Las Vegas City Commission Minutes, November 20, 1957 to December 2, 1959, lvc000011-520

COMM. FOUNTAIN: All made statements regarding Mrs. Mormon's operation of her nursery. MR. GALANE: May I suggest the Child Welfare Board has been trying to promulgate stricter law for operation of nurseries. This Board is trying to do a good job but is so frustrated that when opportunity is given them to make an example of somebody by the nurse, they become aroused. If this Commission would take ordinance out of committee it would substantiate what they are trying to do. COMM. WHIPPLE: Do you mean that the people on the Child Welfare Board are confused? MR. GALANE: They want stricter standards. She would go out to mothers to get statements. She has been out all over town. She called Mr. Ayoub at the Fremont Hotel. I say the Child Welfare Nurse has aroused the Child Welfare Board and the real problem is to get the new ordinance to cover the standards. COMM. WHIPPLE: Do you believe they are people that could be frustrated? As to the Child Welfare Ordinance Amendment, this was referred to committee only a few meetings ago and there are a few minor changes to be made. MR. GALANE: That is an impression I did not intentionally want to bring about. If the problem is the need for stricter standards to be set forth, there is no reason for the Child Welfare Nurse to harass one operator. Every time you pick up a newspaper in the City of Las Vegas you read about Connie Mormon's nursery. You would not put a child in this nursery. I read charges dismissed — charges renewed! Mrs. Mormon made the biggest investment of this type in this City when she had the courage to invest $27,000.00. COMM. WHIPPLE: There is a big difference between money and the taking care of and training of children. MR. GALANE: We have mothers here who do have their children there. You are going to put her out of business without ever revoking her license. COMM. WHIPPLE: We are not responsible for everything published in the newspaper. MR. GALANE: Every time charges were published in the newspaper it wasn't humorous to Mrs. Mormon. It has been the destruction of her business. COMM. WHIPPLE: Were you inferring that the Child Welfare Board members were confused and frustrated? MR. GALANE: When a Board desires stricter regulations for the entire industry and cannot see it adopted, it is in a sense, frustrated. MRS. MELVIN MOSS: I am a new member of the Child Welfare Board so I cannot make any statement. However, Mr. Galane is not in any position to make a statement about my frustration. I mean to do my job and take care of the children the best way we can find. Regulations are subject to change every day all over the land. In arbitrary thinking you dig out of your records. JACK PURSEL: I don't think it is a question of "I like you" or "I don't like you". I have been a member of the Board for six years and every member is an independent thinker, and tries to do their job. The question is what has Mrs. Mormon done, and is it in violation of an ordinance? Mrs. Schnaer or the Child Welfare Board is not on trial. UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN: Just before this meeting was recessed it was stated that Mrs. Mormon was told to isolate the child. Before that it was stated there was not enough help to take care of the children outside, so who saw that the child was kept in isolation, and was it brought back and forth at night? ROBERT FOLKER: It was my child who had the mumps. Speaking of hospitals, the statement was made that he should have been put in a hospital. There is not a hospital in the country that is willing to admit a child with a contagious disease. He was happy there and attended to immediately if he needed something. UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN: If the child could not be admitted to a hospital, why keep him in a nursery? MR. GALANE: Did your child have mumps when you brought him into the nursery? ROBERT FOLKER: He was not ill to my knowledge when he was brought to the nursery. I was notified the following day that Mrs. Mormon had noticed swelling and he was checked by my doctor, who found the child had mumps. COMM. WHIPPLE: How long was the child in the nursery when he showed signs of the mumps? ROBERT FOLKER: Twenty-four hours. COMM. WHIPPLE: Did you take him home? ROBERT FOLKER: The child's home is the nursery. After taking him to the doctor he was brought back to the nursery and isolated. I am working part time for the Mercy Ambulance and I got face masks for anybody entering or exiting the room which was used by myself and whoever entered the room. He was isolated in the room for approximately 7 to 10 days. MR. GALANE: Did you try to have the child removed from the nursery or did Mrs. Mormon make an effort to have the child removed from the nursery, and with what results? ROBERT FOLKER: We both tried. I called many friends who have families of their own 7-22-59