Regents postpone special meeting

Friday, Feb. 20, 2004 | 11:55 a.m.

Regents will not conduct a special meeting next week to discuss issues connected to the removals of two community college officials, Chancellor Jane Nichols said today.

Regents Stavros Anthony and Marcia Bandera, the chairman and vice-chairwoman of the University and Community College of System of Nevada Board of Regents, decided to postpone the meeting because system attorneys were not able to serve official notice to removed community college president Ron Remington until late Thursday.

Regents were unsure if serving Remington on Thursday met the five days' notice required under the open-meeting law, Nichols said.

"This is a sudden decision based upon wanting to be certain, under the attorney general's opinion, adequate notice was given," Nichols said.

Regents had planned to revisit the issues that led them to reassign Remington and Community College of Southern Nevada lobbyist John Cummings on Feb. 26 and 27 at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas Foundation room.

The special meeting has not been rescheduled and will likely not take place until after the March 18 and 19 regular meeting, Nichols said.

Remington and Cummings both have lawsuits pending against the Board of Regents for allegedly violating the state open-meeting law in the Nov. 17 and Nov. 20 closed sessions that preceded the pair's demotions. Remington's lawsuit has since been combined with a similar suit from the state attorney general's office.

Remington's attorney, Kathleen England, had insisted system attorneys provide formal notice to her client that he would be discussed at the meeting. England said it was improper for regents to discuss Remington or any of the issues relating to his removal without presenting Remington with a full accounting of the allegations against him and giving him time to prepare a defense.

Cummings' attorney, Frank Cremen, said he had planned to defend his client as best as he could within the two weeks notice he had received. The postponement of the special meetings will give him more time to prepare a defense, Cremen said.