Feds: Perkins in violation of Hatch Act

Dan Kulin

Friday, June 25, 2004 | 10:59 a.m.

The U.S. Office of Special Counsel announced Thursday that it filed a complaint last week with the Merit Systems Protection Board claiming that Nevada Assembly Speaker Richard Perkins, a Henderson deputy police chief, violated the prohibition against running in a partisan election in 2002 and again this year.

The special counsel's complaint is based on the federal Hatch Act, which bars federal and certain state or local officials who are paid with federal money or oversee federal money, from running for partisan political office.

A statement from the special counsel's office said Perkins' "primary job duties are in connection with grants issued by the United States Departments of Justice, Housing and Urban Development, and Homeland Security."

Perkins called the complaint "ludicrous."

He said he "can't help believe this is politically motivated" by a Republican administration in Washington.

"It's a sad day when Washington doesn't understand the benefits of a citizen legislature in Nevada," he said.

Perkins said he intends to continue to run for re-election and to "get our name cleared." He said he would hire a private attorney and hoped to have the process completed in the next several months.

The special counsel's office warned Perkins in September that if he ran for re-election again he would be violating the Hatch Act.

But Perkins said at the time he was confident the federal office would change its opinion after seeing that he isn't in direct control of federal money used by the police department.

While the special counsel's complaint formalizes the accusation that Perkins violated the Hatch Act, Henderson's city manager said the city won't act on the matter involving its deputy police chief until the legal process has run its course.

If found guilty of violating the Hatch Act, Perkins could be forced to leave his city job, or the city could lose federal funds equal to two years of Perkins' salary, which is about $130,000 a year.

According to an outside attorney retained by the city to handle the federal legal issues stemming from the Perkins situation, the complaint may be moot if Perkins retires before a decision is reached in the case.

Perkins, a Democrat, said he might retire from the police force in February, which could be too late. At the time, Perkins was responding to the ongoing debate over public employees serving in the Legislature.

A deputy clerk with the federal agency that will adjudicate the complaint said Perkins' hearing before an administrative law judge has not been scheduled, but it could happen within two months.

Mayor Jim Gibson and City Councilman Jack Clark said they were not sure if the city should take any action on the matter before a judge rules on the complaint, though Gibson said the city's elected leaders will do what is necessary to make sure the city does not lose any federal funds.

"For the time being everyone has to let due process take its course. The city is really on the sidelines here," Gibson said.

Gibson and Perkins are both considered potential Democratic candidates for governor in 2006.

The city has tried to separate Perkins' job from anything related to federal grants programs. The police department receives $4.1 million in federal money, according to the city finance department.

In a memo given to City Council members on May 5, the city's attorney in this matter said the special counsel's office "did not envision any way that the position of Deputy Chief of Operations (Perkins' position) could be removed from Hatch Act coverage so long as that division remains funded, at least in part, by federal grants."

Gibson said whatever the outcome, Perkins "will have to do whatever he does to not cost the city money."

This includes paying the bills from the Washington, D.C., law firm Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld, which was retained by the city to address Hatch Act concerns regarding Perkins.

So far, Perkins has reimbursed the city $29,269 for those legal expenses, and city officials said the city will soon send Perkins another bill for the remaining $10,408 the city has paid the firm for work on Hatch Act issues.

Perkins said he's using his campaign funds to pay the bills.

Steven Ross, an attorney with Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld, said the Office of Special Counsel is trying to set a new precedent with Perkins' case. He said the existing precedent was set in a 1960s case when a federal district court ruled the Hatch Act did not apply to a deputy sheriff from Michigan.

Local political consultants said the issue will probably not affect Perkins' leadership role in the state legislature if he's re-elected.

Also, Republican Steven Grierson, who is running against Perkins for Assembly District 23, has said his campaign won't focus on Perkins' potential Hatch Act violations.

Democratic consultant Billy Vassiliadis said he wonders if the recommendation to sanction Perkins was politically motivated, pointing out that the Office of Special Counsel is part of the Republican Bush administration.

At the very least, he said, it shows the federal government doesn't understand the citizen legislature in Nevada, where legislators have to maintain a job in addition to their political work, he said.

"Our public officials take on extraordinary burdens to serve, and this man has taken on two burdens," Vassiliadis said. "And instead of saying, 'thank you, Mr. Speaker,' he now has to defend his decision to serve as a police officer. Come on."

The real political implications for Perkins might come if the issue is not resolved by the time he runs for governor, said Democratic strategist Dan Hart.

"That's the worst situation for a politician," he said, "to have this hanging over."

Office of Special Counsel spokeswoman Cathy Deeds declined to comment on the allegations that the office's actions were politically motivated.

Las Vegas resident Knight Allen, who asked the Office of Special Counsel to review Perkins' situation last year, said he was "pleased that the Office of Special Counsel has stayed on top of this and has not allowed the city of Henderson and Mr. Perkins to succeed with their delay, delay, delay tactics."

Perkins is the second Las Vegas Valley politician to come under scrutiny recently for possible violations of the Hatch Act.

In April, the Office of Special Counsel decided that John Oceguera's dual role as a Democratic assemblyman and a North Las Vegas firefighter did not violate the Hatch Act because his involvement with a city program funded by a federal grant was not significant.