Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

Center of attention

WEEKEND EDITION Oct. 24 - 25, 2003

Assemblyman Wendell Williams is a lawmaker on the hot seat, a man whose alleged transgressions have raised more questions than answers.

Friends and foes alike say they aren't sure what to make of the plight of the North Las Vegas Democrat, who chairs the Assembly Education Committee and is the lower chamber's speaker pro tempore, its second highest position.

Williams faces allegations that he was improperly paid as a Las Vegas city employee while serving in the Nevada Legislature and that he encouraged the Community College of Southern Nevada to hire a woman who was his legislative assistant.

When combined with his prior troubles -- including court orders to pay back child support and fines for missing campaign finance reporting deadlines -- some wonder whether he let his political power go to his head. Others wonder whether he is simply the victim of an unfair witch hunt among those who don't believe public-sector employees should serve in the Legislature.

On the latter point, Williams told the media Thursday in front of the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. statue at Martin Luther King Boulevard and Carey Avenue that he is proud of serving in a "citizen Legislature."

"Do we want a professional Legislature or a citizen Legislature?" Williams said. "I favor people serving from all walks of life. We have a citizen Legislature. Until the people change that, everyone should have the opportunity to serve."

Ever since he was first elected to the Assembly in 1986, two Williams personas have emerged:

The lawmaker who boldly challenges public and business institutions and their leaders while fighting on behalf of low-income, disenfranchised individuals.

The lightning rod for controversy, whether it involves personal finances, state election laws or confrontations with others.

After his meeting with the local media, Williams said in a separate interview conducted in the shadow of the King statue -- depicting one of his personal heroes -- that he knows he's controversial.

"When the coverage is unfair I don't feel good about it, but many times it's an advantage," Williams said. "A lot of people come to me because I have that lightning-rod reputation.

"Whenever I'm on TV my workload increases twofold. They see that, and they come to my door for help. It helps me expand my platform, and it also gives me a lot more work to do."

Williams also conceded he has made mistakes, including being habitually tardy when it comes to filing campaign finance reports, causing the state to fine him.

"In 99 percent of those cases I depended on campaign volunteers, but the ultimate responsibility is on me," he said. "I take full responsibility, and it will never happen again."

But he is defending himself over the controversy that had him repay Las Vegas more than $6,700 for wages he received during this year's legislative session. Williams said he was told by his superiors that it would be good for the city if the money was returned, based on officials' belief that his time cards reflected inflated hours of work.

Williams insisted he did the work he was paid to do during times when he had no legislative meetings to attend, which occurred mostly on Tuesday, Thursday and Friday afternoons. Williams also said he was able to simultaneously digest his massive legislative caseload because legislators use analysts to boil down all bills into one- or two-page summaries.

"If there's one thing you can say about me I'm a team player," Williams said in explaining why he agreed to repay the city. "But I am having second thoughts about repaying the money."

Sen. Joe Neal, D-North Las Vegas, is among those who believe Williams has served his constituents well. But Neal, whose Senate district overlaps Williams' Assembly district, conceded he didn't know what to make of the problems confronting Williams.

"I don't know what stories to believe at this point," Neal said. "The attacks being made upon Williams don't take into account that we have a citizen Legislature. We only get paid for 60 days out of a 120-day session, so after 60 days you can't double dip. After the 60 days you just get your per diem.

"I can tell you he's been an excellent lawmaker and works for his district. He has left his mark in terms of getting funding for schools in his district that had problems and needed to be rebuilt."

On the other side of the fence is Assembly Minority Leader Lynn Hettrick, R-Gardnerville, who said that Williams has been effective simply because he has been in the majority party ever since he has been in the Assembly. The exception was in 1995 when the lower chamber was split 21 apiece and power had to be shared between the two parties.

Hettrick said Williams is fair when conducting legislative hearings and will allow Republicans to introduce bills, but almost never reaches across the aisle for input from the GOP on major issues.

"I can't say I saw it coming," Hettrick said of Williams' troubles. "I have seen others in a position of power who, over a period of time, have abused that power or taken advantage of the process.

"I do think there's a problem that needs to be addressed, and not just because of Wendell Williams. We have to look at all public employees and determine whether they can be on the public payroll when they're in the Legislature."

Williams, who earns $85,981 a year as an administrator with Las Vegas' Neighborhood Services Department, indeed is not alone as a lawmaker/public employee undergoing scrutiny. Added to that list have been Assembly Speaker Richard Perkins, D-Henderson, who is a deputy police chief in that city, and Assembly Democrats Kelvin Atkinson and Kathy McClain, who work for Clark County.

But Williams has received by far the most media coverage of late and was supported Thursday by local civil rights leaders who rallied to his defense and read reporters the riot act for their coverage of him.

He has achieved enough status as a community leader in his district that he's got a two-story elementary school named after him at 1030 J St. There's also a Wendell P. Williams Way, named in his honor, in the Whispering Timbers affordable-housing development in West Las Vegas.

He's also black, a point that is frequently raised in the context of the central valley district he represents and the causes he espouses. The Rev. Marion Bennett of Zion Methodist Church, a black civic leader and former assemblyman who represented the district now served by Williams, said he believes the lawmaker was a victim of media overkill.

"He's doing an excellent job, especially as it relates to the poor people of this community," Bennett, a former political foe of Williams, said. "He's been a strong advocate for education and for issues that affect black people.

"But he's stepped on some big toes to get this notoriety. He'd have to be effective at what he does or why else would he get this publicity? You'd have to be president of the United States to get headlines like this. In this culture there is a set role for a black person to play, and if you're black and get in power, they want to bring you down."

A different perspective came from Dr. Bill Harrington, a University Medical Center trauma surgeon who served one term as an Assembly Republican but happened to share the chairmanship of the Assembly Education Committee with Williams in 1995. When reminded that Williams has frequently been late in filing campaign finance disclosure statements, Harrington said he wasn't surprised.

"Wendell's fun and somewhat mischievous," Harrington said. "He enjoys being the outsider and he considers that politically essential to him. He has occasionally had to violate the rules to stay popular with his constituency. He has found it politically advantageous to tweak the establishment in various ways.

"Wendell hasn't changed, but he has gotten caught to such a severe degree the Democratic leadership is scrambling for their own security."

Tall and broad-shouldered with a shaved head, Williams looks much younger than his 53 years, with or without the facial stubble or goatee he sometimes has sported. He is also as dapper a dresser as any legislator who serves in Carson City.

A flea market and garage sale enthusiast, Williams collects art -- he owns 3,500 African wood and marble carvings, has an extensive magazine collection that dates from the 19th century and also owns rare first-edition books, including an autographed copy of "Roots" by Alex Haley.

He also likes nice cars. He drives a silver 2003 BMW Z4 sports car and likes to drive fast, according to media reports. Williams paid a traffic fine last month for aggressive driving after a citizen complained that the lawmaker was driving more than 110 miles an hour between Reno and Carson City. In 2001, he was ticketed in Northern Nevada for driving 21 miles over the speed limit.

Those who deal with him describe him as polite and engaged in what others have to say to him. Some acquaintances say he's low-key to the point of being an introvert. Assemblyman Mark Manendo, D-Las Vegas, who served with Williams on both the Education and Government Affairs committees last session, described his colleague as an easy-going lawmaker with "a lot of historical knowledge" of the legislative process.

"Although he is easy-going, there are times when he is extremely aggressive on issues concerning his district," Manendo said. "He's kind and considerate to witnesses and is never rude to them. He treats people with respect."

But others say privately that Williams can be vindictive and that lobbyists and fellow legislators are afraid of crossing him.

"I'm not surprised anyone would say that," Williams said. "I've heard it before. Do I enjoy playing hardball politics at times? Absolutely. But am I vindictive? No."

Born May 6, 1950, Williams was reared in St. Joseph, La., where he attended segregated public schools. The children in the black schools were released at noon during cotton-picking season. And Williams, on occasion, was one of those youngsters who picked cotton. The white students were in school until 3:30 p.m.

The civil rights movement that took root in the South in the 1950s and 1960s clearly had an impact on his perception of American society and its institutions.

"My mom always worked the polls but she couldn't vote," Williams said.

His mother, a schoolteacher, fueled his appetite for education.

"There was no housing for black teachers or professionals in St. Joseph so they had to rent rooms," Williams said. "After my mother retired we always had people living in the back of our house. I had the advantage of teachers and tutors living in my house."

With the help of a basketball scholarship, he attended Southern University in Baton Rouge, La., where he earned a bachelor's degree and a master's in education.

After moving to Las Vegas in 1977, Williams took a job in Las Vegas' recreation department and then, in 1981, joined the Clark County School District as a teacher. Over the years, he taught science and physical education, mostly to sixth graders.

His role as a citizen activist also sprouted, thanks to a side gig as host of a radio talk show on community affairs.

He found time to write guest columns for the Las Vegas Sentinel-Voice, a newspaper catering to the local black community. Williams also founded the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Committee, which hosts parades and backed efforts to create Martin Luther King Boulevard. And he filled out his community service resume as a board member of both the Economic Opportunity Board of Clark County and the Las Vegas chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.

"He's driven because he saw how his mother was an educator despite the indifferences that were taking place during her lifetime," Ramon Savoy, publisher of the Las Vegas Sentinel-Voice, said of Williams. "That gave him the focus to make changes in his lifetime. He has said that we should not be embarrassing Mississippi by calling Nevada the 'Mississippi of the West.' "

Williams converted his community activism and thirst for quality education into a successful 1986 bid to replace then-incumbent Republican Assemblyman Gene Collins in Clark County's District 6, which straddles U.S. 95 and includes neighborhoods near the Spaghetti Bowl.

Re-elected eight times for two-year terms, Williams typically has faced only nominal opposition. He represents a racially and economically diverse district -- containing some of the valley's wealthiest and poorest residents -- with Democrats claiming 63 percent of the registered voters. According to the Census racial data on the Legislature's website, in 2000 his district was 44 percent white and 35 percent black. Also, 29 percent of the people in the district indicated they were Hispanic, regardless of race.

Williams hinted at Thursday's press conference that he would seek re-election, mentioning that he is already preparing legislation to provide long-term health care to children.

Hettrick conceded that a Republican would have "no credible chance" of defeating Williams should he seek re-election next year, despite the negative publicity. Neal agreed, adding that he does not know of any Democrat who could defeat Williams either. Neal also suggested that Williams could benefit from an anti-media backlash in his district.

"I don't think anybody is going to beat him," Neal said. "All the articles are turning people off."

Williams' stature in the Nevada Legislature grew rapidly, helped by the fact that Democrats have retained the Assembly majority each session he has been in Carson City except for the tied 1995 session.

Having chaired the Assembly Education Committee since 1991, Williams enjoys the longest tenure of any active Assembly committee chairman, a testament to his political acumen. He has since gained the lofty position of speaker pro tem, meaning he presides over the lower chamber when Perkins is absent.

Thanks to the security of having one of the safest seats in the Legislature, Williams has few legislative peers when it comes to taking on the establishment.

His long list of targets include Metro Police, the Clark County School District, the State Board of Education, Las Vegas Housing Authority and Las Vegas-Clark County Library District Board. He has railed against banks that charge exorbitant fees and made it hard for black and poor residents to get loans, and he has criticized the state's "regressive" tax structure that he says also penalizes the poor.

Williams said part of that anti-establishment appetite grew from the time he was a roommate in Carson City with then-Assemblyman Gene Porter, who later became a district judge. Williams said he came to learn from talking with Porter that other Las Vegas Valley residents were getting something for their tax dollars, but that was not necessarily the case in District 6.

"His constituents didn't want to pay more taxes because they had everything they needed," Williams said. "My constituents were having problems with police and with getting jobs. So it became my job to take on the big institutions."

When portions of West Las Vegas were turned into riot zones in 1992 following the not-guilty verdicts for Los Angeles police in the beating of motorist Rodney King, Williams played a lead role in attempting to heal the wounded community.

Former Las Vegas Mayor Jan Laverty Jones, now senior vice president of communications and government relations of Harrah's Entertainment Inc., recalled how she got Williams together with then-Sheriff John Moran to discuss ways for the community and police to work out their differences.

"Emotions were running very high at the time and there was talk of a curfew in the area," Jones said. "Wendell was instrumental. He asked for temperance on the part of police."

When racial slurs have been uttered by public officials, Williams often has been found in the middle of the fray, usually chastising the guilty party. That was the case for then-Assembly Speaker Joe Dini, D-Yerington, in 1991, a Metro police officer in 1998 and Clark County Superintendent Carlos Garcia in 2000.

Last year, the assemblyman called on the Clark County School Board to stop inappropriate "moral, ethical and racial transgressions" by students and employees.

"The growing number of incidences of moral turpitude, ethical breaches and racial intolerance have no place in an educational environment," Williams said in December.

But some residents are now questioning Williams' own behavior in light of the latest revelations. One is community activist Marzette Lewis, who led efforts to stop the busing of young school children out of West Las Vegas.

"I'm wondering, did power come on him so fast that he couldn't handle it?" Lewis said of Williams. "Some people say he can bounce back. Others say he can't. But if you're strong enough and have the will, you can bounce back from anything."

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