Stewart Museum director confident she'll be back

After being forced out of the Stewart Indian Museum Dec. 20, the Carson City Urban Indian Consortium Inc. and Sheila Abbe are fighting back.

A complaint for writ was filed in Carson City District Court after Sheila and Jeff Abbe, together with cultural consultant Winona James, were ousted from their positions at the behest of a new board of directors consisting of president Esther Thompson, secretary Jason May and treasurer Rocky Boice Sr. Norman Fillmore and Michael Williams were involved in the action and are listed in the complaint.

But until the paperwork is completed at the Secretary of State's office, Abbe and her husband Jeff are legally the directors of that nonprofit organization. A complaint was filed by the defendants' attorney William Crowell on Tuesday.

The Abbes are asking the courts to restore their positions. Should they lose any of the grant money they have applied for due to this action they want to be compensated.

The hearing is set for Friday, Dec. 29 in Carson City District Court at 1:30 p.m. but at a press conference Thursday members of the new consortium said they haven't had adequate time to hire an attorney or prepare for the case.

"They didn't give us any opportunity to prepare when they walked in unannounced," Abbe said, noting she felt the primary motivation for this takeover is greed. "We had no announcement, preparation or warning for this assault They wanted to step in and take something they didn't have."

New consortium members also charged that the Abbes dominated the board. Sheila Abbe serves as both treasurer and president and husband Jeff is secretary. Winona James serves as cultural advisor. There is no legal restriction on having members of the same family on a board of directors, according to corporate regulations.

"We're a working board," Abbe said, noting that the board is set up according to the by-laws. She said the organization is small and doesn't need a lot of board members. It was kept that way for simplicity's sake, she said.

Abbe also gave assurances that the financial books are in order. She has obtained more than $500,000 in grants for rehabilitation of the museum and as a result has been the subject of extensive financial audits.

According to Perry Como, director of Nevada's buildings and grounds, the fact that the Abbes are still legally in charge hasn't been an issue for the Capitol Police, who were present to keep the peace during the takeover.

"The state of Nevada has a lease agreement with that organization and Mike Mizelle was approached by these people as members of that group," Como said. Mizelle, director of Nevada's Buildings and Grounds division, thought the change might not be amicable and asked Capitol Police stand by.

At that time the police felt the paperwork was in order.

"It's not the buildings and grounds responsibility to wrestle with the internal politics of that organization," he said. "We have a lease with them and that's it."

The Secretary of State's office has also denied any responsibility in the matter.

"As long as the document is signed by an officer we have to accept that," Scott Anderson, deputy secretary of state for commercial recordings. "It's up to the courts to determine if the list is legal."