Friday, Aug. 31, 2001 | 10:39 a.m.
Clark County manager Thom Reilly said he has abandoned his plan to promote assistant Building Director Ron Lynn to director in light of a 3-year-old controversy recently brought to his attention.
Reilly said today that instead of hiring Lynn, he intends to conduct a national search to find a successor to retired Building Director Robert Weber.
"(Lynn) has excellent technical ability and has great credibility with the Legislature and community," Reilly said. "But given this issue that surfaced, it's best at county to do national search to attract more depth."
Lynn, a 20-year Clark County employee, was easily considered the superior candidate in a field of five applicants, and Reilly said he was confident Lynn's promotion would have been approved by all seven commissioners Tuesday.
Reilly initially said he planned to postpone the ratification of Lynn's promotion after learning that he misrepresented his credentials in a 1998 article published in the trade magazine, Building Standards. The article said Lynn held a master's degree in geochemistry; Lynn holds a bachelor's degree in geology.
Lynn could not be reached for comment this morning. Building Department spokeswoman Rita Mincavich said called the issue a "personnel matter" and referred calls to Reilly's office.
Former Clark County manager Dale Askew, whom Reilly replaced in July, had initially recommended Lynn as a replacement.
Reilly spent weeks meeting with homebuilders, building staff members and commissioners to address concerns about Lynn and ensure Lynn would have the support of those who worked with him.
Reilly said Lynn never once mentioned the 1998 incident during interviews.
"People make mistakes," Reilly said. "He misrepresented his credentials clearly, and I was disappointed during the numerous times we met that he didn't tell me this may surface as an issue."
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