Whistle-blower claim follows regents’ actions

Jennifer Knight

Friday, Nov. 28, 2003 | 9:42 a.m.

More fallout from the state Board of Regents' decision to remove Community College of Southern Nevada's president and one of his advisers came Wednesday in the form of two complaints to the attorney general's office, a restraining order and a whistle-blower complaint.

Reacting to the regents' vote to remove him as president, Ron Remington filed a whistle-blower complaint accusing the regents of improper governmental action.

In his complaint, Remington listed 11 actions he deemed improper, starting with the intervention by university system Chancellor Jane Nichols in the firing of Topazia "Briget" Jones and ending with his firing without notice and without a chance to explain his actions.

"This is frightening to have a board act in this manner," Remington said Wednesday. "It goes well beyond the scope of what they should be doing."

Remington and his adviser and lobbyist John Cummings were ousted from their posts as regents capped an investigation into Jones, a CCSN secretary who called herself the "special assistant" to Assemblyman Wendell Williams, D-Las Vegas.

Cummings was officially relieved of his duties on Monday by acting president Thomas Brown. Cummings filed a restraining order Wednesday to stop regents from following through with the decision.

"This is just an action to reinstate me to my administrative duties until we can void the actions of the Board of Regents for the various violations of the Open Meeting Law," Cummings said. "I'm looking forward to getting back to work."

Cummings' hearing is set for 9 a.m. Wednesday in Clark County District Court. Several regents have also scheduled a vote to discuss reversing the Nov. 20 decision. That discussion is scheduled Dec. 11.

The decision has prompted a backlash among CCSN employees.

"I would say that this is maybe one of the most unpopular decisions I've seen in 30 years by a board," political consultant Kent Oram said.

The removals have prompted criticism from the Nevada Faculty Alliance and resulted in a resolution drafted by CCSN's faculty senate asking regents to reinstate Remington and Cummings and turn over 1,000 pages of information from the investigation.

The faculty senate of Great Basin College in Winnemucca, where Remington was president from 1989 to 2001, asked the regents to reconsider the vote, saying Remington was respected by staff members and the faculty and calling him "a visionary leader and a man of integrity."

The senate said Remington should have a chance to respond to the charges.

Regent Steve Sisolak sent a formal request to Nichols Wednesday asking that the results of the investigation be made public.

At least two complaints, one by Regent Mark Alden, were filed this week with the attorney general's office alleging regents violated the Open Meeting Law.

Alden also asked the attorney general to determine whether the chancellor had the authority to grant Jones whistle-blower status.

The complaint further cites a discussion during closed session between Regents Chairman Stavros Anthony and Regent Doug Hill about potential actions against Remington, Cummings, Jones and Assemblywoman Chris Giunchigliani, a college spokeswoman.

During open session, the board moved to remove all four of those individuals from their positions. The motion to remove Giunchigliani and Jones failed.

Giunchigliani filed a separate complaint with the attorney general's office alleging the board violated the Open Meeting Law when it discussed her in closed session.

"They violated my rights as an elected official and I have asked (Attorney General) Brian Sandoval to look into it," Giunchigliani said.