The Churchill county standard. (Fallon, Nev.) 1908-1920, 1910-09-22
CITYS STATUS COMPLICATED
Failure of Ex-District Attorney
Is Almost Fatal To City.
City Attorneys Opinion.


Gentlemen:
In re: Purchase of the City of
Fallon, Nevada. Water Works and
Sewer Bonds by The Nixon National
and Churchill County Banks.
1t is only proper that | should preface
my remarks by the statement that
business in your city today is PRACTICAL
ly at standstill, owing to the fact of
gross incompetency on the part of a
certain county official, whose action
will be more fully explained further on
in this opinion.
/ Pursuant to your request of Septem-
ber 9Th, 1910, | visited the law firm of
Summerfield & Curler in Reno, Nevada,
on the 8th, inst, and there discussed
the matter of the issue and purchase of
the City of Fallon, Water Works and
Sewer Bonds.
No objection was found by Messrs.
Summerfield, attorneys for the Nixon
National Bank, to the several minute
orders and ordinances providing for the
bond issue, nor to the Incorporation,
uuder the general act. of The City of
Fallon.
Objection, however, was found to
what appears to be conflict between
the general Incorporation law for the
organization of municipalities, and a
special charter granted to the Town of
Fallon by the legislature of 1907; both
general and special acts having been
passed by the legislature on the same
day
The special act creating the Town of
Fallon provided among other things,
THAT the taxpayers of said Town of
Fallon shall vote ON the question
whether they shall accept the charter
and be incorporated as a town pursuant
to the provisions as herein set forth"
Statutes of Nevada 1907, page 1888.
Among other provisions on the same
page will be found a proposition to bond
the town for $50, 900. and for the
election of mayor and four council
men.
The County Commissioners of this
county, in compliance with the above
law, on April lst, 1907, duly ordered pn
election to be held on May 7tb, 1907,
and thereupon the above questions etc.
we're submitted to the qualified electors
of the proposed municipality as desig-
mated in said act At the election so
held on May 7th, 1907, the proposition
to accept the charter and bond the
town was overwhelmingly defeated by
a vote of about ll6 to II as remember
the result; being one of the officers
of that election.
The special act further provided that
after the returns of such election had
been made to the county commissioners,
by the officers of election, the said
commissioners were to meet within
five days thereafter. canvass said vote,
and cause to be entered upon their
minutes the result of such canvass.
And therein lies the whole trouble.
No canvass of the vote was ever made,
and, so far as the records show, the
proceedings of the board Of county
commissioners seem to end when they
issued the PROCLAMATION calling the
election for May 7th, 1907.
1t would seem that the district attor-
ney, whose duty it is to advise the
county commissioners on all legal
matters Cuttings Compiled Laws, Sec.
2S07), would have acquainted himself
with the provisions of an act of so
great importance to the citizens of this
community, and kept himself in a
position to advise the commissioners
what steps were necessary to carry the
provisions of the special act to COM
petion. However, the provisions of
the act relating to the canvass of the
vote were either unknown to the legal
adviser of the board, or acknowledgement
by him; he perhaps thinking that curb
stone remembrances and public rumor
of the election results would endure
until moth, rust, and book worm had
so corrupted the statutes of 1907, that
the provisions of the special act would
be forever lost and hidden from human
eyes.
No blame can attach to the commits
sioners and clerk of the board, for the
former are supposed to be advised by
the district attorney upon all legal
matters, while the latter places OF
record only that which is done by the
board.
The result of the whole proceeding is,
that an attorney unacquainted with
local conditions and facts, would be led
to believe that your city is now In
corporated Under the special act OF
March 9th, 1907, instead of the general
act of that date. However, all the
officers Of the election of May 7th,
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