Editorial: Audit gives chance for full reform

Wednesday, Nov. 19, 2003 | 8:50 a.m.

An internal audit released this week by the city of Las Vegas reveals management lapses that have cost the taxpayers time and money. The audit centered principally on the conduct of Wendell Williams and his supervisor, Sharon Segerblom.

Williams is a state assemblyman who is also the administrative officer for the city's Neighborhood Services Department. Segerblom, as director of the department, was Williams' boss at the city. Both employees were suspended for the duration of the month-long audit. The status of their future employment with the city will likely be discussed Tuesday during a special meeting of the City Council, which has been scheduled to review and act on the audit.

The audit reviewed an earlier investigation by the city manager's office of Williams' use of his city-issued cell phone and his claims for city pay while serving in the 2003 Legislature. As the result of that investigation, Williams agreed to reimburse the city $1,844 for personal calls he made on his city phone and to repay the city $6,700 for hours he had listed on his timecard but did not work. The audit also examined Williams' payroll and expense records during the months he served in the 2001 Legislature. It concluded that Williams owed the city another $392 for personal phone calls on his city cell phone and that he had abused his city sick-time benefits. The audit also found that Assemblyman Morse Arberry, no longer with the city, abused his sick leave while a Neighborhood Services employee in 2001. Additionally, the audit revealed that Williams "ca me and went as he pleased" and "did not consistently report his whereabouts" during his city employment. Segerblom is under! pressure for not adequately supervising Williams and Arberry, for signing their flawed time cards and for allegedly giving them preferential treatment.

The employees directly involved should be disciplined. But in our view, no one associated with city management can take the high road and say the problem rests entirely with Segerblom and the two employees. The City Council and city manager's office had responsibility to ensure that strong policies were in place and were being enforced. The most lasting action Tuesday would be a reform of the whole management and policy-making environment that led to the lax supervision and time-card and cell-phone abuses. The audit notes that no formal, written policy exists for city employees who are elected officials. Reform should begin there and not finish until much stronger checks and balances are in place for verifying everyone's time cards, expense claims and whereabouts while on the job.