Nye commissioners abrupty fire county manager

Thursday, March 7, 1996 | 11:59 a.m.

Without giving a reason, Nye County commissioners fired County Manager Bill Offutt as he testified at a congressional hearing in Washington, D.C.

During a regular board meeting in Tonopah Tuesday, the commission voted 4-0 to oust Offutt from his manager's job and as chief executive officer of Nye Regional Medical Center.

Commissioner Bill Copeland brought the matter to the commission although the item was not on the agenda. He said commissioners had "confidential information" that allowed the board to take emergency action.

Nye County Deputy District Attorney Rachel Nicholson said Offutt had been fired without cause. Under state law, the commission may fire him at will and at any time, she said Wednesday. She would not elaborate on the reasons the commission dismissed Offutt.

Offutt was informed of the commission's decision Tuesday night after he testified before the House Appropriations subcommittee on energy and water with Nye County Commission Chairman Cameron McCrae, Nicholson said.

The subcommittee is considering the 1997 budget for studying Yucca Mountain, the proposed high-level nuclear waste dump. Since the site is within Nye County, it may receive federal funds. This year Congress cut all $10 million in local county funds.

Offutt could not be reached for comment. Airline flights were delayed Wednesday as snow blasted the Midwest.

Geneva Neuhauser was named acting county manager. An interim manager may be appointed at the commission's next meeting on March 19, Nicholson said.

Offutt came to Nye County in 1991 after working as city manager in Lincoln City, Ore. He replaced former Nye County manager Roy Neighbors, who is now a Nevada assemblyman.

While county manager, Offutt was overseeing a proposed justice complex in Beatty, a county complex in Pahrump and a senior center in Beatty.

In another development in Nye County this week, Pahrump Town Manager Roger Baltz said he is leaving March 22 after more than two years in Nye County. He will become city manager of Crystal River, Fla.

Baltz became Pahrump's manager in September 1993. Compared to Pahrump's annual budget of $1 million and a handful of employees, the Florida city offers the challenge of 70 employees and a $10 million budget, he said.