Las Vegas Sun

March 29, 2024

Cities weigh in on double-dipping controversy

Boulder City may join the other government agencies expected to respond to the double-dipping controversy with new policies requiring public employees who are also State Legislators to take a leave of absence while the Legislature is in session.

Henderson and state lawmakers have said they plan to push for a similar policy. One is already in place as an administrative rule for Clark County employees. And over at Las Vegas City Hall, Mayor Oscar Goodman said he agrees that such a policy is needed, but that City Council probably won't address the matter until after completion of an audit of hours worked during the 2001 Legislative Session by two city employees who were also assemblymen in 2001.

Most North Las Vegas City Council members interviewed Tuesday said they weren't sure whether the city needs such a policy. They said the council will probably discuss the matter during an upcoming council meeting.

Meanwhile, Assemblyman John Oceguera, D-Las Vegas, said he thinks whatever policies are adopted should allow for exceptions so that government employees can work two jobs if they can physically return to their primary employment. Oceguera, a North Las Vegas firefighter, continued receiving a paycheck during the 2003 Legislative sessions primarily by trading shifts with other firefighters. He also returned to North Las Vegas to work at least 8 of his scheduled 24-hour shifts during the regular and special sessions this year.

But Oceguera said if lawmakers do decide to completely bar any outside employment during a legislative sessions, then the rule should apply to Legislators working in the private sector too. However, he did not know how such a rule could be enforced against private employers. It would probably be very difficult if not impossible to do that, others have said.

The double-dipping controversy has caused problems for several state lawmakers, who allegedly improperly billed their local government employers while they were in Carson City.

North Las Vegas City Council members said they think Oceguera's situation has been handled properly. However, some said that in light of the apparent problems in other local jurisdictions the council will probably review the matter.

"Oceguera is very accountable because we know when he's working," North Las Vegas City Councilwoman Shari Buck said. "But we need a clear policy in place for the future."

Buck said she didn't know whether such a policy should require city employees who are also legislators to take a leave of absence while in Carson City.

Councilman William Robinson said he too hadn't decided what such a policy should look like.

"With a leave of absence you take away all possibilities for impropriety," Robinson said. "But your house payment doesn't stop when you take a leave of absence."

Mayor Michael Montandon wouldn't say whether he thinks the city should have such a policy.

"In my private sector job if I was to leave for four months I would have to take a leave of absence and I'll leave it at that," Montandon said.

Oceguera's annual salary as a firefighter is about $80,000. He said if he was forced to give up his city pay during the Legislative Sessions he might not be able to afford to serve as a lawmaker.

He said that is his concern for others too, and so the law should not prevent someone from having two jobs during the sessions.

"If you're able to get there (to work both jobs)we should not prohibit two jobs," he said.

Assembly Speaker Richard Perkins, D-Henderson, received full-time pay for his job as a Henderson deputy police chief during the 2003 Legislative sessions, by generally taking two vacation days a week and using the telephone and computer to telecommute with his job in Henderson, he said. The telecommuting combined with working in Henderson on any weekends actually amounted to more than the 19 hours a week of regular hours he was paid for, Perkins and his police chief have said.

Perkins and Oceguera's dual roles as municipal employees and state lawmakers has also come under review by the U.S. Office of Special Counsel, which enforces the federal Hatch Act. In general, the law prohibits government employees who oversee or are paid with federal funds from participating in partisan political activity.

Both Oceguera and Perkins said they think the law doesn't apply to them, although an opinion from the federal agency said Perkins will be in violation of the act if he again runs for assembly while deputy police chief. Perkins is hoping to convince the agency otherwise, but Henderson Mayor Jim Gibson has said unless the agency reverses its opinion Perkins will not be able to do both. This is all playing out against a political backdrop: Gibson and Perkins are expected to run against each other for governor.

Last week, Perkins followed Gov. Kenny Guinn and Senate Minority Leader Dina Titus, D-Las Vegas, in saying government employees who are also state legislators should take unpaid leave during the legislative sessions. Titus, who has said she may also run for governor, has already asked for a bill on the matter for the next session.

Perkins said the problems of public perception has made it necessary.

And even though Boulder City doesn't have any city employees who are also state legislators, the mayor and most council members said their city should also adopt such a policy.

"It would prevent someone from getting into this problem in the future," Boulder City Mayor Bob Ferraro said.

Two Las Vegas Democrats, Assemblyman Kelvin Atkinson and Assemblywoman Kathy McClain, were fired last month from their Clark County government jobs after allegedly receiving on-duty pay improperly while they were serving this year in Carson City. Both have appealed their firings.

Also, Assemblyman Wendell Williams, another Las Vegas Democrat who is an administrator in the Las Vegas Neighborhood Services Department, has come under fire for alleged city time-card improprieties during his time in Carson City.

Michael Bowers, chairman of the political science department at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, said the local governments appear to be responding to a problem or concern that the public wasn't aware of until recently.

"I think most people assumed those folks took leave without pay already. I know I did," Bowers said.

To adequately address the issue, Bowers said lawmakers should create a clear policy without any exceptions.

"You have to have a bright line, you either have (to take) leave without pay or you don't," he said.

The issue is also the focus of an initiative petition being pushed by a group calling itself Nevadans For Sound Government. The petition seeks to ask voters to bar all public employees from serving in the Legislature.

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