By Arnold M. Knightly, Editor

I was looking through the new City Council agenda when something caught my eye I hadn’t noticed before. Under the Public Comments item the following had been placed:

“No person shall address the City Council without first being recognized by the Mayor or the
Presiding Officer. All remarks shall be addressed to the City Council as a whole, not to
any individual member of the Council, of the audience, or of the City staff. After being
recognized by the Mayor or the Presiding Officer, each person shall come to the podium
and provide his/her name for the record. Each person has up to five minutes to speak on
a specific agenda item or to speak during Public Comment. The time limit may be
extended at the discretion of the Mayor or the Presiding Officer. All comments made
during the regular meeting on a specific agenda item must pertain to that agenda item. No
comments may be made on any other subject. Comments made during the Public
Comment period of the agenda may be on any subject. There shall be no personal attacks
against the Mayor, members of the City Council, the City staff, or any other individual. No
person, other than members of the City Council and the person who has the floor, shall be
permitted to enter into any discussion, either directly or through a member of the Council
without the permission of the Mayor or Presiding Officer. Questions to City Council
members or City staff may not be asked without being recognized by the Mayor or
Presiding Officer. Anyone wishing to submit exhibits on any City Council agenda item
should make every effort to provide the City Clerk with eight (8) copies of said exhibits in
advance of the meeting.”

I looked back through past agendas and found that it had only started appearing with the June 14 agenda for the City Council meeting.

The city’s efforts to prominently display public comment rules came after local attorney Tracy Strickland challenged the policy during the May 24 Council meeting.

Strickland, the husband of former City Councilwoman Linda Strickland, started by discussing the then-pending issue of electing a city attorney before being interrupted by Councilman Cam Walker asking the legality of discussing a ballot question that had yet to be voted on during public comment.

Tracy Strickland cited the city’s own public comment document saying he “could speak on any topic that deals with any issues with the city.”

Mayor Roger Tobler responded by stating that in the past he has not allowed discussion on actual candidates and that people have discussed ballot questions in the past, so he let Tracy Strickland continue.

After making his argument for electing a city attorney for nearly six minutes, Tobler informed Tracy Strickland that his time was up, to which Tracy Strickland responded, “There are no time limits in public comment.”

This started a back-and-forth between Tracy Strickland and Tobler, with the mayor stating it is the policy of the city to limit public comments to five minutes.

“You have to publish that,” Tracy Strickland said. “In fact, I think your city attorney would agree because it’s provided, you don’t have it in your agenda limiting public comment.”

Tobler said he would have the city attorney look into the issue, but admonished Tracy Strickland, who often attends Council meetings, for knowing “that we’ve always followed the five minute-rule.” Tobler added that five minutes have been the policy all eight years he’s been on the Council.

Before sitting down, Tracy Strickland responded, “Just because you’ve been doing it wrong all along doesn’t mean its right now.”

After a couple more exchanges Strickland relented and sat down, and now the policy is prominently posted. not hidden in backup materials.

By Jack Johnson, Boulder City Review

The City Council directed City Attorney Dave Olsen on Tuesday to appeal a Clark County District Court order to pay nearly $11,000 in attorneys fees for a group of residents sued by the city after sponsoring two ballot initiatives.

Tuesday’s decision came after the Council went into a closed session to discuss District Court Judge Susan Scann’s April 1 ruling that, by filing separate lawsuits against the defendants for two ballot initiatives they sponsored, the city had violated one of the Nevada Rules of Civil Procedure which protects against needless increases in the cost of litigation.

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By Jack Johnson, Boulder City Review

Local attorney Tracy Strickland was recently appointed by the Clark County Commission as one of the ombudspersons in the coroner’s inquest process, and will be representing the families of those who died in officer-involved incidents.

As an ombudsperson he will call witnesses and ask questions on behalf of the decedents’ families, who previously had no involvement in the inquests.

“Under the old process there was absolutely no representation of the decedent’s family,” Strickland said. “The idea is to give them some voice in the process.”

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By Jack Johnson, Boulder City Review

City Councilwoman and mayoral candidate Linda Strickland and husband Tracy Strickland were given an award by a national voters’ rights organization for their work in defending a group of residents who are being sued by the city after sponsoring three

The John Lilburne Award was given to the Stricklands for the month of February by the Virginia-based Citizens in Charge Foundation, a national group that works to protect the initiative and referendum process in the 24 states where it exists.

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By Arnold M. Knightly, From The Editor’s Desk

Last week we ran a front-page story about a local tax attorney Stephen Stubbs’ threat to file a lawsuit against city Councilwoman and mayoral candidate Linda Strickland and her husband, Tracy.

I will not go into the substance of the article here, but I will say that the possible lawsuit is in response to a lawsuit that was first filed, and later withdrawn, by the councilwoman on behalf of her husband on Jan. 6.

Review reporter Jack Johnson wrote what I viewed as a fair and balanced story.

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By Jack Johnson, Boulder City Review

The defendants in a lawsuit filed by the city that questions the legality of a debt-limit initiative they were able to get on the November ballot will be taking their case to the Nevada Supreme Court.

The move is on the heels of a Jan. 20 decision by Clark County District Court Judge Jerome Tao who denied a motion by the defendants to dismiss the case which questions the legality of the ballot question approved by voters last fall. Passage of the question means the city is now required to receive voter approval before incurring debt over $1 million.

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By Jack Johnson, Boulder City Review

A Clark County district court judge denied a motion to dismiss a case against four residents who were successful in getting an initiative on the November ballot to limit the city to one golf course, and also determined they were not owed any attorneys’ fees.

Judge Allan Earl ruled on Oct. 21 that the defendants’ constitutional right to petition had not been violated by the city’s lawsuit and, therefore, denied both aspects of the motion.

Attorneys for the defendants, Tracy Strickland and his wife, City Councilwoman Linda Strickland, however, are planning to continue legal action.

The golf course initiative is one of three ballot questions the city had considered fighting in court.

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By Jack Johnson, Boulder City Review

A local attorney is calling for an investigation into the ethics of City Councilwoman and attorney Linda Strickland for representing the defendants in a city-instigated lawsuit.

The new petition comes a few months after Strickland successfully defended a nearly two-year legal battle against a group of residents attempting to have her and fellow Councilman Travis Chandler recalled, which they won in the Nevada Supreme Court earlier this year.

Resident Jim-Bob Rowland signs a petition calling for an investigation of Councilwoman Linda Strickland's ethics. The petition is being circulated by local attorney Stephen Stubbs who wants to know if Strickland acted unethically in representing the defendants in a city instigated lawsuit over ballot initiative. Photo By Chandelle Gleed

Tax attorney Stephen Stubbs sat in front of the Boulder Dam Credit Union on Friday collecting signatures on a petition to have City Attorney Dave Olsen or an outside body investigate the actions of Strickland who voted at a City Council meeting on Aug. 10 not to allow the city to continue a lawsuit against five residents.

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City Councilwoman Linda Strickland

By Jack Johnson, Boulder City Review

The attorneys defending four residents against the city’s efforts to keep a question off the November ballot filed a motion in Clark County District Court Sept. 22 seeking attorneys’ fees and to have the case dismissed.

If successful, the city will have to pay about $20,000 to attorneys Tracy Strickland and his wife, City Councilwoman Linda Strickland. This figure will be added to the roughly $37,000 the city has already paid for its own outside representation.

A hearing on the new motion is scheduled for Oct. 21.

The city retained law firm Lionel, Sawyer and Collins in June, and in July filed suit in Clark County District Court against eight residents.

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By Jack Johnson, Boulder City Review

A Clark County District Court judge decided Sept. 8 that an initiative giving Boulder City voters the ability to limit the number of golf courses the city can own will remain on the ballot in November.

The initiative aims to change policy so the city can only own one 18-hole golf course. It currently owns two.

After a group of residents gathered signatures to have the question placed on the ballot, City Attorney Dave Olsen hired law firm Lionel, Sawyer & Collins to examine the legality of the ballot initiative, and then filed suit to keep the question off the ballot.

Five residents who circulated the petition were named in the suit, but only four chose to fight it.

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