Plaintiffs in failed suit against C-Tran ordered to pay $15K

In the wake of last year’s failed lawsuit against C-Tran, Clark County Superior Court ordered the plaintiffs on Friday to pay the transit agency $15,000 for attorney fees.

The suit alleged that the C-Tran composition review committee violated open public meetings laws when it changed the membership on the agency’s board of directors last fall.

Judge David Gregerson ruled that the Open Public Meetings Act doesn’t apply to the committee because it isn’t a public agency, as defined under the act.

The suit named C-Tran, its executive director, Jeff Hamm, and all current C-Tran board members as defendants. The plaintiffs were John Ley, John Hallinen, Gerald Halle, Michael and Carole Kelley, Michael Conner, Lisa Ross, Deborah Ward, Pat Anderson, Brian Rohan, Robert Nichols, John Burke, Robert Ray Larimer and Mark Heagy.

According to court documents, C-Tran initially requested that the plaintiffs pay about $32,250 to cover attorneys’ fees.

“In 2015, plaintiffs chose to bring frivolous claims against individual C-Tran board members and its CEO,” C-Tran said in a statement. “The plaintiffs were warned these claims were frivolous, yet they continued to pursue them, forcing C-TRAN to incur unnecessary costs.”