Seastrand elected regents chairman

Jennifer Knight

Friday, June 21, 2002 | 11:42 a.m.

Despite a crowded field of six candidates vying for chairman of the state Board of Regents, the 11-member board made a seamless and unanimous decision to elect Regent Doug Seastrand to the position Thursday.

Just a week ago, several regents said they were undecided on whom they would vote for.

But Thursday -- a day after attending a dinner banquet while meeting in the small town of Elko -- regents apparently had no trouble making the decision.

According to Nevada's Open Meeting Law, if the majority of the board did discuss the issue out of the public eye, it would be a violation of the statute.

Regent Linda Howard said the decision appeared to be predetermined.

"By the time I got to the board meeting the decision had already been made as to who was going to be chair," Howard said.

Asked about the possibility of an Open Meeting Law violation, Howard said, "I can't prove it because I think they talked individually."

Regent Mark Alden said there was no discussion of the election during the dinner banquet.

"All we did was party," Alden said. "I heard about (who the favorites) were through the grapevine."

Regent Dorothy Gallagher said the vote was a surprise to her and that she was out of the loop until she got to the meeting on Thursday.

"I guess (Seastrand) and Howard (Rosenberg) must have talked because Howard nominated him," she said.

Other regents could not immediately be reached for comment on whether there was private discussion on the matter preceding the vote.

Seastrand brings a recent record of absenteeism to his new post as chairman. This year alone, Seastrand missed 15 of 45 votes, or one-third of his votes.

But in a June 17 letter to the board, Seastrand tried to assuage those concerns by telling regents that he had "made arrangements such that I will be able to dedicate the time necessary to do the job to the best of my ability."

Regents Alden, Howard, Doug Hill and Rosenberg had been discussed as hopefuls for the position of chairman. And two-time Chairwoman Thalia Dondero asked regents to consider extending her term by one year, which is allowed under board rules, according to board sources.

Concerns arose early on about Rosenberg's candidacy because of his position as a professor at the University of Nevada, Reno. Some regents felt an inherent conflict of interest would occur between his duties as chairman and his position at the school.

But in a surprise move, Rosenberg threw his support to Seastrand, who is from Southern Nevada.

"Generally it is tradition to alternate the chair between north and south," Rosenberg said Thursday. "I've fought long and hard to be a good representative of this board and this state.

"But at least for this term I've made my decision to set aside the tradition of north and south and nominate Regent Doug Seastrand for the post of chair."

The nomination met no opposition and did not even prompt any discussion Thursday. Discussion on the matter was slated to last 20 minutes, but took just over one minute.

Dondero received unanimous approval as vice chairwoman, giving Southern Nevada representatives more say on the board.