LV places Daines on unpaid leave because of her candidacy

Dan Kulin

Thursday, Feb. 24, 2005 | 9:48 a.m.

A secretary in Las Vegas Municipal Court who is also a candidate for municipal judge in North Las Vegas was placed on unpaid leave Wednesday after Las Vegas officials decided city policy and an ordinance requiring employees take leave if they run for political office applies to her.

Marcia Daines was the first Las Vegas employee affected by the policy, adopted by the City Council in July, which requires employees take leave if they become candidates, city Human Resources Director Claudette Enus said.

On Tuesday, Daines' department supervisor, Las Vegas Municipal Court Administrator Jim Carmany, said Daines would be allowed to continue working for the city because she had tried to withdraw from the race and had promised not to actively campaign.

Daines tried to have her name removed from the North Las Vegas ballot on Tuesday, but she was too late. The last day candidates could remove their name from the ballot was Feb. 8.

Enus said there was some uncertainty about how the new policy and law applied to Daines.

"We started looking at the provisions and the policy late last week. We got the final clarifications from the city attorney's office today," Enus said late Wednesday.

Daines' candidacy and work were an issue because of a city policy that states, "No public employee shall be eligible for any form of paid compensation while running for a political office or during active service as an elected official."

There is also a city ordinance that states, "A public employee who files for office will be placed on an unpaid leave of absence until the election."

Enus said Daines will remain on leave without pay until her name is removed from the ballot, which is highly unlikely, or the election is over.

"Her name is on the ballot and she could conceivably win," Enus said.

Daines could not be reached for comment late Wednesday.

On Tuesday, Carmany said Daines left for a vacation in Florida after filing to run for North Las Vegas judge. When she returned to work on Thursday, Carmany told her of the policy and Daines tried to withdraw from the election, but was told it was too late.

Daines is a secretary in the administrative services division of Municipal Court. She has worked for the city since October 1979. Her annual salary is $58,475.

Daines is also one of six candidates for the newly created position as judge of North Las Vegas Municipal Court Department 2, which will pay $128,000 a year.

The other candidates for judge are Willia Chaney, Sean Hoeffgen, Christopher Larotonda, Robert Nelson-Kortland and Keith Buck, whose wife Shari Buck is a North Las Vegas city councilwoman.

The candidates will face off in the April 5 primary. Early voting is from March 19 to April 1.