According to the former mayor of Dunsmuir, the current council violated the state’s open meeting laws on multiple occasions, failed to disclose conflicts-of-interest and then voted on matters that they would benefit from, and failing to recuse themselves from a lawsuit involving a citizens organization that they had received endorsements from in previous elections.

The current suit has been amended from a previous complaint that had been found deficient of facts and was overly vague. By amending the suit, former mayor Peter Arth hopes to force his former colleagues to disclose their conflicts, remove one person from a commission, and prevent two others from voting on any sewer or water issues.

From the Redding Searchlight:

Dunsmuir’s vice mayor says a lawsuit by the ex-mayor against the city and four council members is “paper terrorism” and is keeping the City Council from doing its job.

But that, alongside a ruling last month that Peter Arth’s lawsuit wasn’t detailed enough, isn’t stopping the one-time mayor and his attorney, David Hicks, from refiling an amended complaint.

Arth sued Dunsmuir and four council members – Mayor Nick Mitchell, Vice Mayor Chris Raine, Diane Dolf and Arlis Steele – in February for what he believes are violations of the Political Reform Act and Ralph M. Brown Act.

Read the full article here.