Friday, Nov. 12, 2004 | 11:14 a.m.
Although the state Assembly on Thursday voted unanimously to impeach state Controller Kathy Augustine for using state employees and equipment in her 2002 re-election campaign, the Senate can opt to punish her without kicking Augustine out of office, officials said Thursday.
The Assembly's impeachment vote on Thursday paves the way for a Senate trial, which will take place some time after Thanksgiving.
The options available if Augustine is found guilty, which were written out and given to state senators by the Legislative Counsel Bureau, include a censure, suspension without pay or removal from office, Senate Minority Leader Dina Titus, D-Las Vegas, said on Thursday.
The Senate could also decide to acquit Augustine of the charges.
"Senators are discussing the options," Titus said. "People are looking at other options (besides removal from office)."
On Thursday senators were talking about the testimony that came out of the Assembly that painted the controller as a difficult, demanding boss.
"Kathy is demanding and ungrateful, and those are a bad combination of character traits in an employer. There's no doubt about that," Sen. Bob Beers, R-Las Vegas, said on "Face to Face With Jon Ralston" on Las Vegas ONE, Cox Cable channel 19. "Is that an impeachable offense? That's the question."
The Assembly's vote Thursday came after members heard testimony from four former or current employees in the controller's office.
Some of the testimony was more personal in nature than implicit ethic violations, Titus said on "Face to Face," saying that some of the witnesses testified that Augustine "screams at employees, how she throws things around, pitches temper tantrums."
"If they act like a witch, that's not a reason to impeach them," Titus said.
When asked what the mood of the Senate was, and if it was seriously considering punishment short of full removal, Titus responded, "I don't know yet."
Senate Assistant Majority Leader Dennis Nolan, R-Las Vegas, said that although the accusations against Augustine constitute "a very serious offense" that have "very serious repercussions," the Senate could decide to merely fine the embattled controller rather than kick her out of office if it finds her guilty.
"If in fact the controller is impeached by the Senate, the statutes are pretty broad" for penalizing her, he said Thursday.
But several witnesses also said that Augustine forced them to work on the controller's re-election bid while on state time -- a willful violation of the ethics code and the basis of much of the Assembly's decision to impeach Augustine. Augustine signed a stipulation with the state Ethics Commission saying that she violated the law.
Despite the Assembly's vote, some senators questioned whether witnesses proved that Augustine used her office and staff for her re-election bid or just that Augustine is an employee's worst nightmare.
The impeachment proceedings appeared to be "more about the heavy-handedness with employees that brought up the complaints" than the violations of the ethics rules, Sen. Sandra Tiffany, R-Henderson, said. She added, however, that she was not too familiar with Thursday's hearing because senators were advised against following the proceedings closely.
Personality traits aside, the state Ethics Commission already fined Augustine $15,000 in September for three ethics abuses stemming from the re-election campaign. The state attorney general's office brought the original complaint against Augustine.
It is this previous penalty that could complicate the Senate's choice of punishment for Augustine.
"She has already been found kind of guilty for the violations, so at this point the Senate will decide how much more punishment she deserves, or should she just go?" Titus said.
Beers said, "It's a matter of degrees."
"We also have to step back and realize that she has already paid a fine. She has been punished," Beers said. "Whether that has been enough punishment ... until we get to hear all the testimony about what it is she has exactly done, what laws have been violated, I don't think it's in our place as potential jurors to make those kinds of statements."
The two issues the Senate is likely to face at this point, Titus said, is whether the Senate will decide to make Augustine an example so other elected officials won't violate similar ethical codes, or if Augustine is just being targeted for violations that many elected officials commit.
"The thing is, is what Augustine did any worse than what other officials have done?" Titus said.
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