Judge denies emergency stay in Conner case
By Kathryn Reed
Round 1 in the case of Councilwoman JoAnn Conner v. the city of South Lake Tahoe goes to the city.
Conner’s attorney filed an emergency stay on Dec. 14. The hearing was before Judge Steve Bailey on Dec. 15 in El Dorado County Superior Court.
JoAnn Conner
Bailey denied Conner the emergency stay because Jacqueline Mittelstadt, Conner’s attorney, could not prove Conner is not able to do her job. A stay is much like an injunction.
At the late afternoon Tuesday court session in South Lake Tahoe the judge said there was no evidence showing Conner was not getting the same information as other councilmembers and that she could get her questions answered if they were to be asked.
Conner is suing the city and City Manager Nancy Kerry, the latter who is actually Conner’s employee. Conner believes Kerry has no right to keep her from talking to staff and believes the other councilmembers erred when they voted to censure her.
The city contends Conner receives the same correspondence and materials the other councilmembers get, that she has declined the opportunity to meet with staff before the council meetings to go over the agenda, and that she can get her mail at city offices.
What changed earlier this fall is that Conner does not have a card key to get into the inner sanctum of city hall and she must go through the city manager or city attorney to speak to staff. In the city code it says councilmembers are not to go directly to staff.
Bailey took some issue with Conner’s badge being deactivated when the other councilmembers have access.
The judge set an evidentiary hearing for Jan. 4. This will allow him to review videotapes of the council meetings since September to see if Conner is treated the same as the other four electeds. It also gives each side time to present other evidence.
Bailey said he was not going to touch the censure issue, saying it was a political issue, not a legal one.
The city and Kerry were represented in court by William Chisum of Kronik Moskovitz Tiedemann law firm out of Sacramento. This is because City Attorney Tom Watson is a party to the case.
Hey JoAnn, do yourself AND the city a favor.
Resign.
Where exactly do you expect this to go?
Your political career in Tahoe is done. Find a new occupation, people do it all the time.
Maybe open your own business, then you can do and say what you want.
That is if you could find anyone who would work for you for more then a few weeks.
If you really want to serve the public as you espouse it’s time for you to go.
A censure isn’t a legal issue. Case closed. Why don’t these two nitwits understand that?
I think this woman should resign from the City Council. She turned a censure, the equivalent of being told “we don’t like how you’re acting,” into an on-going circus event by forcing the conduct of a 3-hour and 6-minute City Council special meeting, forced the conduct of a closed session special meeting, has cost the taxpayers money by forcing a need for the City to hire outside legal counsel, and it appears that the taxpayers cash outlay will continue until at least January 4th. JoAnn Conner has always touted how much she cares about SLT and its citizens, and has always feigned being the watchdog for the City’s spending of taxpayer monies, but her recent actions belie her claims. Her actions are indicative of a selfish, adolescent minded individual who is determined to have their way and shove what they want down the throats of an entire community while that community gets to pick up the tab.
I think it is very unfortunate that this woman convinced a lot of voters into thinking she would well represent them and then turned around and behaved in ways unbefitting an elected official. Both her on-going behavior and these recent actions have impacted her effectiveness, but it appears that her only concern is really with herself.
Much like national politics these days, the entertainment value is high. Any other value to voters? Please correct me if I’m wrong, but from what I’ve read Ms. Conner’s cost to the city has exceeded her service.
What I find really odd in all this is JoAnn’s absolute refusal to admit that she did anything wrong.
How easy would it have been to say “I’m sorry that my actions were misconstrued as hostile. It was never my intent to make people uncomfortable. Perhaps it’s time to take another look at my interactions with people, and see what I could do better.” If she had said that this whole thing would have blown over….But she isn’t like that is she? She isn’t iterative, and she only cares about her self. (4mer you got it right about JoAnn),
People who are incapable admitting a mistakes are incapable of self improvement..This type of person is a scary person indeed. Tahoe, please don’t keep electing the same folks year after year.
This would be entertaining if public tax money and city resources weren’t being utilized. What a waste!
This is the first time I have ever said that I agree with everyone so far on a LTN article! Especially 4-mer, saying Conner took what was simply a scolding and turned it into a circus and a lawsuit. She might very well go from the frying pan into the fire if each incident, every bit of nasty behavior that prompted the censure comes to light for everyone to see. I would love to know what the City is having to pay their attorneys for this case.
Well said LeanForward!
And JoAnn if you’re reading this: I know you to a degree. To that degree, I’ve always liked you. But your failure to acknowledge any wrongdoing of your own, has cost you all my support.