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| Officials defy county |
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| Written by Patrick Griffin |
| Thursday, 11 March 2010 23:10 |
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Tombstone officials still refuse to attend open meeting law classes ordered by the Cochise County Attorney's Office, and instead have hired an attorney and filed a motion to dismiss the order.
The county attorney's office filed a lawsuit against Tombstone officials after the mayor and other members of City Hall failed to complete the classes. According to Britt Hanson, Cochise county's chief civil deputy attorney, Tombstone officials including Mayor Dusty Escapule, Marshal Larry Talvy and City Clerk Brenda Ikirt were supposed to attend a one- to two-hour class in the wake of multiple infractions of state open meeting law ordinances. The county attorney found that Tombstone failed to comply with sections of the Arizona Open Meeting Law pertaining to posting notices regarding meetings of public bodies and for improperly ejecting resident Mike Carrafa during a call to the public. Hanson said that the city has not supplied the county with a reason as to why officials have skipped the sessions. Marshal Larry Talvy would not comment on the issue, except to say that Tombstone has retained a Tucson attorney to represent them in the claim. Andrew Petersen filed a motion to have the complaint dismissed. The hearing will be held April 12. Under statutory penalties, each city official may be required to pay a $500 fine for each violation of the open meeting law if the county's complaint stands. 
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