NLV’s former manager says lost check is at center of probe

Lisa Snedeker

Friday, Oct. 30, 1998 | 11:08 a.m.

Former North Las Vegas City Manager Linda Hinson broke her longstanding silence to the media by speaking out Thursday about her life under fire from the city.

A city employee for 19 years, Hinson is no stranger to its workings. She became assistant city manager in 1988 and was promoted to city manager in 1994.

Then came a turnover in council members and, according to Hinson, that's when her troubles began.

The council in July voted 4-1, with Councilman Bill Robinson casting the lone "no," to not renew Hinson's contract when it expired this month. The council did not give a reason for its action but placed Hinson on paid leave from July 27 through Oct. 1.

While the city has given Hinson a check for unused sick days and vacation time, she said she is still owed severance pay, for which she plans on taking the city to court.

"City managers come and go," she said, adding that what she is upset about is the way she has been treated by the city since leaving office.

Now she is awaiting a decision from the district attorney concerning allegations of misconduct while she was in office. That decision will be based on the findings from a three-week investigation by the North Las Vegas Police Department -- an investigation purportedly prompted by Acting City Manager Pat Importuna.

District Attorney Stewart Bell said one last piece of evidence was needed to determine whether Hinson committed a crime while in office.

Bell has subpoenaed Hinson's bank records for a copy of a check for some building permits for the home she built with her husband, Roger, on Kenny Way.

But Hinson said he didn't need a subpoena -- all anyone had to do was ask for copies of her check stubs and she would have been happy to oblige. She also said she thinks she knows where the trouble lies.

She said she delivered two checks totaling $6,695 for various water-connection fees on Oct. 30, 1996, to the city's Public Works Department. That was the deadline for the "Schedule B" fees. If she had waited until after Nov. 1, she would have had to pay almost $800 more in fees for the 1-inch line, according to the adopted phase-in schedule.

According to Hinson, the city lost her checks, but she has a receipt.

"Of all the checks to lose, they had to lose the city manager's," Hinson said.

When the checks came up missing, Hinson called her bank and stopped payment. She wrote two more checks, for the same amount, but they were not posted until Nov. 14.

"I took them straight to the utility department, not to the finance department," she said. "I think the check that I canceled is the check they are looking for."

And that's when she thinks the first suspicion arose that she had not paid for her connection fees. "I think that triggered it," she said.

Then Hinson refused to sign over a 30-foot right of way to the city for $1, standard procedure for anyone to receive a building permit, according to Gary Holler, director of public works.

Hinson said that Holler told her, "We'll get you when you put up a block wall," because it would affect the right of way.

"He didn't even know if I was going to put up a block wall."

Holler, who verified that he was asked for information concerning Hinson and that he turned it over to the city attorney's office, said, "Mrs. Hinson has one of the best memories of anyone that I've ever met," adding that he probably did say what she said he did.

He also verified that because she didn't get a permit, Hinson could never use the property within the right of way, for example, to build a fence.

What Holler, who has been in the public-works department for 16 years, could not explain is how Hinson received the building permit for her home without deeding the right of way to the city.

"A condition to the issuance of a construction permit required the permit for a dedication for right of way," Holler said, although he would not comment on Hinson's particular case. "It is in our power to not issue a building permit."

The police investigation, which was turned over to the district attorney's office a week ago, focused on the city's lack of rights of way for the property surrounding Hinson's home, according to Lt. Mike Blackwell.

Hinson confronted members of the North Las Vegas City Council during its regular meeting last week about the investigation. She accused council members of wanting to discredit her.

Mayor Michael Montandon told Hinson that the city did not request the investigation despite reports that Importuna approached the district attorney's office with concerns about Hinson's actions while in office.

The case was sent back to the city attorney's office, which turned it over to the North Las Vegas Police to investigate.

For now, Hinson said she has been taking care of personal business that she ignored while working as city manager. She said she is keeping her options open as far as employment but has no immediate plans to go to work -- especially in her former capacity.

"I would have to move out of town, and I don't plan on moving," she said.