Williams may challenge firing from city job

Sito Negron

Thursday, Dec. 4, 2003 | 11:20 a.m.

A day after he was fired from his job at Las Vegas City Hall, Assemblyman Wendell Williams appeared to be leaning toward challenging the termination, while his former Neighborhood Services Department boss, Sharon Segerblom, said Wednesday she may accept a transfer to a different department.

Williams was not available for comment Wednesday. His lawyer, Larry Semenza, said his client was weighing his options. Williams can walk away, seek a city hearing or file a lawsuit, Semenza said.

It seems unlikely that Williams, who made his mark as a legislator by challenging the status quo, will walk away. He previously rejecting an offer that would have allowed him to resign without owing the city anything.

Semenza said it is "a logical assumption" that Williams will challenge the firing, but Semenza would not say whether Williams would seek a hearing or a lawsuit.

Williams had agreed to pay Las Vegas $1,844.38 for cell phone calls made on a city cell phone that it deemed personal, and also agreed to pay $6,765.27 in wages received while he was in the Legislature.

The letter that told Williams he was fired referred to him as an at-will appointive employee. Under the City Charter, appointive employees are hired and fired by the city manager, but the decision must be ratified by council.

City Attorney Brad Jerbic previously said that Williams is not covered by the charter. Jerbic would not comment on the matter Wednesday.

As for Segerblom, she said she was weighing the city's offer of another position in the Detention and Enforcement Department.

"It's an offer that's been made and it sounds like an opportunity to help support my family," Segerblom said. "It's not something you make a quick decision on."

Her lawyer, Laura FitzSimmons, said an agreement could come by the end of the week. FitzSimmons said the offer allows Segerblom to keep a similar salary to the $125,000 she made as director of the Neighborhood Services Department, although her benefits will change.

For more than two months, the city has been trying to deal with a scandal that developed after the media requested Williams' cell phone records, which showed thousands of dollars in charges.

After that, pay records showed he received city pay while he was serving in the 2003 Legislature, and when those records were questioned, he agreed to pay back the city for some of the time.

That led to scrutiny of Williams' 2001 time cards, which showed he and Assemblyman Morse Arberry, then his Neighborhood Services Department supervisor, collected city pay -- including sick time -- while serving in the 2001 Legislature. Williams took 208.25 hours of sick time while the Legislature was in session in 2001, and Arberry took 80 hours of sick leave during a time period in which he attended legislative meetings.

The city has not said whether it plans to try to recoup the payments made to Williams and Arberry in 2001.

Williams claimed he helped the city with legislative issues during the 2001 session, and that the pay arrangement and a subsequent promotion came about because of that work. While Segerblom had recommended Williams for a raise, he could not receive one because he was at the cap for his current position.

The city had a hiring freeze at the time, but the city manager's office created a new position for Williams, and approved the promotion without Segerblom's signature.