LV council waits for AG’s ruling on elected officials

Sito Negron

Tuesday, Feb. 3, 2004 | 9:27 a.m.

The Las Vegas City Council once again is slated to wrestle with a policy that specifies whether and under what circumstances a municipal employee may serve in the Legislature -- but at least one council member believes the discussion set for Wednesday will be postponed again.

"We're still waiting to see what opinion the attorney general renders," Councilwoman Lynette Boggs McDonald said.

That could be at any time, although it's not likely to be before Wednesday, or in the near future.

"We feel a great deal of pressure," Tom Sargent, spokesman in the attorney general's office, said Monday. "On the other hand, we can't let the pressure determine or have an undue effect on the work that needs to be done. It's not a single point of law. It's very complex."

Nevada is heading into a campaign season, with the first filing for state offices in May. Several items may affect who can run: Las Vegas' decision; a ballot initiative that would prohibit any public employees from serving; and the attorney general's opinion.

The campaign season, said Sargent, "is an exigency that's out there."

"It's not going to have any material effect on what work we do," Sargent said. "We're going to do the work we need to do regardless of outside pressures."

However, he added, "We're aware people are waiting and decisions need to be made."

The issue for Las Vegas City Hall developed in the fall, when Assemblyman Wendell Williams, a Neighborhood Services department employee who since has been fired, was found to have taken municipal pay while he was serving in the Legislature.

That led to scrutiny of other elected state officials who were public employees in the valley. Several received pay while in the Legislature, although the circumstances varied in each case. Two county employees, Assemblyman Kelvin Atkinson and Assemblywoman Kathy McClain, were fired.

All were Democrats.

As those situations developed, the group Nevadans for Sound Government, an anti-tax group, placed a ballot initiative to rescind the tax increase passed by the Legislature this summer, and an initiative to prohibit any public employees in Nevada from holding elected office.

Boggs McDonald said when it comes to the city policy, "My position is the same as it has been. I've said it 100 times and I'll say it 100 more. If you win election you have to make a choice."

One of the criticisms of the city was that it had no clear policy to dictate how Williams ought to have been paid, if at all, and what conditions he ought to have followed.

Other council members have said that they don't want to prohibit employees from serving in elected office, but all have agreed that they need tighter rules -- for example, whether or not to require an unpaid leave of absence while the Legislature is in session.

In other action, the Las Vegas City Council on Wednesday is to consider: