Friday meeting called violation of law

Jennifer Knight

Monday, Dec. 8, 2003 | 9:39 a.m.

A complaint alleging a violation of the state's open-meeting law was filed Friday against the Board of Regents by Regent Steve Sisolak after he demanded a meeting be stopped because it wasn't posted in time.

"This is ridiculous," Sisolak said. "Somebody should be accountable. I'm sick and tired of being part of a board that willy-nilly chooses to violate the open-meeting law. It's there for a purpose."

When a meeting of the Ad Hoc Faculty Workload Task Force began Friday morning, Sisolak asked for a point of order telling the nine-member group that it was in violation of the law because the meeting had not been posted within the required three-day time period, he said.

Committee chairwoman Regent Jill Derby continued with the meeting for an estimated 45 minutes while university system lawyers checked the time and date that the meeting was posted.

University system lawyer Kwasi Nyamekye said that several supplemental agendas, which updated the original agenda, were posted or postmarked after 9 a.m. on Tuesday -- less than the required three days before the meeting.

Nyamekye said he did not believe the meeting constituted a violation because it was stopped as soon as it was realized there was a potential problem.

"If the meeting had continued when we knew that the meeting didn't comply with the statutory requirement that would have been one thing," Nyamekye said. "But the meeting was called off -- so from my standpoint nothing illegal happened."

Assemblyman Josh Griffin, R-Las Vegas, was sitting as a board member Friday when the incident happened.

"My impression of it was that it didn't appear to be intentional," Griffin said. "If the notice to the meeting was sent out a day late, the chair did the right thing by adjourning the meeting."

Sisolak's complaint follows a stream of others that were filed last week in relation to the Nov. 20 meeting that removed Community College of Southern Nevada President Ron Remington and his adviser and lobbyist John Cummings from their posts.

After that meeting, Regent Mark Alden filed a complaint with the attorney general saying the board violated the law when it took a vote during closed session. The Review-Journal also filed a complaint alleging the same violation.

Assemblywoman Chris Giunchigliani, D-Las Vegas, filed a complaint as well asking the attorney general to look into the board's discussion of her during closed session. Giunchigliani said that legislators are not allowed to be discussed behind closed doors and said regents violated that law.