Hatch Act review sought by LV in Williams case

Sito Negron and Jennifer Knight

Wednesday, Oct. 15, 2003 | 11:18 a.m.

Las Vegas has assigned an attorney to check whether Assemblyman Wendell Williams, a city employee, has violated the Hatch Act, which restricts partisan political activities by government employees whose programs receive federal funding.

Williams admitted to handling a federal grant for a city-run program called EVOLVE, Educational and Vocational Opportunities Leading to Valuable Experience. Williams said he also followed up on the issue while in the Legislature.

"The $1.3 million that the city got from the federal government for the EVOLVE program, I wrote the executive summary that got that money," Williams said last week during a taping of "Face to Face With Jon Ralston" on Las Vegas ONE.

"Specifically the city asked me to monitor legislation that dealt with ex-offenders on the EVOLVE program. Specifically the city asked me to work on child-care projects. Specifically the city asked me to locate employers who would hire those folks coming out of the EVOLVE program."

Knight Allen, a government watchdog who has taken on the Hatch Act as an issue, said Williams' own statement "speaks for itself."

"Mr. Williams seems to be bragging that he is not only the poster child for the violation of the Hatch Act but for the violation of our constitutional laws," Allen said. "The city was specifically wrong in everything that it did in terms that he is an elected official and he is obviously handling federal revenues."

The city reviewed the legalities surrounding Williams' position as management analyst with the Neighborhood Services Department a couple years ago, Deputy City Manager Betsy Fretwell said.

"This is just kind of a check-in," she said. The city initiated the latest review, she said, in part because of recent news stories about other elected officials in the Las Vegas Valley who are employed at public agencies.

"So the timing is really associated with that, not the other issues we've been dealing with with Mr. Williams," Fretwell said.

The city is also investigating allegations by Williams that he was told by his supervisor to alter time cards that he said accurately reflected hours worked for the city while he was serving in the Legislature.

Allen did not ask to city to look into Williams' case. He said his inquiry with the U.S. Office of Special Counsel on Assembly Speaker Richard Perkins, D-Henderson, has prompted other government entities to research the issue.

Allen has contended that Perkins' role as deputy chief of the Henderson Police Department puts him in violation of the law because his department has accepted federal funding. Allen said he was just trying to make a point by requesting the opinion, which was dated Sept. 30 and stated that Perkins unknowingly violated the Hatch Act because his department has used federal grants for such items as laptops in patrol cars.

Perkins, who was not immediately available for comment, has said in previous articles that he purposely removed himself from the chain-of-command dealing with federal grants.

In fact, he said, the city of Henderson developed a Hatch Act compliance program for him, using a Washington, D.C., legal firm.