An item on the agenda for the Feb. 4 Fernley City Council to consider the expulsion and permanent exclusion of Councilman Stan Lau from all future council meetings was rescheduled to the March 4 meeting.
City Attorney Aaron Mouritsen said the reason for the continuance was that Lau had not been properly notified as required by Nevada Revised Statutes Section 241 if there is to be a discussion of alleged misconduct.
“In this case, we were unable to locate Councilman Lau in order to serve him the 241 notices to be able to discuss alleged misconduct,” Mouritsen said. “Therefore, the only other solution is to notify him by certified mail, which required 21 days.”
The staff report in the agenda packet stated that Lau has “engaged in conduct that disrupted City Council meetings and interfered with the conduct of public business as determined by an outside and independent investigation and is in violation of the City of Fernley’s Personnel Policies and Procedures and Fair Employment Practices.” The proposed resolution cited violations of Section 2.2 of the Personnel Policies and Procedures, Anti-Harassment; Sections 2.2, Anti-Harassment; 2.3, Employee Bullying; 2.10, Prohibition of Workplace Violence; and 2.12, Code of Ethical Standards.
The packet did not contain a copy of the findings of the investigation.
Lau has been asked to leave council meetings by Mayor Neal McIntyre on at least two occasions after he was involved in verbal altercations — once shouting at Councilwoman Felicity Zoberski and another time yelling at Councilman Albert Torres and telling McIntyre to “shut up.”
After a debate during the Sept. 17 City Council meeting over Lau’s conduct in two separate budget meetings last April and May, the council voted 3-1-1, with Lau abstaining and Councilman Ryan Hanan opposed, to censure Lau and remove him from his committee assignments representing the city. Deputy City Attorney Brandi Jensen defined a censure as the equivalent of a public verbal or written reprimand that is a public record from that point forward.
Lau was arrested Aug. 18 after an altercation in which a construction worker requested a citizen’s arrest, alleging that Lau knocked his glasses from his face and punched him. Lau has denied those allegations and has not yet been arraigned in the matter. Because Justice of the Peace Lori Matheus is also a city employee as municipal court judge, the case was initially transferred from Fernley Municipal Court to Walker River Justice Court in Yerington due to a conflict of interest. However, the Yerington court transferred the case back to Fernley Municipal Court, stating it was improperly transferred. A pretrial hearing is scheduled for Feb. 27 in Fernley Municipal Court.
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