Wednesday, Oct. 22, 2008 | 3:55 p.m.
CARSON CITY – It will probably be late December before Gov. Jim Gibbons appoints a replacement for Robert Loux who resigned as head of the office fighting the proposed nuclear dump at Yucca Mountain.
The Commission on Nuclear Projects has set a schedule for advertising the $115,285 job and holding interviews. Loux resigned when he was criticized for raising salaries for himself and his staff without authorization.
Former Sen. Richard Bryan, the chairman of the commission, said he didn’t know how many people would apply. But the commission set Dec. 15 for a meeting in Las Vegas to interview the six or eight finalists.
Loux, who has headed the office since its inception in the 1980s, has agreed to stay on until his replacement is named. The commission will submit three names to the governor after the interviews.
Commissioner Susan Brager of Las Vegas said it was important to get somebody with experience as the battle heats up to keep the nuclear waste out of Nevada. She questioned whether the $115,285 salary was the limit.
“I don’t want us to settle with a person with little expertise,” she said.
But Jim Spencer, chief of staff in the attorney general’s office, said that is the salary set by the governor.
The commission agreed that the state Personnel Department should conduct the recruitment with the deadline for submitting applications Nov. 14. The commission then named member Joan Lambert of Reno and Senior Deputy Attorney General Marta Adams to screen the application and submit six to eight names to the full commission.
A candidate must have a bachelor’s degree, must have “extensive knowledge” on the issue of nuclear waste in Nevada and have experience in managing professional staff.
Joseph Strolin, a deputy who has been with the nuclear projects office for 24 years, said he would not apply for the top job.
Bryan, outside the meeting, said he was concerned the small staff may leave when Loux departs. “We don’t want that to happen,” he said.
The controversy over Loux started when it was revealed in an audit that he had used salary savings to raise his and his staff’s salaries above the authorized level. He said when one worker left the others had to take on extra duties.
According to an audit, Loux received $67,585 in higher salary from June 1, 2005 to Aug. 24 this year.
Josh Hicks, chief of staff for Gov. Gibbons, said a plan is being developed to get the money repaid to the state. He said it would at least seek recoupment of the funds overpaid during the administration of Gibbons.
State Controller Kim Wallin said there is a meeting set for Friday with the governor’s staff on the procedures that would be used to recover the overpayments.
A complaint against Loux has been filed with the state Ethics Commission and it is still pending said Assembly Minority Leader Heidi Gansert, R-Reno. She said she has been interviewed and that a two-member panel of the commission would hear testimony whether there was enough evidence to go forward to the full commission.
A district court suit was filed to remove Loux as director of the agency by conservative spokesman Chuck Muth. But a district judge dismissed the suit, saying the removal law applies only to local officials and not state workers.
Muth said he would not appeal to the Nevada Supreme Court.
The audit of the nuclear projects office showed that overpayments of $195,790 were divided among the employees during that three year period.
The salaries were rolled back to the authorized amounts in August this year.
Cy Ryan may be reached at (775) 687 5032 or [email protected]
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