Education board chief cleared

Wednesday, Jan. 5, 2005 | 9:36 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- A panel of the state Ethics Commission has dismissed a complaint against Gary Waters, president of the state Board of Education, that accused him of a conflict of interest.

The complaint was filed last year by John Wagner of Carson City, who said Waters' wife had been an employee of the Clark County School District since Autumn 2002 and that Waters did not disclose that relationship when voting on Clark County matters before the state board.

The panel of the Ethics Commission, composed of Commission Chairman Rick Hsu of Reno and Timothy Cashman of Las Vegas, released its decision Tuesday, saying there was no just and sufficient cause to send this issue to the full commission for a hearing.

Waters said Tuesday, "This was a frivolous complaint." He said it was "sad there are no repercussions" to those who bring these meritless complaints. It takes the time and the money of the state to process and investigate them, he said.

But he added "These frivolous complaints are just part of being an elective public official."

Waters was married on July 4, 2003, and his wife is employed with a federally funded program that is governed by federal regulations.

Waters informed the Ethics Commission that no issues related to his wife's employment have ever come before the state board.

Stacy Jennings, executive director of the Ethics Commission, said both Keith Rheault, superintendent of public instruction, and Ed Irvin, the legal counsel for the board, "confirmed the concept that the state board does not receive or act on issues which affect funding in local school districts."

Wagner had filed ethics complaints against four other members of the education board, accusing them of conflicts of interest. These complaints were all dismissed last summer, said Jennings.