In Carson: Recall efforts not part of Carson's history

The recall petition filed by a Carson City resident against Mayor Marv Teixeira may have made local history.

Though residents have complained about their elected representatives over the years, a recall hasn't happened in Carson City or Ormsby County, according to local and state officials.

Nevadans have been able to attempt recalls since 1912, but "it's pretty hard," said Alan Glover, the city's clerk-recorder.

Rheba Montrose announced Friday her intention to collect the signatures needed to trigger a recall election of the mayor, who was arrested for a DUI in March. He was convicted of a misdemeanor charge of drunken driving in April.

Teixeira had little to say about the recall effort.

"I'm just going to go about my business," he said Monday. "I'm just going to do my job."

While more than 5,500 signatures are required, each person must be a resident of the city and registered voter. Glover advised it would take many more signatures " possibly 7,000 or 8,000 " than the required number for organizers. Signatures are checked and quite a few end up not being valid, he said. For example, some may be duplicate signatures while other signers may not be residents or registered to vote.

The closest thing to a recall in Carson City was an elected official being removed by court order, according to Guy Rocha, interim administrator, Nevada State Library and Archives.

"It's not used a lot," Rocha said.

Jack Schumacher was elected Ormsby County assessor in 1960 and there were apparently "all sorts of problems" with his job performance, he said.

His case was taken to court, then appealed to the state Supreme Court, where it was ordered in April 1962 that he be removed from office because of nonfeasance.

The Senate Journal years later cited such problems with Schumacher such as a "failure to properly assess certain properties, failure to file statutorily required lists of assessed properties, and failure to require statements of value."

Schumacher ran again for assessor but lost to Wally Cudworth, a Democrat, Rocha said.

Every elected public official in the state of Nevada, except United States senators and congressional representatives, could be recalled. Someone appointed to an elected office also could be recalled, according to Nevada Revised Statutes.

After one recall petition has been successfully filed and a special election held, but unsuccessful, no further recall petitions can be filed against the same public official during their term unless petitioners pay for the preceding special election.

A Carson City man pleaded guilty Monday to battery with a deadly weapon in the shooting of a sheriff's deputy Feb. 1.

In exchange for the plea, a charge of attempted murder was dismissed against Mark Daniel Fiddler.

Fiddler, 50, shot Carson City Sheriff's Deputy Josh Stagliano in the wrist during the execution of a drug search warrant at Fiddler's Fall Street home.

According to court records, officers executed the search warrant based on information that another occupant of the house, Lillian Meyer, was selling methamphetamine from the residence.

Twenty minutes after witnessing someone pull up in Fiddler's truck and enter the home, members of the Carson City Sheriff's Special Enforcement Team, with support from patrol deputies including Stagliano, knocked on the door and announced who they were and that they had a warrant. When no one came to the door, officers used a battering ram to gain entry.

According to Stagliano's testimony during a preliminary hearing, once officers got inside Meyer and another male found in the living room were ordered to the ground.

When Stagliano went to secure a rear bedroom, Fiddler emerged from the darkness and fired a single .22-caliber rifle round, striking Stagliano in the wrist.

Fiddler claimed he was sleeping and that he awoke to loud noises and reached for his gun, said a news release from the Carson City District Attorney's Office.

In his first appearance in court, Fiddler stated, "This is all a mistake. I didn't know it was sheriffs in my house."

No drugs were ever found in the home. Meyer, 43, was recently sentenced to 12 to 34 months in prison for possession of a controlled substance relating to a drug deal with an informant, which led to the search warrant.

Stagliano, who remains on light duty with the sheriffs department, said prosecutors consulted with him throughout the negotiations and he is comfortable with the plea agreement.

He is scheduled to undergo a second surgery on his wrist and attends physical therapy three days a week.

"Right now I have a significant loss of motion and I'm going to have a lifetime of wrist problems," he said.

The prosecution and defense agreed to recommend a sentence of eight years in prison with minimum parole eligibility after three years.

Battery with a deadly weapon carries a potential sentence of two to 10 years in prison.

"After carefully reviewing the facts and circumstances of the case, we believe this is an appropriate resolution," said Assistant District Attorney Gerald Gardner, who handled the case.

"I spoke with Deputy Stagliano before we entered into this negotiation and he expressed his support for the guilty plea and sentencing recommendation," said District Attorney Neil Rombardo. "As I have said before, this case illustrates what the methamphetamine culture is doing to Carson City. We need to do everything in our power to continue battling this epidemic."

Monday morning, Carson High School history and government students got a chance to voice their concerns to a man seeking the highest office in the country.

New Mexico governor and presidential hopeful Bill Richardson stopped at the high school to talk to the students about the genocide taking place in the Darfur region of the Sudan.

"I have long felt that we have neglected the Third World, including Africa and Latin America," Richardson said.

Richardson spoke about how students and citizens can effect change in Darfur as well as his solution to the ongoing struggles in the region.

"American not only has a responsibility to protect its interests, to protect us from a terrorist attack, but also look at countries and regions like Darfur and help them out," Richardson told the students.

Richardson was in the area two months ago and has helped negotiate the release of three American Red Cross workers and an American journalist taken captive in the region.

Richardson also praised the students for their recent fundraising drive, which garnered $825 to help provide relief to refugee camps through Catholic Relief Services.

"I feel like the world kind of stood by with Rwanda, we didn't do anything and it's happening again," said Will Houk, the CHS history teacher who organized the fundraiser. "I want the students to believe in being a part of the world community and how important that is to history."

Students are holding a silent auction fundraiser from 6:30-8:30 p.m. Friday at the Starbucks in the Wal-Mart shopping center on College Parkway. The auction includes rounds of golf, a Starbucks coffee maker and a night at the Bliss Mansion.

"With this fundraiser, you are doing what I believe all Americans should do: care about all areas, not just areas of strategic importance," Richardson said.

Sophomore Jessie Sinclair had the honor of introducing Richardson and said she hoped he would share ways to help.

"I want him to talk about how we can stop what's going on in the Sudan. I don't know if anyone can answer that question but I'd like to ask him how he would do it,"

Sinclair said.

Richardson also put forth a four-part proposal to help end the situation in Darfur, which included providing humanitarian aid to the region, pushing for economic sanctions both from the U.S. and members of the United Nations, deploying U.N. peacekeepers to the region and making the genocide a national issue in the United States.

Richardson cautioned however, that he would not advocate sending U.S. troops into the area, instead opting for U.N. peacekeepers.

"I believe America doesn't need another conflict, we need more diplomacy," he said.