Culinary-city case crawls way to state high court

By Sam Skolnik (contact)

Thursday, April 23, 2009 | 2 a.m.

The state Supreme Court must resolve once and for all the legal fight between Las Vegas and the Culinary Union. But with a deadline this week to begin printing ballots for the municipal election, almost everyone involved in the case is wondering whether the court will get the case and rule on whether the union’s initiatives should be included on the ballot in time for its decision to matter.

Those involved wondered why the Culinary’s appeal of Friday’s District Court ruling hadn’t yet made its way to the Supreme Court and likely won’t until today, and why the appeal process — in what is the highest-profile case in the state — is so slow.

“Everyone is waiting for this to happen,” said one attorney close to the case, who asked not to be identified. “We know it’s coming; we’re just wondering why it hasn’t arrived yet.”

The Supreme Court’s clerk, Tracie Lindeman, said: “Certainly within the court, we’ve been watching for it.”

The Culinary’s initiative — which District Judge David Barker declined to place on the ballot last week — would mandate that lease-purchase agreements, like the one the city is using for its controversial city hall project, be put before voters. The union’s referendum would repeal the city’s redevelopment plan.

As of 5 p.m. Wednesday, the Culinary’s notice of appeal had yet to arrive in Carson City.

Antiquated, soon-to-be-changed court rules might explain why it’s taking so long.

According to the Nevada Rules of Appellate Procedure, once a notice of appeal has been filed with District Court, the clerk of that court shall “immediately transmit” the notice, as well as other pertinent court documents, to the Supreme Court clerk’s office. That means sending the case via U.S. Postal Service “snail mail,” which is what happened in the Culinary appeal Tuesday.

Officials with both courts say there are ways to expedite the process. Lindeman said District Court clerks, knowing the case is time-sensitive, could have sent it to Carson City more quickly.

District Court appeals manager, Brandi Wendel, said Supreme Court could have requested the files be sent electronically, or by overnight courier — as has been done on rare occasion.

(Lindeman added that district courts throughout the state will soon be able to start “e-filing” civil case appeals, as is done with criminal case appeals.)

One knowledgeable attorney close to the case suggested that the Culinary could have filed paperwork with the Supreme Court to speed up the case. That the union hadn’t yet done so shows it’s in effect given up, at least on a conclusion in time for this election cycle, the attorney said.

That isn’t true, said one of the Culinary’s attorneys, Andy Kahn. His side did call the Supreme Court clerk to ask about an expedited hearing, he said, but was told that the case had to have a docket number — meaning that the notice of appeal first had to arrive.

While all this is being hashed out, the city is moving forward with its election process.

According to City Clerk Beverly Bridges, her office is awaiting proofs of the overseas absentee ballots that, by law, are sent to voters first. Once the proofs have been reviewed and sent back to the printer, the ballots will be shipped to a few hundred Ward 4 residents and military personnel overseas, she said.

If the Supreme Court allows the measures onto the ballot, it could present all sorts of logistical difficulties. The ballots would have to be revised to include the Culinary’s proposals, and the clerk would have to make them available to all city voters, Bridges said.

They’re going only to Ward 4 absentee residents for now because without the Culinary measures on the ballot, the City Council race between candidates Stavros Anthony and Glenn Trowbridge is the only contest on the ballot.

Rules dictate that the clerk must begin mailing the ballots by April 30, Bridges said.

“How difficult would it be? Extremely,” she said.

As far as Mayor Oscar Goodman is concerned, the intricacies of the appeals process is ultimately of little consequence. The city won at the District Court level, and is primed to win again.

“When I was talking to the city attorney’s office, they said if we lost this, an appeal would be futile. So I assume the corollary is correct,” he said at a recent news conference.

“As far as I’m concerned, it’s done. I’m going to go home tonight and I am going to celebrate with, probably, a couple of bottles of gin.”