Letter: Assemblyman has become an embarrassment

Friday, April 6, 2001 | 10:28 a.m.

What is it with Assemblyman Wendell Williams? For the second time in eight months this supposed public servant has publicly threatened the welfare of Nevada students. Most recently, in the March 30 issue of the Sun, Williams, the chairman of the Assembly Education Committee, stated unbelievably, but publicly, that some school bills submitted by the Clark County School District are "dusty and will get more dusty," thus threatening to punish all 231,125 students in the Clark County School District, because of an irrational hatred for Superintendent Carlos Garcia.

In the article, Williams was quoted as saying, "I'm going to bury him and send him back to Fresno," speaking in reference to Garcia. Williams, a former teacher in the school district, obviously must have forgotten that the chairman of the Education Committee Assembly does not hire or fire the superintendent of schools in the Clark County School District. That privilege and responsibility is given to the elected members of the Board of School Trustees. Given Williams' lack of good judgment and political savvy, the citizens of Clark County and Nevada can thank their lucky stars that Williams generally only speaks to himself on these matters.

Unfortunately, there is not much that can be done about Williams, except to ignore him. He has become an embarrassment to the Nevada Legislature by embodying the worst example of how an elected official should be. Conversely, although not an elected official, Garcia did a "slam dunk" on Williams by graciously extending a peace branch, apologizing if he had unknowingly offended Williams, and generally taking a high-road, professional, textbook approach in response to Williams' personal and vicious attack.

THOMAS RODRIGUEZ