Friday, Nov. 21, 2003 | 11:11 a.m.
A probe into claims of influence peddling and unfair hiring practices ended Thursday as the university system Board of Regents removed CCSN President Ron Remington and adviser John Cummings from their positions.
After 16 hours of closed session meetings that spanned two days and included the review of 1,000 pages of transcripts, notes and interviews prepared by private investigator Jeffrey Cohen, regents voted to oust Remington and Cummings from their posts at the Community College of Southern Nevada, citing insubordination and violation of university policies as their reasons.
Regents did not specify what actions were allegedly insubordinate or in violation of policy.
"They destroyed Dr. Remington's life tonight," Regent Linda Howard said Thursday after voting against the action. "They destroyed his reputation and they destroyed people's lives and people's families and it was an unnecessary action."
The vote came as the regents capped an investigation into the hiring, firing and reinstatement of Topazia "Briget" Jones, who described herself as Assemblyman Wendell Williams' "special assistant."
Both men were reassigned to faculty jobs, although the regents voted to pursue an action that could strip Cummings of his tenure and fire him outright.
Regent Tom Kirkpatrick made the motion to remove Remington first saying, "This has been a long and exhausting and unpleasant activity and what I am about to do now gives me no pleasure."
Kirkpatrick then made his motion to "move that because of the failure to adhere to the directives of the board and for insubordination ... that Dr. Ronald Remington be removed immediately and the chancellor replace him ... and place him as faculty."
All of the newly elected regents on the board voted to remove the popular CCSN president. The 7-6 vote in favor of removal included votes from Board of Regent Chairman Stavros Anthony and regents Marcia Bandera, Jack Lund Schofield, Bret Whipple, Jill Derby, Doug Hill and Kirkpatrick.
Regents Mark Alden, Steve Sisolak, Thalia Dondero, Doug Seastrand, Howard Rosenberg and Linda Howard voted against the action.
"Clearly there were enough people who felt there was enough evidence to remove Remington," Whipple said. "It was simply overwhelming."
The same regents who voted to oust Remington also voted to remove Cummings with regents Dondero and Seastrand joining in. The 9-4 vote relieves Cummings immediately of his administrative duties as lobbyist and adviser to the president.
Regents also attempted to remove Assemblywoman Chris Giunchigliani from her post at CCSN, but the motion failed 8-5.
Giunchigliani said she believes the attempt to fire her was because of legislation she introduced to make the Board of Regents an appointed board rather than elected board. The bill failed but had it passed all of the new regents would have lost their seats. A similar bill introduced by Giunchigliani did pass that opens the door for regents to become an appointed board.
"Personally speaking it's such a sad day for anyone who serves in the Legislature to have to be threatened with their job because of legislation they introduce," she said.
Giunchigliani called the firings the result of a "witch hunt."
The action is the culmination of a four-month investigation into claims made by Jones, who said she was treated unfairly.
Jones was hired and brought to the Legislature by Cummings allegedly upon the recommendation of Williams but was later fired for poor attendance and work performance.
Before Jones' termination was finalized, Chancellor Jane Nichols intervened allowing Jones to stay, pending an investigation into allegations that Cummings had engaged in improper hiring practices and had circumvented the board by drafting a bill that would have made CCSN a four-year institution.
A motion made to fire Jones failed Thursday on a 9-4 vote against it.
Remington has been an administrator for decades in the university system came from Great Basin College in Elko where he was president. He took the job in CCSN in 2001.
Many held him in high esteem because he had brought the college from a small vocational institution to a growing four-year college. Along the way he earned the respect of politicians and colleagues.
His move to CCSN was welcomed after the tumultuous tenure of former president Richard Moore.
Referring to administrative turmoil at CCSN, one university system administrator said Thursday, "It's the curse of the college."
Too choked up to talk, Remington declined comment, shook hands with a few regents and thanked them for their help before walking out.
Cummings was overwhelmingly saddened by Thursday's vote.
"This was preordained," he said. "I'm shocked and do not believe this was fair. Neither Ron nor I were given the opportunity to face our accusers or confront the evidence. The incidences of government wrongdoing on the part of many people in the system administrative offices will be heard if the president and I have a true chance at justice at my whistle blower hearing in late January."
Regents voted to have someone review the investigation and, if deemed necessary, send Cummings to face a disciplinary review board to remove him from his faculty position. He has applied for whistle blower status, which gives employees who expose government wrongdoing protection from retribution.
Discussion leading up to the removal of Cummings and Remington was fierce with Sisolak shaking his head in disgust calling the board a "kangaroo court."
"An individual who has had as fine a career as Ron Remington has -- and I can't hardly look at him now -- to not give him the courtesy or the right to answer these allegations that have been brought forward totally violates due process rights but more importantly, it violates human decency," Sisolak said.
Alden followed Sisolak.
"If anything, this is what is called Shanghai and I won't participate," he said. "Based on the discussion that I heard, I don't even think that it raised to the level of terminating the president at CCSN. At best this is dead wrong. This is dead wrong to me and at best it is embarrassing."
Howard said there were glaring errors in the investigation and called for a special investigation.
As the marathon session wound down Thursday Kirkpatrick attempted a motion to bring closure to the removal of CCSN's president and his adviser. He asked for the passage of an amendment to support the college and commend them for their good work.
Regent Rosenberg shook his head and said,
"We have fired a president," he said. "I think that says more than enough."
Nichols has agreed to meet with CCSN's staff and faculty today.
Students and staff at CCSN expressed shock this morning.
"I was shocked when I heard it on (the news) this morning," Priscilla Bennett, a CCSN secretary said.
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