Las Vegas Sun

March 29, 2024

5 other elected officials drew salaries

Wendell Williams and Morse Arberry were not the only Las Vegas Valley legislators who work for public entities to receive paychecks from their employers while the Legislature was in session.

The practice was not confined to Las Vegas, where Williams works for the Neighborhood Services Department, and Arberry was employed until 2002.

Although the circumstances vary, it appears that five legislators who work variously for the city of North Las Vegas, Henderson and the Clark County government received pay from those entities while serving in the 2003 Legislature. There is no indication that those cases involve the same issues that led to Las Vegas' investigation, although not all records have been released.

In Clark County, two employees are state legislators -- senior management analyst and Assemblyman Kelvin Atkinson, D-Las Vegas, and senior advocate and Assemblywoman Kathy McClain, D-Las Vegas.

Assistant Clark County Manager Virginia Valentine said "there was some compensation" of employees who serve in the Legislature, but she could not be specific. "We're putting together the research," she said. "We'd like to make sure we've got it right."

Atkinson would not discuss his hours, although he confirmed that he received pay from the county during the 2003 legislative session.

"I had vacation and comp time I had to exhaust before (taking) leave without pay," he said. When asked whether he took any sick leave, he said he would rather wait until the county looks at the time cards before commenting.

McClain was not available for comment.

Valentine said regardless of the specifics, the county already is taking steps to prevent any problems in the future.

"The new policies will be much more restrictive" she said. "We're going to make it very clear that an employee will have to choose between serving in the Legislature and collecting a county paycheck so there is no perception of double-dipping."

Valentine said the new policy likely would be finalized next week.

In North Las Vegas, Democratic Assemblyman and fire department Capt. John Oceguera said he received pay from the city during the 2003 legislative session. He started with the city in 1991, and earns $80,600 a year.

"I took annual leave, holiday leave, I took 10 shifts without pay, and I did some shift trade," he said. According to a computer printout of his time worked, he was present for 17 shifts between January and July: "And when you say worked, in the fire department you have to be there," he said.

Oceguera said he did not take sick time. "I don't think sick leave is a proper use," he said.

He said it's not fair to single out public employees when it comes to questioning pay received from their primary jobs while they serve in the Legislature.

"What's the difference between a farmer ... who serves on the natural resources committee? I would argue he is just as conflicted as a public employee who votes on whatever," he said.

And Oceguera had no problem with the idea of using combinations of time -- excluding sick leave -- to fill out a paycheck while he's in the Legislature.

"I take annual leave and holiday leave and leave without pay. Is that a valid use? Of course it is," he said. "It means I don't have any vacation left for the rest of the year, and I took that vacation to serve in the Legislature."

Among other valley legislators who work for public entities, Assembly Speaker and Henderson Deputy Police Chief Richard Perkins, a Democrat, was not available for comment.

Sen. Dennis Nolan, R-Las Vegas, did part-time work for both Clark County and the Community College of Southern Nevada in 2002. He said that ended before the 2003 session, and he did not draw "compensation at all from either of those while in the Legislature. ... I didn't have time to work, so I didn't receive any money other than what the Legislature paid us."

He said the use of sick time to receive pay while in the Legislature didn't bother him.

"At least a portion seemed to come from time owed to them, medical time and sick leave, and I think employees who choose to use that type of time to offset losses serving in the Legislature, as long as it's aboveboard and legal, I don't think it's a problem," Nolan said. "If (people are) receiving monies for time not worked ... I don't think that's right in any scenario."

All of the legislators who are employees of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas or Community College of Southern Nevada who could be reached for comment said they did not receive pay while they were in session.

Sen. Dina Titus, D-Las Vegas, a UNLV political science professor, said "there's no question of my double-dipping in any way." In fact, she said, "I lose time toward retirement, so every two years I lose half a year toward retirement."

Other legislators who work for either of the schools include: Assemblywoman Ellen Koivisto, D-Las Vegas, who works with the continuing education department at UNLV; Assemblyman Mark Manendo, D-Las Vegas, who works at CCSN as a recruiter; and Sen. Ray Rawson, R-Las Vegas, who works for CCSN as a dental instructor.

CCSN has a policy of putting lawmakers on leave without pay during the legislative sessions.

Assemblywoman Chris Giunchigliani, D-Las Vegas, who works for CCSN as community-relations director, said the issue is not whether someone is a public employee and getting paid while in the Legislature, "it has to deal with their judgment."

If people are getting paid elsewhere while serving in the Legislature, Giunchigliani said, it ought to be disclosed whether they are privately or publicly employed.

"That's what the public wants, to know who is working for whom so there's no conflict when they're working on a bill."

Numerous issues are involved in assessing lawmakers who work for public entities, including: The propriety of receiving a paycheck from one government entity while serving as an elected official in another; whether a person can fit enough hours into a day to work two jobs at a time; and how various types of pay -- vacation and holiday time, sick leave -- can be combined with work hours to fill out a time card. In Las Vegas, where the issue has developed into an investigation of at least three employees -- Williams, Arberry and their supervisor, Neighborhood Service Director Sharon Segerblom -- whether other valley legislators got paid "has no bearing as far as what we're looking at. This is about whether or not our policies were followed," Deputy City Manager Betsy Fretwell, who has led the inquiry, said.

Las Vegas is investigating Williams' time cards from 2003 to answer questions about who signed them, if they reflect the actual time worked, and whether they reflect the proper use of sick time.

In addition, Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman on Friday requested that the city's auditor, attorney and manager be part of an inquiry into Williams' and Arberry's 2001 time cards.

"There are an awful lot of people whose conduct will be looked into," he said earlier in the week in suggesting the inquiry had to be far-reaching to satisfy the public. "It has to be broad-based and the chips have to fall where they may."

Williams is a senior management analyst in Neighborhood Services, and Arberry, who left the city in early 2002, was deputy director of the department.

Williams has not spoken to the Sun since September. Arberry said in an earlier interview with the Sun that his time cards were aboveboard.

While the Legislature was in session in 2003, Williams billed the city for more than 700 hours, and has agreed to pay back $6,700 for 208 hours. In 2001, he charged the city for 880 hours, including 208 1/4 in sick leave, between Feb. 3 and June 23. Arberry noted 1,040 hours in 2001, including 190 hours of sick time, in a similar time frame.

The city sick leave policy allows time off for illness or injury, to attend a funeral, to care for an immediate family member and to attend a medical or dental appointment, Fretwell said. She said the Neighborhood Services Department work rules call for sick leave requests to be in writing, "two days in advance if possible," and for the employee to turn in a "leave slip" when they return to work.

"More than eight incidents of sick leave in a 12-month period is considered excessive and may result in disciplinary action," Fretwell said. "Those are two of the policies we're looking at now."

Unlike employees covered by civil service, she said, the range of punishments involved for appointive employees -- such as Williams and Arberry -- who violate those policies is not spelled out in the rules.

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