A formal complaint against three Ely City Councilmen for violating the Open meeting Law has been filed with the Nevada Attorney General office.
“I filed the complaint on January 22, shortly after the Rail Road management board meeting,” said Don Purinton.
The complaint names Ely City Councilmen Bruce Setterstrom, Marty Westland and Dale Derbidge.
The three councilmen constituted a quorum of the city council and thus their attendance could be construed a violation of the Nevada Open Meeting Law.
In addition to the December meeting the three city councilmen also attended the January 2014 meeting of the NNRR board of directors along with Ely Mayor John Hickman.
According to the Nevada Open Meeting Law any gathering of a quorum of a public body must be publicized with an agenda before the meeting. While exceptions are made for social gatherings the attendance of the Ely elected officials to the NNRR meeting could constitute a violation of the law especially if it was not noticed by the City of Ely and no agenda published before hand.
The Ely City council is currently involved in what can be described as a power struggle with the NNRR.
“I wasn’t at the December meeting,” Purinton said. “But in the January meeting all three were sitting together talking together and participating in the meeting. I was a member of the school board and their behavior was clearly to me a violation of the open meeting law.”
Purington’s complaint is now being investigated by the Attorney General’s office if found to be valid the three men could face a penalty of six months in jail, a $1000 fine and removal from office.
The three councilmen are not without their defenders chief among them White Pine County commissioner Mike Coster who said in a post on the Advocate’s website that because the three did not deliberate during the meeting they did not violate the law.
“…The Nevada Open Meeting Law clearly states: a violation requires DELIBERATION, not just watching a meeting. Multiple members amounting to a quorum of a public body can attend any meeting so long as they do not deliberate It is no different than some member(s) attending and others watching the recorded video…Deliberation is what makes for a violation:…” Coster wrote.
“Mike Coster can give his opinion but the minutes and the audio record of the meeting clearly will show violations,” Purinton said.
