Tuesday, Feb. 10, 2004 | 9:10 a.m.
The leak of a confidential settlement offer from removed community college lobbyist John Cummings has parties on all sides of the ongoing Board of Regents saga pointing fingers.
Cummings' attorney, Frank Cremen, and Kathleen England, whose client Ron Remington was similarly removed by the regents from his post as president of the Community College of Southern Nevada, expressed anger and frustration at the leak. Both said the leak of the settlement offer, which asks for Cummings to continue to receive his $115,000-a-year lobbyist salary as an English professor, hurt further negotiations.
"I'm not interested in negotiating in public and that is what is occurring," Cremen said. "I'm sure Mr. Cummings would like to resolve it. I'm sure everyone would like to resolve it."
England, who would not comment on whether Remington is involved in similar negotiations, said the leak was designed to make Cummings look bad.
"If every overture or discussion ends up on the front page of the newspaper, no one can talk face to face," England said. "We are just shouting at each other. Settlement overtures are to be applauded, not used to stab the other side in the back."
Jane Nichols, chancellor of the Nevada System of Higher Education, and system attorney Tom Ray both denied releasing the settlement offer.
"Our office did not leak that and would not," Nichols said. "That is not the way we would handle a legal issue."
The settlement offer was sent to all of the regents, Nichols and chief administrative officer Suzanne Ernst for their review by Ray. In his original memo, Ray tells regents he cannot recommend approving the settlement, which he calls a "most unreasonable offer" in a follow-up letter to the regents.
Cremen said he sent the settlement offer to system attorney Walter Ayers at Ayers' request.
The settlement offer, which Cremen said was meant to begin negotiations, asks for Cummings to receive a year of paid administrative leave at his current $115,000 salary. Cummings would then begin teaching in 2005 at a base salary equal to the highest paid professor in CCSN's English Department. In addition, Cummings asks for a stipend to bring his salary up to his current yearly wage of $115,000 a year, for which he would do consulting work for the university. Cummings also asks for $100,000 cash and the cost of his legal fees.
Cummings said the details of the settlement were "inconsequential," and that he really just wants his job back.
"Whether they paid me $10 million or $50 million, they can never take back what they took away. They have spent 63 days calling me corrupt," Cummings said. "... They've done all of this without allowing me to speak, defend myself or answer anything to the contrary.
"They can't give me back what they took away as far as my reputation any more then they can get back what they lost in their reputation by what they did to Dr. Remington, and to me, and to that college."
In conversations with the Sun Monday, regents had mixed reactions to the settlement, but few were surprised it was leaked.
A few were adamant that the offer was "absolutely outrageous," as Regent Doug Hill said. Regent Bret Whipple said he saw no need to negotiate because he believed the decision to remove Cummings was valid.
Regents Steve Sisolak and Howard Rosenberg both said they had questions about the settlement offer but expressed a desire to settle the issue.
Only Regent Mark Alden said he thought the settlement offer from Cummings was valid.
"I think it's a very fair offer considering what this is going to cost us down the road," Alden said.
Cummings and Remington filed lawsuits against the Board of Regents after regents removed the pair from their posts after a 17-hour closed session Nov. 17 and Nov. 20. The Nevada attorney general's office filed a similar complaint against the board asking the district court to void the board's decision because the regents violated the open-meeting law by voting, deliberating and forming consensus in closed session.
Cremen is appealing District Judge Jackie Glass' decision not to issue a temporary restraining order against the Board of Regents for his client to the Nevada Supreme Court. The settlement offer was part of mandatory negotiations before the Supreme Court would hear his appeal, Cremen said.
Glass effectively severed Cummings case from Remington's in a decision released last Friday because of the appeal. Deciding all three cases relied on the same facts, Glass consolidated Remington's case with the attorney general's. Glass ruled those cases would move forward without Cummings' suit.
Glass is scheduled to hear a motion from system attorneys Wednesday to dismiss the Remington case altogether. System attorneys have not yet responded to the attorney general's complaint, Ray said. The system has 18 more days to file its opposition.
A special Board of Regents meeting has been scheduled for Feb. 26 and 27 at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas Foundation Room to discuss the settlement officer and others matters. An agenda for the meeting has not been released.
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