County handles pay scandal quickly

Monday, Oct. 27, 2003 | 10:55 a.m.

Clark County made the firing of two county employees who are assemblymen official Friday, a move that stands in contrast to relatively slow action by Las Vegas.

Assemblymen Kelvin Atkinson and Kathy McClain were terminated for "participating in legislative work during their scheduled county work hours for which they received on-duty pay. They also claimed and received sick leave pay for work shifts in which they engaged in legislative work," county spokesman Erik Pappa said in a short press release following separate disciplinary hearings.

Both employees, who are Democrats, have five working days to appeal the county's decision. An appeal would mean another round of hearings with county human resources head Raymond Visconti. If Visconti upholds the termination, McClain and Atkinson could make another appeal to a federal arbitrator.

"It was the department's review of the facts that led to the conclusion that this was the appropriate actions," said Don Burnette, Clark County chief administrative officer. "Based on the evidence we have collected to this point, it was the appropriate action to take."

Burnette said neither employee offered evidence that would have affected the county decision. They still would have the opportunity to present mitigating information in the appeals process, he added.

"Should they choose to appeal and offer additional information, we would give that every consideration," Burnette said. "That's the purpose of the appeal process.

"The ball's in the court of the employees and the union at this point."

Representatives of the Service Employees International Union, which represents the county employees, have declined comment, citing the ongoing appeals process.

County officials said the decision to fire the pair was difficult, but in the end the decision was based on policies in place with an eye toward previous situations of employees charging the county for time they did not work.

"Any time you terminate an employee, you don't take those decisions lightly," Burnette said. "You are affecting the lives of individuals and their families, regardless of whether or not they hold office. ... We tried to treat them as we would any other employee."

McClain could not be reached over the weekend. Atkinson said he is constrained from commenting on the county decision because the appeals process is ongoing.

"We will exhaust all of our options," he said.

On the city side, actions by Assemblyman Wendell Williams claiming city work time have led to his suspension for two weeks and an agreement to pay the city back $6,700. The city also suspended Williams' supervisor, Neighborhood Services Director Sharon Segerblom, for failure to follow procedures related to filing time cards.

The city is continuing an inquiry into the issue, going back to 2001 to examine time cards from Williams and Assemblyman Morse Arberry, who retired from his city job in 2002. They also are Democrats.

Paul Brown, Southern Nevada director of the Progressive Leadership Alliance of Nevada, a liberal advocacy group, said the county appeared to take the issue more seriously than the city of Las Vegas.

"The county does not want to appear to be taking it casually, as the city appeared to do," Brown said. "I do tend to think they are trying to overcompensate for the lack of concern by the city. ... The city, you know, it just boggles your mind. I don't think they're concerned about anything except for their image."

The issue also has led to scrutiny of Assembly Speaker Richard Perkins, who is deputy chief of the Henderson Police Department. He generally worked about 20 hours a week during the 2003 sessions, which included two chaotic special sessions. Henderson officials have not publicly opened any inquiry into his work in Carson City, which Perkins has said included telecommuting duties.

State Sen. Dina Titus, a University of Nevada, Las Vegas political science professor, said the issues affecting the city and county employees could have been avoided if they had done what she does -- take a leave of absence while the Legislature is in session.

"I believe that public employees are held, should be held, to a higher standard," Titus said. "You have to investigate. You need to handle it in a way that doesn't look like you're trying to cover up or give anyone special treatment."

She said the city's response so far has opened the door for some criticism.

"The fact that it's been dragging on and they're not commenting to the public makes it look like it was not handled as decisively as (County Manager) Thom Reilly did," Titus said.

Titus, leader of the Senate's minority Democrats, is proposing a requirement that all local government employees -- including UNLV or public school teachers -- must take leaves when they serve in the Legislature.

Ted Jelen, of the UNLV political science department, said that any university employee who charged the school for time worked while the Legislature was in session would be fired.

"The university is very strict about things like this," he said, noting that when Titus takes unpaid leave, "it costs her a great deal of money."

But he suggested that one of the problems with having a part-time "citizens Legislature," as Nevada does, leads to similar problems both in the private and public sector.

"This kind of thing is going to happen when you have a part-time Legislature," he said.

The discipline at the county may not be over. Pappa, the county spokesman, said the county is pursuing personnel actions against lower-level employees. He would not specify how many or who would be affected.

A county source said the additional actions do not rise to the level of termination and centered on the issue of processing time cards.

"The discipline issued to other employees does not involve allegations of willful misconduct or intentional violations of county policies or state law, nor does it involve individuals in high government positions or persons who have voluntarily placed themselves in the public eye, such as persons who have been elected to public office," Pappa said.