Should city employees serve as lawmakers?

Sito Negron

Friday, Jan. 2, 2004 | 11:23 a.m.

The Las Vegas City Council is to consider two options regarding public employees who are lawmakers at its first meeting of 2004 Wednesday.

The council could create specific procedures for employees who are serving in the Legislature or campaigning, or it could vote to prohibit the practice altogether, a policy strongly championed by Councilwoman Lynette Boggs McDonald.

"In a state such as ours, where every city and county is a political subdivision of the state ... we truly are at the mercy of the Legislature when it comes to major policies affecting our cities," Boggs McDonald said.

"It really presents a difficult situation when you have individuals who are your subordinates when the Legislature is not in session, but become your superiors when the Legislature is in session. You place supervisors in a very difficult situation."

The city is seeking a policy in the wake of revelations about management and pay issues that resulted in the firing of Assemblyman Wendell Williams and the demotion of his former boss in the Las Vegas Neighborhood Services Department, Sharon Segerblom. Part of the problem, an audit concluded, was a lack of city policies to deal with an employee who was a lawmaker.

While Boggs McDonald, a Republican, represents one viewpoint -- which some state conservatives have used as part of an anti-tax push aimed largely at Democrats -- Councilman Gary Reese said that in Nevada, which has a part-time, citizen Legislature that meets every two years, nobody should be excluded from jumping into the electoral process.

"To me it's just the principle of people being able to serve," Reese said. "People should be able to participate, but I think there should be real strong restrictions on them." During the investigation into Williams' municipal work during the 2001 and 2003 legislative sessions, he said that one of the duties he performed for the city was to help it pass legislation.

Some have said that it made practical sense for Las Vegas to have employees serving as legislators and advocating the city's interests. Many industries do that, and for that matter, so do governmental entities, which employ lawmakers.

Others, however, have said that it's a conflict of interest for the city that is unethical and must be avoided.

Reese said he thinks the solution is simple: "If we have an employee up there he should have to abstain on anything that would benefit the city."

Councilman Larry Brown said: "Everyone should have the opportunity if they want to run for state Legislature, but our problems have been the failure to have a set policy in place to allow that. ... The cleanest way would be true leave of absence without pay."

The council told City Manager Doug Selby to develop the policy options after a special meeting in November to discuss issues associated with the investigation into Williams, Segerblom and another former Neighborhood Services employee, Assemblyman Morse Arberry.

Selby said the policy options for council involve not just state positions, but any elected position "that might exert some regulatory or legal control over the city of Las Vegas."

For example, he said, "like if someone ran for or was elected to County Commission."

He said the policy also ought to cover campaigning for office. "In that case perhaps a person would be allowed to use vacation leave for the duration of the campaign, and no longer have access to city resources," Selby said.

If the council wanted to allow employees to serve as elected officials, he said, he would recommend they take a leave of absence during the Legislature and not use any city equipment. One of the issues involved with Williams was his use of a city cell phone while he was serving in the Legislature.

Boggs McDonald said the city could become a statewide leader if it decides not to let its employees serve in public office.

"Hopefully other governments in the state would follow," she said, listing counties, cities and other governing boards such as school districts.