Carson mayor under fire for muting public meeting

The District Attorney's Office is investigating whether Carson Mayor Jim Dear violated a state law by using a mute button to silence the public addressing city council meetings, it was reported today.

Dear was given the power to mute speakers and other council members in a 3-2 vote of the council in November, the Daily Breeze reported. A state law called the Brown Act requires public officials to allow persons to address city councils for limited periods, and officials are not allowed to interrupt or censor those comments.

A letter from the District Attorney's Public Integrity Division asks why the council uses the mute button and the reasons for its use, and requested a response by Feb. 17.

"I don't believe the mute button has been used in a way that violates the Brown Act but that's not my decision to make,'' Carson City Attorney Bill Wynder told the Daily Breeze. "That's up to the District Attorney's Office. We'll give them the information the request.''

Councilman Mike Gipson told the Daily Breeze that he strongly opposed the mute button. He and Councilwoman Lula Davis-Holmes voted against it.

"There are people that come to that microphone and say very hurtful things,'' Gipson said. "It's their right under the First Amendment. They can say whatever they want in that three minutes.''

Gipson told the Daily Breeze that he was so upset about the mute button that he brought a megaphone to one council meeting in case Dear tried to silence him.