New law forces cancellation of county board meetings

Adrienne Packer

Tuesday, Dec. 18, 2001 | 9:42 a.m.

A new state law requiring a majority affirmative vote played a role in Clark County administrators' decision to cancel six December board meetings that involve commissioners.

The Senate bill passed by the Legislature last session prohibits city councils and county commissions from taking action without affirmative votes from the majority of the entire board.

For the Clark County Commission, that means four board members would have to approve an agenda item for it to pass.

Administrative Service Director Don Burnette said when commissioners' schedules for December filtered into his office last month, he not only worried that only four commissioners might be present, but he feared he wouldn't even have a quorum.

"The new law requires four affirmative votes to move forward," Burnette said. "If you have four commissioners during the meeting, they would all have to vote affirmatively for every item. That obviously limits their ability to conduct business."

Burnette said Wednesday's zoning meeting raised the same concerns. Zoning board meetings often last up to 10 hours, and commissioners typically rotate their breaks. If one of the four board members leaves the dais, the commission doesn't have a quorum to continue with the meeting.

"I was primarily concerned with the prospect of not only getting a quorum, but sustaining a quorum for those days," Burnette said.

Other meetings canceled this month include those held by the Air Quality Board, the Sanitation District, University Medical Center and the Southern Nevada Water Authority.