Committee tells DMV to get better organized

Monday, May 3, 1999 | 10 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- There's a lot of unhappiness among some employees at the state Department of Motor Vehicles and Public Safety, and the Assembly Ways and Means Committee says it doesn't want to add to the problem.

The committee Friday rejected a proposed department reorganization that would have given managers up to a 10 percent raise while other employees received no pay increase. The committee also rejected the plea from the department for an additional 50 new employees.

The agency requested the extra employees to help it through a project called Genesis, aimed at advancing its computer system and other technology as well as providing better and faster service. DMV representatives said the extra workers could be reduced when the project is completed.

The committee didn't buy it. Assemblywoman Chris Giunchigliani, D-Las Vegas, said her subcommittee learned that as of last month, 83 of the 825 positions in the motor vehicle branch were vacant. In addition, 17 jobs created in 1997 were never filled.

The committee accepted Giunchigliani's recommendation that the department be urged instead to fill the 83 positions as soon as possible.

Giunchigliani said everybody supports Genesis, whose aim is to improve customer service through such innovations as consolidating forms so an individual can get the title and registration of a car at the same time.

Ray Sparks, deputy director of the department, said there was some confusion about hiring the 17 employees authorized in 1997. He said the registration division ran out of money and couldn't hire. Then Gov. Bob Miller imposed a hiring freeze late last year after state revenue estimates came in lower than expected, so other vacant positions could not be filled.

The reorganization, Giunchigliani said, has created a "lot of discomfort from employees."

"It would have bumped salaries up by 10 percent for upper management when nobody else at this time is scheduled for a pay raise," she said. The raises would cost $400,000 a year.

She said employees are not disgruntled and they like the Genesis modernization project.

"They are simply frustrated because they haven't had the training they were committed to have and the computers were not on time."

Sparks said all employees will receive extensive training in the new system.

The committee voted to go along with Gov. Kenny Guinn's recommendation to scrap the Investigations Division's unit that chased vehicle theft rings. Called Viper, it had four criminal investigators. Committee members cited complaints from police agencies in Southern Nevada about its operation.

The committee decided Viper, created in 1997, could be reinstated if it returns to the Legislative Interim Finance Committee with a revised program.

The committee also opposed reinstating the visible smoke enforcement program in which agents of the department cited motorists whose vehicles are emitting a large amount of smoke. That saves $525,000 over the next two years.