Assemblyman suspended from city job

Jennifer Knight

Monday, Sept. 29, 2003 | 11:19 a.m.

Embattled Assemblyman Wendell Williams, D-North Las Vegas, has been suspended without pay from his job at the city of Las Vegas for racking up thousands of minutes in personal phone calls on his city cell phone, sources said today.

City officials said there was disciplinary action but would not comment on the specifics.

"What I can tell you is last week our city manager, Doug Selby, initiated a probe," said David Riggleman, the city's communications director. "That probe concluded Friday and there was disciplinary action taken. I can't tell you what type of disciplinary action because it's a personnel matter."

Sources confirmed that Williams was suspended for two weeks without pay from his $85,981 a year job as an administrative officer at the city's Neighborhood Services Department. The suspension was a result of Williams' high cell phone bills.

Over a period of 14 months, Williams made 20,829 minutes of calls using the cell phone issued to him by the city. Of the $5,760.62 in calls made between June 2002 and August of this year, Williams was asked to pay for personal phone calls totaling $1,844.38.

Williams will have $70 deducted from his check every two weeks until the amount is paid off, Riggleman said.

The city took similar action back in August 2000, when mayoral aide William Cassidy accumulated $1,686 over six months. Cassidy had to repay the city and was given a one-month suspension without pay.

Williams, the Assembly speaker pro tem and chairman of the Education Committee, has been under fire recently because of his involvement in the hiring of Topazia "Briget" Jones at the Community College of Southern Nevada. Jones called herself Williams' special assistant during the Legislature.

Jones was hired, fired and then reinstated at CCSN. The university system is investigating the situation surrounding her employment.

Williams could not be reached for comment on this story this morning.

Aside from the recent suspension and the ongoing investigation at the community college, the assemblyman faces a number of challenges.

After facing a warrant for his arrest this month, Williams paid $600 to settle outstanding fines on an aggressive driving charge.

Williams has also been ordered to pay $100 a month until 2015 for a $15,000 fine imposed by the Secretary of State after failing to file campaign reports or being late in submitting them.

The amount of hours that Williams billed the city during his time in the Legislature has also been the subject of scrutiny. The Sun found Williams was paid for close to 300 hours of work by Las Vegas while the 2003 Legislature was in session.

City officials, however, did not question Williams' timecards and say the matter is not under review because he could have worked on the weekends when the Legislature was not in session.

Last week Williams was stripped of his position on the Legislature's Interim Education Committee.