Friday, May 7, 2004 | 11:13 a.m.
The U.S. Office of Special Counsel believes that Assembly Speaker Richard Perkins is breaking the federal law that prohibits public officials from running for partisan posts, according to a memo given Wednesday to Henderson City Council members.
Perkins is a Henderson deputy police chief who oversees department operations, which, according to a memo from the city's attorney, puts him at odds with the special counsel's view of the federal Hatch Act.
The act does not allow federal or certain state or local officials who oversee federal money to run for partisan political office.
Henderson, however, has been defending Perkins, and some city officials believe he may prevail.
Henderson Councilman Steve Kirk said the city will wait to act on the matter until the Merit Systems Protection Board rules on the case, if it goes that far.
"The bottom line for us is that right now the city is essentially going to want to see what the Office of Special Counsel does and give Richard Perkins the due process he deserves," Kirk said. "He needs to have a chance to have a hearing."
Councilwoman Amanda Cyphers said, "The issue is he needs to have a fair shake."
The special counsel's office has not formally notified the city of its position, and would bring any suspected violation to the Merit Systems Protection Board, which acts as the judge in such cases.
It's unclear when the office would rule. Officials reached at the special counsel did not comment on when the case would be resolved. A spokeswoman said there was a large backlog of cases that would be cleared up by the end of the year.
The Hatch Act, in place since 1940, prohibits federal and some state and local employees from running for partisan office. State and local employees working in an executive branch of government that receives certain types of federal money are generally covered by the law. The act does not apply to teachers or other education employees.
The city memo says that an attorney from the special counsel office said the 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."
The memo said there were "serious arguments to the contrary," but if that view held, Perkins would not be allowed to hold his job while in political office.
Perkins has said he might retire in February, which if the complaint is not settled by then, would essentially end it.
Knight Allen, a Las Vegas resident, asked the Office of Special Counsel to review whether Perkins violated the Hatch Act.
In a Sept. 30 letter responding to Allen, the counsel's office said Perkins unknowingly violated the act when he ran for political office in the past and would knowingly be in violation of the act if he ran again.
But Perkins asked the counsel's office to take another look at his situation. He said he's confident they will change their opinion after seeing that he is not in direct control of federal money used by the police department.
For example, a police lieutenant who oversees grant programs was transferred from Perkins' supervision to the other deputy police chief, and Perkins is excluded from discussions related to applications for or administration of federal grants, city officials have said.
"They told me I had a couple of things I needed to do and I could file for office," Perkins said Monday. "We've accomplished all that."
Perkins, who is running for reelection, did not return telephone messages left Thursday.
Also, since 2001 the city has been working with the Washington, D.C., law firm Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld to address Hatch Act concerns regarding Perkins.
The Wednesday memo was from that law firm to City Attorney Shauna Hughes, and was distributed to the council members. The six-page memo gave a synopsis of the recent discussions between the law firm and the counsel's office, and laid out the argument for allowing Perkins to continue with his dual roles in the state and Henderson governments.
The document, released to the Sun Thursday, warned the council against taking any action against Perkins at this time.
"It is important to keep in mind that any involuntary personnel action taken by the city as a result of an employee's political activity or expression might present significant liability exposure to the city," the memo said.
The city's representatives had argued that Perkins' current contact with federal funds was insignificant.
But, the counsel's office is not going along with that argument, and is applying a minimum, perhaps zero tolerance, standard to this case, the memo said.
The Office of Special Counsel decided last month that John Oceguera's dual role as a Democratic assemblyman and a North Las Vegas firefighter did not put him in conflict with the Hatch Act because his involvement with a city program funded by a federal grant was not significant.
Allen, who asked the counsel's office to review Perkins situation, said he thinks Perkins should just acknowledge the Hatch Act applies to him, but said he expects Perkins will "delay, delay, and delay some more," until he's left the city.
Allen said: "It's just a shame because with this whole question they're using their abilities to figure out loopholes. Mr. Perkins is an honest man. He's doing the wrong things but he's doing them honestly."
Republican Steven Grierson, who filed Thursday to run against Perkins for Assembly District 23, said he won't focus during the campaign on Perkins' potential Hatch Act violations.
"That will be between him and the federal government and the people," Grierson said.
In addition to the Hatch Act issue, Perkins is faced with other possible challenges to his candidacy.
Attorney General Brian Sandoval has asked the Nevada Supreme Court to weigh in on his opinion that employees of city and county governments can serve in the Legislature; while state employees, including those working at the state's universities and colleges, cannot.
Also, a private group called Nevadans for Sound Government is working to put a referendum before voters that would ask if all government employees should be banned from serving in the Legislature.
If Perkins does stay on with the city and win re-election to the Assembly, he would have a new city policy to follow during the Legislative session.
In response to concerns of double pay during the session for some legislators who are also local government employees, Henderson has implemented a new policy that essentially prohibits employees from campaigning or doing work of their elected office while at work for the city.
The policy, put in place in March, also says that those employees who are also elected officials must use annual leave or leave without pay if and when they are required to conduct the business of their elected office during city work hours.
During past legislative sessions Perkins has received full-time pay from the city. Perkins, who makes $128,007 a year, typically logged two regular work days a week and used two vacation days a week to fill his time sheets. Perkins said he would work weekends and telecommute to work during the sessions.
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