Las Vegas Sun

March 29, 2024

Mayor calls for official’s resignation

Boulder City Mayor Bob Ferraro called for City Manager John Sullard's resignation on Tuesday, saying Sullard is responsible for "misleading" information about the financial health of the city's new golf course -- information that the mayor used in his re-election campaign.

Bill Smith, a former city councilman who is running against Ferraro, has long said the Boulder Creek Golf Course, which opened in January, is a financial disaster that will end up costing the city millions of dollars.

Ferraro, quoting city numbers, has said the golf course would be turning a profit by June 30, but a report heard by the City Council Tuesday night showed that the municipal course ran an operating deficit of about $480,000 between its Jan. 4 opening day and the end of April.

The call for Sullard's resignation took the city manager, as well as fellow members of the City Council, by surprise.

"We are in an election," Sullard said. He declined to elaborate.

Because the item was not on the agenda, the City Council took no action on the request, which came with a week left before the election.

"We're still trying to make heads or tails of it," City Attorney Dave Olsen said. "I also don't anticipate that the mayor has much support on this."

Councilman Mike Pacini, who lost his bid to be mayor in the April 8 primary, said he strongly disagreed with Ferraro and would consider taking back his endorsement of the mayor.

"I did not feel that I was ready for ask for his resignation," Councilwoman Andrea Anderson said, "but we do need to get some things squared away on the golf course and give some direction and make sure it's followed through on."

She said she, too, had concerns on the golf course's finances, but that they could be fixed.

"It's unfortunate that we didn't have the figures earlier on," she said. "It needs to be turned around and quickly."

Councilman Bryan Nix, who is waging his own re-election campaign, said he has had some concerns over Sullard's management of the city. But Nix said he wants to air those concerns during a closed-door personnel session before making them public.

Under Sullard's contract with the city, it would take votes from four of the five council members, the mayor included, to fire the manager. Also, Sullard cannot be fired for six months following an election of new council members, City Attorney Dave Olsen said, adding that he planned to further research the contract.

"If this mayor wants to fire John Sullard, I don't think it can be done until six months have passed," Olsen said this morning. "I don't think they can give the required notice until after the election."

Ferraro said he decided Tuesday afternoon to call for Sullard's resignation at the council meeting. Olsen said other council members heard of the plan just before the meeting began, when they were approached by the mayor's aides.

The mayor said he has had concerns about Sullard's management for years. "This was the straw that broke that camel's back," he said, but would not say what the other problems were.

Smith said Ferraro's call for Sullard's removal was politically motivated, and the mayor was trying to cover himself for past statements about how well the course was doing.

Ferraro said he planned to hold a closed-door meeting with the council as early as possible to discuss Sullard's future with the city.

Olsen said the earliest the council could meet and vote on Sullard's employment would be Monday or Tuesday.

Sullard, who was hired as city manager in 1997, said he has an open-ended contract with the city worth about $123,000 a year.

During his campaign Ferraro has claimed the course was doing well, and last week he said some level of shortfall was to be expected when starting a new business such as a golf course.

The mayor said he still believes the roughly $22 million course will eventually turn a profit. However, projections done prior to construction that showed the course breaking even over its first six months are unlikely to come to fruition.

But now the mayor says he doesn't know if any of the city's figures on the golf course's finances are reliable.

Ferraro said the figures presented Tuesday were "disturbing" and contrary to what he believed after reading a recent city newsletter and at least one city memo that purported to show financial information about the first three months at the course.

A four-page city-issued newsletter mailed to all residents earlier this month included a page on the Boulder Creek Golf Club, which stated that according to previous estimates the course could turn a $60,000 profit for the city by June 30.

Sullard said the information in the newsletter was based on projections done prior to construction of the golf course and not new financial information.

The newsletter drew criticism from Smith, Nix and others because it addressed key campaign issues such as the golf course.

Ferraro said because the city newsletter was put out this month, it implied that the information was the most recent information available.

Ferraro also said a memo from City Finance Director Bob Kenney to Sullard overstated the golf course revenues by about $50,000 for the first three months it was open, and stated the course was bringing in $94 per round of golf played.

However, the report presented Tuesday showed the course averaged between $80 and $90 per round of golf played during the each of its first four months open.

"I place all of that blame at the seat of the city manager," Ferraro said about the financial information presented Tuesday. "I'm calling for the resignation of the city manager."

Sullard said he has counted on Triad Golf Management, which the city hired to run the course, to run the golf course.

He said any financial information he supplied in the past was based on projections done before the course was built or on information from Triad.

Nix agreed with Ferraro that the figures presented Tuesday may not show the true financial condition of the golf course. However, Nix said, the actual performance of the course is probably better than reported because the figures included what he called one-time costs such as promotions to highlight the opening of the course.

Scott Jones, the general manager of the course, also said course officials are working to reduce costs and recoup some of the expenses incurred.

For example, the golf course staff has been reduced from 65 employees to about 50, he said.

Also, course operators are working to have the construction contracting company reimburse them for about $50,000 in water that was needed to refill leaking course lakes, he said.

Smith said if elected he would not try to fire Sullard but instead work to have him change his management style.

Smith, who was on the council when Sullard was hired, said too often the city manager does not give the council the worst-case scenario for projects.

But Smith said ultimately Ferraro and the rest of the council are responsible for what will happen at the golf course.

"When you're on the council the buck stops there," Smith said. "But it's nice to have someone to blame."

Councilman Pacini also said the mayor and council should share any blame for missteps at the golf course.

"If he's at fault, we're all at fault," Pacini said.

But Ferraro disagreed.

"I'm blaming staff," he said.

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