor has made in conducting meetings.

"I think we put a lot of things on the consent agenda that are not necessarily routine items," said Councilwoman Stephanie Smith, adding that she feels people should have a chance to tell elected leaders how they feel.

"Even if it's uncomfortable, people have the right to be heard," she said. "I do think that part of our job as elected officials is being patient even if we sometimes don't like it what people say."

Council members are scheduled to discuss open meeting law requirements at their next meeting on Dec. 19. A date has not been set for further discussions on limiting the time for public comments.

The council is also currently studying whether to cut the amount of time each speaker receives during public comment, a move Smith opposes. Montandon has said in the past that he doesn't really see the point in reducing the time since it won't make much of a difference.

With the exception of Boulder City, which has no time limit on public comments, North Las Vegas is the only government entity in Clark County that gives speakers five minutes. All others limit comments to three minutes.