LV clarifies policy on leave without pay

Sito Negron and Mary Manning

Wednesday, Oct. 8, 2003 | 11:09 a.m.

Assemblyman Wendell Williams was within city policy when he turned in time cards showing hours worked at his municipal job while he was on a leave of absence to serve in the Legislature, but that practice no longer will be allowed.

In the wake of controversy over how many hours Williams billed for time as a city employee, Las Vegas City Manager Douglas Selby sent out a memo on Friday explaining the policy to all department heads.

"When we put someone on leave without pay, they are not to do any work or use any equipment during that leave-without-pay status," Selby told the Sun. Before that an employee's supervisor could allow work under such circumstances, he said.

In Williams case his supervisor, Neighborhood Services Director Sharon Segerblom, allowed him to file time cards that indicated hourly work while he was serving in the Legislature, Selby said.

Williams is in a category of employee considered exempt, which means he gets an annual salary that is not calculated in hourly increments. However, Williams turned in time cards that billed the city on an hourly basis, Selby said. The city had no policy that forbid Williams and Segerblom from delivering those time sheets, Selby said.

"It was left to the discretion of the director," he said.

Williams has alleged that the director, Segerblom, pressured him to alter the time cards to ease the media pressure stemming from the story. While Williams agreed to repay about $6,700, he said later that he really did work those hours.

Selby said he plans to interview Segerblom when she returns from vacation next week about Williams' allegations and other assertions by Williams that he has documentation to justify the hours he put on the time cards.

Williams is employed as an administrative officer for Las Vegas Neighborhood Services Department. He has faced several controversies in recent months in addition to the dispute over hours he billed the city. They include the hiring of a female friend of his at the Community College of Southern Nevada; personal calls made on his city cell phone; and an arrest warrant for failure to appear in traffic court and driving with a suspended license.

Williams was unavailable for comment during a call to the city's Neighborhood Services Department. The woman who answered the phone said he would not return to the office Tuesday. He is scheduled to return next week, Selby said.

Williams is currently nearing the end of a two-week suspension without pay for charging $1,844.38 for personal cell phone calls made on his city-issued phone between June 2002 and August this year. Williams is paying $70 every two weeks to clear that debt.

Williams has also been accused of using his influence to get a job for Topazia "Briget" Jones, who called herself Williams' "special assistant," at the Community College of Southern Nevada. Williams says the college recruited Jones.

Earlier this month a warrant was issued for Williams' arrest for failing to appear in a Reno court on an aggressive driving charge. The warrant led to information that Williams had driven for 19 months with a suspended license. Williams settled the dispute for $600.

Williams also missed a $100 monthly payment on a $15,000 fine he owes for failing to properly report campaign contributions and expenses. He caught up on his payments a month later.

Selby said that Williams had no history of disciplinary problems with the city, so he received what some might consider a light punishment.

"If the discipline was too light, that's my failing, and I accept the criticism," Selby said.