County official target of e-mail smear

Adrienne Packer

Friday, Aug. 11, 2000 | 11:05 a.m.

A series of e-mails sent to Clark County employees this week are reportedly an attempt to smear facilities manager Bill Barrett because of his political support for County Commissioner Mary Kincaid, sources said.

The e-mails, which employees discovered Monday and Wednesday, show they originated from Barrett's office computer.

County spokesman Doug Bradford confirmed Thursday that an investigation was launched to determine who logged onto Barrett's computer and distributed the e-mails throughout the Clark County Government Center.

Not only is it a violation of county policy to send mail under another employee's user name, but it is against policy to distribute e-mails to all county employees unless it is an emergency.

"We're looking at it from an internal standpoint; where they originated from and who is sending them," Bradford said. "Misuse of county property is against county policy."

County government sources are convinced the e-mails were sent by a union member in Barrett's division to retaliate against the manager because of his support for Kincaid.

The culinary and United Food and Commercial Workers unions requested that Barrett and union members in his shop vote for commission candidate Stephanie Smith, whom the unions endorsed.

The unions snubbed Kincaid after she voted against a ordinance prohibiting the nonunion Wal-Mart from opening its traditional Supercenter in the county.

The e-mail discovered Monday is a video clip from a recent television newscast showing Barrett climbing into his county vehicle wearing a Kincaid campaign shirt. The footage, which is more than a minute long, was slugged, "Look I am a star."

The second e-mail sent to employees was a series of messages Barrett had sent and received from relatives while planning a vacation -- proving Barrett used government equipment for private purposes.

Barrett was "counseled" and told of the county's policy regarding campaigning on county time using government vehicles, Bradford said.

Barrett reportedly told administrators he was pouring concrete for a Family Youth Services project on a Saturday morning and soiled his shirt. He changed into his Kincaid shirt, knowing he would later visit her headquarters.

The amateur videotape, which was later submitted to a television news station, showed Barrett and his county car in front of Kincaid's West Craig Road campaign office.

County sources also believe information recently leaked to media outlets regarding missing Freon might also be retaliation against Barrett's political stance.

Barrett's facilities management division is involved in an internal audit to determine what happened to thousands of pounds of Freon removed from county buildings in 1996. The Freon is worth more than $200,000.

Sources close to the county commission said Kincaid and Barrett are longtime friends, and it was Kincaid that saved his job three years ago. Barrett was disciplined when he allowed a $250,000 remodeling job to be completed at a Metro Police substation without authorization. Kincaid denies she discussed his job with anybody.

Still she said she feels bad that Barrett has been pulled into her race against Smith, a North Las Vegas city councilwoman.

"I don't condone anyone politicking on county time with a county vehicle, it was poor judgment by him," Kincaid said Thursday. "But I think it's really stooping pretty low to use him to get at me, which I assume is what they're trying to do."

Kincaid said union members have been videotaping her headquarters for weeks.

"There have been a few people who felt intimidated they were being taped," she said. "I have some union members working for me who belong to the same unions against me. They're worried about their jobs so they're not walking (door-to-door) now."