County asks Vandever to resubmit sick time

Judy Odierna

Monday, Jan. 20, 2003 | 9:31 a.m.

Clark County officials say they are asking former county recorder Judith Vandever to reconsider her request for $19,143 in sick leave.

But a few other former elected officials have either collected or may soon collect tens of thousands of dollars for unused sick leave.

Vandever's case is the most unusual because she spent months out of the office last year due to an illness, and her request for payment has some people saying that the county needs to start keeping track of the days worked by elected officials.

Vandever told county administrators that she was working from home and was in touch with her staff members. She said she never called in sick during her eight years in office.

"We've asked her to reconsider her submission," said Don Burnette, chief administrative officer for Clark County. "We're not in a position yet to formally reject the claim. But if it came back to us in the same form it was originally submitted we would take it before the (County Commission) for final action."

Burnette said Vandever's claim of taking no sick leave is questionable because of her absences.

In May the district attorney office explored filing an "abandonment" complaint against Vandever. Vandever never warned the county manager's office that she planned to take medical leave and did not inform administrators who would oversee the office in her absence.

The recorder plays a crucial role in documenting property ownership, marriages and births. County officials at the time said Vandever's office was several months behind in its work.

Vandever decided to retire and not run for office again later in the year.

In August Clark County Manager Thom Reilly asked the commission to submit a bill draft request to the Legislature to do away with the county recorder job, as well as public administrator, in 2009. Each of the jobs pays $72,000 a year.

Each of those jobs falls under a county law that provides countywide elected officials who work full-time with the same benefits given to employees. For sick leave, employees and elected officials earn 3.7 hours for each of the 26 pay periods, which totals about 2 1/2 weeks a year of sick time.

When employees or elected officials leave the county, they are entitled to payment for unused sick time.

Former District Attorney Stewart Bell accrued more than 750 hours of sick leave over eight years and said he used about 32 hours of that. Bell is asking for $20,655. The county is still checking out those numbers.

Former Sheriff Jerry Keller accrued 681 hours of sick leave and said he used about 12 days of that. The county cut Keller a check for $15,676. Keller is the only elected official who has been paid.

Clark County commissioners, who are part time, are not eligible for the benefits.

Unlike employees, elected officials are not required to submit time cards or logs detailing their leave.

"We advise them that they are entitled to receive payment, but it's their obligation to tell us how much sick leave they used during their term," Burnette said. "Elected officials are not accountable to us, they are accountable to the public."

Burnette said in light of Vandever's submission, the way sick leave is documented should be changed.

"It's a good reason to re-evaluate how we approach this in the future," he said. "We may establish a more formal approach that would permit elected officials to disclose sick leave time as they use it. It would provide a little more accountability and be more useful to the elected official as well."

As for elected officials being on the honor system while other county employees have to account for their time on a regular basis, William Robinson, assistant professor of economics at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, said similar situation exists in private companies. It existed at Enron, for example, he said.