Las Vegas gives Williams three options

Sito Negron

Thursday, Nov. 20, 2003 | 11:07 a.m.

Las Vegas officials gave Assemblyman Wendell Williams three options this morning regarding his city job -- resign, be fired or participate in a hearing in which he could attempt to make his case.

Williams' lawyer, Larry Semenza, said although city officials did not give a deadline he was asked to call them back to discuss the matter again this afternoon.

Williams' meeting this morning came a day after word spread that Williams' former Las Vegas city supervisor, Sharon Segerblom, had been fired after refusing to meet with city officials. The city manager, Doug Selby, allegedly was going to force her to resign or fire her at that meeting.

Late Wednesday, Segerblom's lawyer, Laura Fitzsimmons, said it had been "confirmed to me once again that Sharon has been terminated." Fitzsimmons declined to identify the city official who told her.

Richard Segerblom, Sharon Segerblom's husband, said she would sue the city. He also filed an ethics complaint against Segerblom's supervisors, Selby and Deputy City Manager Betsy Fretwell, claiming they have a conflict of interest and should not have been the ones to investigate allegations stemming from the way Williams and a former city colleague filled out time cards.

Fretwell owns a home with Christine Robinson, who is Selby's wife's boss at the Clark County air quality program.

"Mr. Selby benefits financially from having his wife employed by Ms. Robinson. Ms. Robinson benefits financially from having her life partner employed by Mr. Selby," wrote Richard Segerblom in his complaint to the state Commission on Ethics.

Neither Selby nor Fretwell would comment on the issue Wednesday, citing pending litigation. But Selby said the day before the charges were a "desperate" attempt to deflect attention away from the issue of Sharon Segerblom's management of Williams.

Fretwell conducted the city's first investigation into time cards filed by Williams while he was serving in the 2003 Legislature. Williams agreed to pay back $6,700, but later claimed he did it because he was pressured by Segerblom, who in turn was pressured by the city manager's office.

Fretwell investigated that and other issues related to the matter then recommended discipline up to or including termination.

In the course of that investigation, media requests for time cards filed by Williams and Assemblyman Morse Arberry resulted in the public disclosure that both had used large amounts of sick time to receive almost full-time pay from the city while serving in the 2001 Legislature. Sharon Segerblom, Williams and Arberry all worked in the same city department, Neighborhood Services.

Mayor Oscar Goodman asked the city auditor to review the time card issue and related matters, and the auditor's report was released Monday.

Williams had not been available for comment Wednesday. He said the day before, through his lawyer, that he was planning to speak at a special City Council meeting scheduled for Tuesday to explore the issues involved in the audit.

The auditor's report indicated that Arberry, who no longer works for the city, and Williams received favorable treatment from Segerblom, and that they inappropriately used sick leave. It also found that the city did not have a policy dealing with employees who are lawmakers, and it questioned the use of a "last-chance" agreement, typically used for union employees, in Williams' case.

The audit did not say who prepared the agreement.

Fitzsimmons, Segerblom's lawyer, questioned that omission.

"The auditor's report very interestingly does not go into any issues of who prepared that last chance agreement and provided it to Wendell Williams through Sharon," she said.

It also does not name the deputy city manager who signed off on a promotion Williams received in November 2001, following the legislative session. Williams has said he performed a special assignment for the city during the 2001 session, but would not say what it was.

Fretwell leads the city's lobbying team during the Legislature, and Richard Segerblom questioned whether she could fairly investigate an issue that involved Williams, who is a legislator and a city employee, and work he claimed to have done for the city while in the Legislature.

Add to that the fact that Fretwell owns a home with Selby's wife's boss, and Richard Segerblom said that's a natural conflict that should have been avoided if the investigation were to be fair.

Fitzsimmons said the situation showed that "Sharon obviously was the person who was determined to be expendable."

She said the information coming from the city about the investigation "destroyed Sharon Segerblom's credibility, while at the same time the city manager has forbidden her from speaking up for herself."

Sharon Segerblom said she's "devastated" by the situation, but hopes that when council considers the issue, "no matter what management says, I still believe mayor and council will be absolutely fair and look at my past record and see that I was in an untenable position."