Lawsuit filed over Kane, Garfield commissions' meetings with Zinke

During his May swing through Utah to review national monuments, Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke had private meetings with three county commissions whose counties host two of the most controversial monuments under scrutiny — Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante. Now the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance has sued, alleging Kane and Garfield commissions’ May 10 meetings were illegal because they were not posted as required under Utah’s Open and Public Meetings Act. “The closed meetings flagrantly violated multiple provisions of the act and, if left unchecked, would shield defendants’ activities on important public policy matters from the light of day,” says the lawsuit, filed Tuesday in Utah’s 3rd District Court. Garfield County Commission Chairman Leland Pollock dismissed the allegation as “frivolous.” “I know it is. We didn’t violate it,” Pollock said. “We didn’t do anything wrong, so I’m not worried. He declined to discuss the meetings further, citing advice from counsel. His Kane counterpart Dirk Clayson also rejected the suit’s contentions...more