Investigation into Rapid City Alderman could be made public - KOTA Territory News

Investigation into Rapid City Alderman could be made public

The investigation into a KOTA Territory alderman's conduct is one step closer to being released to the public.

The Rapid City Legal and Finance Committee voted Wednesday to approve the release of the investigative report into Ward 2 Alderman Bill Clayton's actions.

Clayton was being investigated by the City after at least two parties filed complaints against him in August  for inappropriate comments he had made.

At a closed meeting a decision was made to take "no action" against Clayton.

While the investigative report has remained confidential, now City Council members agree it should be released to the public.

"And at this point there has been so much discussion and so much guessing that I believe we should just go ahead and release the report," said Amanda Scott, Ward 4 Alderman.

"It's interesting that we are now here at this point wanting to release the documents that I had hoped would have been public in the first place," said Steve Laurenti, Ward 2 Alderman.

"When we come out with our future code of conduct that we will have, if an investigative report is done, it will be made public. I think we've all learned lessons in this big circus that occurred around this issue," said Bonny Petersen, Ward 5 Alderman.

The measure will be reviewed on Tuesday at the full City Council meeting. If approved, the report could be released to the public as early as Wednesday.