Two groups call for Perkins to quit police

Wednesday, Oct. 22, 2003 | 9:46 a.m.

Members of a group called Nevadans for a Sound Government and the Independent American Party urged Assembly Speaker Richard Perkins to resign from the Henderson Police Department or pay legal fees over an opinion challenging his next campaign.

About 100 longtime Henderson residents and labor representatives appeared at the City Council meeting Tuesday night in support of Perkins, the subject of a federal opinion that could prevent him from running for a seventh term in the Legislature unless he retires from his job as deputy police chief.

The U.S. Office of Special Counsel issued an opinion dated Sept. 30 that says Perkins unknowingly violated the Hatch Act, which prohibits federal and some state and local employees from participating in partisan politics.

"The city of Henderson should not fund Mr. Perkins' legal fees," said Joel Hansen, chairman of the Independent American Party and representing Nevadans for a Sound Government.

In order to avoid further legal problems, Perkins should resign as deputy police chief or pay for the legal defense himself, Hansen said.

Perkins, who did not attend the meeting, said later Tuesday night that he was confident the opinion was wrong and he would not have to choose between work and politics.

"I love police work and I am proud of my accomplishments as a police officer," Perkins said. At the same time, he's confident that with more information, the opinion on the Hatch Act will be settled, he said.

"What is so wrong with serving the public?" Perkins said.

He said he plans to serve in the Assembly again and then possibly seek another office. The governor's seat is open in 2006.

"I've got another session and then we'll weigh those options after the session," Perkins said.

Christopher Hansen, Joel Hansen's brother, said he has battled government agencies, but always paid his own legal bills.

"I'm not privileged to work for the government in two positions," Hansen said.

Henderson officials could refuse to accept federal funds in order to keep Perkins in the Legislature and on the police force, he said. The city could also offer funds to defend private citizens against government actions, Hansen said.

Henderson Mayor Jim Gibson said that the city does not have the option option of refusing federal funding to help pay for growth.

The city hired Akin Gump, a Washington, D.C., law firm, to represent Perkins, Gibson said.

Perkins' lawyer, Steve Ross, said the situation stems from a disagreement over technical definitions.

Gibson said the city has paid about $30,000 so far to represent Perkins. "This saga will continue to play itself out," he said.

That money has been well spent, according to numerous speakers who spoke on behalf of Perkins on Tuesday night.

"The proof of his effectiveness is how people are trying to remove him without going through the elective process," Henderson resident Ernie Bushman said.

An initiative to ban all public employees from holding state office would keep police officers, firefighters and teachers from serving the community, Jack Mallory said. "This would be a travesty," he said.

Danny Thompson, lobbyist for the AFL-CIO, said that the "truly great thing about this state is we have citizen legislators."

It's the city's legal right to question whether Perkins is covered by the Hatch Act, Thompson said.

"Mr. Perkins chose to run for office and I commend him for that," Thompson said, his voice cracking with emotion.

Richard Haber, president of the Steelworkers Union representing workers at the Basic Management Inc. industrial complex in Henderson, said that Perkins is a person "well-deserving of the support."

Jack Jeffrey, a 60-year resident of Southern Nevada, said he also supported Perkins.

"The bottom line is, the question may come to whether public employees handling federal funds may have to make a choice to serve in the Legislature or in the job," Jeffrey said.

The Hatch Act, in effect since 1940, applies to state and local employees who work in an executive branch of government that receives certain types of federal money, such as Head Start or community block grants. It does not apply to teachers or other education employees.

Perkins' Henderson Police position falls under the jurisdiction of the city manager. The department has taken federal grants for several programs, including placing laptops in patrol cars.

For three years the police department has worked to insulate Perkins, deputy police chief of operation, from programs that accept federal money.