Opinion ID: 2634513
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: RTC property

Text: RTC guidelines essentially restrict the use of designated areas to persons who are gathering signatures for petitions governed by NRS Chapter 293, including initiative, referendum, and recall of public officer petitions. The guidelines establish that, when possible, the designated area will be such that ... [patrons] may use another path that does not go by signature gatherers or may pass them at a reasonable distance. However, the precise locations of the designated areas are not indicated in the guidelines. The guidelines further provide that an RTC request form must be submitted three business days before the date of the intended activity. The request form asks for the name, telephone number, and organization of the requestor. It also asks for the subject of the petition, and whether it is for city, county, or state elections. Finally, it asks the requestor for the dates on which the activity is to occur. There is a space for the requestor to sign the form, thereby agreeing to comply with RTC guidelines. Under the guidelines, only petition circulators gathering signatures on petitions for city, county, or state-wide elections who have given adequate notice in accordance with [RTC] guidelines shall be permitted to conduct the signature gathering activity. The guidelines state that the RTC will contact [the requestor] no later than two business days after receiving [the] request to confirm that [the requested] activity qualifies under the provisions of NRS 293.127565. [3] Additionally, the guidelines provide that failure to comply with their restrictions will result in the immediate revocation of any permission to use RTC facilities for signature gathering. On May 6, 2004, one of NSG's directors called the RTC to discuss alleged problems that NSG members had encountered when they attempted to access RTC's CitiCenter hub in Reno to gather signatures. She was directed to RTC chief legal counsel Stan Peck, on whose voicemail she left a message. When Peck returned her call, she asserted that she was thereby notifying him of NSG's intent to petition on RTC premises anytime between then and June 15. Although the NSG director noted her disagreement with Peck's response that she would first have to fill out some paperwork, Peck nevertheless faxed her copies of the RTC guidelines and request form. According to the NSG director, she and her companions arrived that same day (May 6), began to gather signatures, and were told by RTC employees that they had to sign the request form or cease gathering signatures. They refused to sign or leave, and were eventually arrested by Reno police officers. The director testified that, on May 6, no one ever told her where RTC's designated signature-gathering area was located.