Jed Margolin                                1981 Empire Rd.               VC Highlands, NV  89521-7430

775-847-7845                              jm@jmargolin.com                      December 3, 2012

Assemblyman Jim Wheeler

P.O. Box 2135

Minden, NV 89423-2135

775-546-3471

Dear Assemblyman Wheeler,

I am writing to you about a matter that I believe is as important to Nevada as the budget. However, fixing it won’t cost any money.

The Storey County Board of Commissioners has found a way to circumvent the Document provisions of the Open Meeting Law NRS 241.020(5) and NRS 241.020(6) which require that a public body provide the public with copies of the documents that they consider during a meeting, and that the documents be provided at the same time they are provided to the members of the public body.  See Exhibit 1 at 4.

1.  At the May 21, 2012 meeting of the Storey County Board of Commissioners the Board of Commissioners  approved an agreement (“Taormina Tower Agreement”) without providing a copy of the full agreement to the public.

2.  At the June 7, 2012 meeting of the Storey County Board of Commissioners the Board of Commissioners approved the 2012 contract with the Nevada Public Agency Insurance Pool without providing a copy of the contract to the public. (They provided only a Summary.)

I filed complaints with the Office of the Attorney General of Nevada.

The opinion of the Office of the Attorney General of Nevada was that the Storey County Board of Commissioners had not violated the Open Meeting Law by approving the Taormina Tower Agreement without providing a copy of the full agreement to the Public because the Board of Commissioners did not have a copy of the full agreement.

Likewise, the opinion of the Office of the Attorney General of Nevada was that the Storey County Board of Commissioners had not violated the Open Meeting Law by approving the contract with the Nevada Public Agency Insurance Pool without providing a copy of the contract to the Public because the Board of Commissioners did not have a copy of the contract.

See Exhibit 2 at 6.

I filed a complaint with the Nevada Commission on Ethics. They decided that the Board of Commissioners had not done anything unethical.

See Exhibit 3 at 11.

In order to close this loophole I suggest amending the Open Meeting Law NRS 241.020 to add language to the effect that:

1.  No public body shall approve an agreement or contract unless the full agreement or contract is fully reduced to writing and provided to the public at least five days before the agreement or contract is considered for approval.

2.  Any agreement or contract approved in violation of Paragraph 1 shall be null and void.

Will you support this and use your influence with the Nevada Legislature to make this happen?

Now that the Storey County Board of Supervisors has shown how to circumvent the Document provisions of Open Meeting Law it is likely that everyone is going to want to do it.

And, finally, is it even believable that a public body would approve an agreement or contract that they hadn’t seen? Very likely, the members of the public body had discussed it secretly, out of public view.

(Due to the length of my additional supporting documents I have omitted them from this letter. They are posted on my Web site at www.jmargolin.com/towers/tom_index.htm#b55 .)

Sincerely yours,

/Jed Margolin/

Jed Margolin

Virginia City Highlands, Nevada

(Note: As of this date Storey County still has not sent me a copy of the 2012 contract with the Nevada Public Agency Insurance Pool.)