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twitterPrison board vote to test governor’s power
Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2009 | 9:23 a.m.
Howard Skolnik
Gov. Jim Gibbons
Sun Archives
Beyond the Sun
The fate of the state's head of corrections will be voted on at the next meeting of the Board of Prison Commissioners, in an action that will test the power of the governor versus the three-member policy board.
Secretary of State Ross Miller said he will put an item on the next Board of Prisons meeting that could lead to the three-member board voting to terminate Corrections Director Howard Skolnik. Yet it's unclear if the board can fire Skolnik, who is appointed by the governor.
The other members of the board are Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto, a Democrat, and Gov. Jim Gibbons, a Republican.
Dennis Mallory, chief of staff of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, said the group was asking for the vote on Skolnik because he had closed portions of Carson City's Nevada State Prison without approval from the board. They also cited low morale among corrections officers and unsafe conditions at some facilities.
While Gibbons has supported the closure of the state's oldest prison, Miller and the union have opposed closing the prison. Masto has been less vocal on where she stands on the prison.
While the department has closed down some units, no more closures are planned now due to the pending legislative session, Skolnik said on Tuesday.
Gibbons said he fully supports Skolnik.
While Gibbons has the power to appoint the director of correction, the Board of Prison Commissioners sets policy for the department. Mallory admitted it's unclear if the board has the authority to fire him.
Miller creates the agenda for the Nevada Board of Prison Commissioners. Miller, in an email, said: "I intend to agendize the issue for discussion and possible action at the next meeting but will reserve judgment (on how he would vote on Skolnik) until we have had a full opportunity to review the director's performance. The statutes relating to the Board of Prisons indicate that the director is responsible to the board. Barring any legal opinions or decisions to the contrary, I believe we have the authority to dismiss him should we deem it appropriate."
Skolnik said he would not resign unless requested to do so by Gibbons.
Yet Skolnik acknowledged that if the board votes to terminate him, it was a legal question and he was unclear what would happen to his job.
After Tuesday's meeting of the Prison Board, Skolnik and correction workers seemed to have an amiable chat for about 15 minutes in the hallway between the Capitol Rotunda and the main Capitol Building. Union members, during the public comment portion of the meeting, complained about a lack of communication with Skolnik. Skolnik promised to address them directly in coming days.
Closing Nevada State Prison would cause some correction workers, possibly as many as 100, to lose their jobs. Many workers at Nevada State Prison would be able to relocate to other facilities, bumping workers with less seniority.
The next Board of Prison Commissioners meeting is in April.
Discussion: 24 comments so far…
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Director Skolnik and his Wardens have effectively
setback employee-employer relations within the dept. by decades with their reciprocity tactics aimed at guards who have chosen to affiliate with the state workers' ass'n. (A.F.S.C.M.E.)A.."Lack-of-communication"..with the director ....is laughable at best;a more accurate description would be benign-neglect on his part.About every 4 months or so AFSCME reps meet with the director and present a laundry list of grievances upon which the director gives lip-service to,only to actually do nothing at all..!This man has allowed an overwhelming atmosphere of Fear and Intimidation to thrive within the Dept.of Corrections.Maybe he needs to read Senate Bill 2123 and arrive at the realization that it will become federal law very soon..!..Kudos to SOS Miller for putting this item on the agenda.When Skolnik gets the axe,he can take his ill-concieved prison 100% tobacco ban with him out the back door,the very same way he got it passed last October at the prison board meeting.Tell us again;Howard,just how a 100% tobacco ban for guards and all inmates alike..(not even chewing tobacco will be allowed..)..will impact the safety of officers'in the prisons.Tell us again;Howard,that the department will not stand to lose millions in tobacco sales and huge markup profits...!..Tell us again;Howard,where you plan to find the money from an already inviscerated budget to safely deal with a huge new prison black-market that YOU have created for us to somehow deal with.
And tell us again, Dir. Skolnik how you could ban dental floss because it can "cut through bars" in a prison that doesn't have any bars?
And tell us please how wearing velour to visit an inmate is unsafe.
And tell up please why the toothbrushes purchased by the inmates at their own expense were taken from the inmates to be replaced with cheap versions that lose the bristles when used (and at the expense of the state instead of the inmate).
And please tell us why you stopped the inmate packages purchased by friends/family which results in a loss of revenue for the prisons?
The list goes on and on, and this is the first time I have seen the prison board stand up and fight this incometent boob. Keep it up.
Go Ross Go!!!! As long as you are checking Skolnick out you need to look into what he is doing at ALL NDOC Facilities!!! and how about those special programs of his such as the water truck and chopper production facilities that waste the state hundreds of thousands of dollars a year to build yet they have never sold one of them!!! Indian Springs looks like a water truck graveyard!!!
Thank God; Nevada has Ross Miller looking out for the people of this State. The State of Nevada needs leadership like the Millers, Ross is a blessing in disguise..
Well at last someone is listening to correctional people. Thank god for Mr Miller. He should also take a good hard look at the Wardens. By the way inmates can't have dental floss it can cut metal. Thanks Mr Miller
yep, dental floss can cut through metal, and placque. If you aren't going to do dental maintenace, like cleanings, how do you expect these people to come out of prison with teeth if they can't floss???????????????????????
How do you get a job without teeth?
Howard,
You need to go. You are a clear and present danger to the people of the state of Nevada. I do not know what you said to the Governor about getting the job but what ever you said it sure must have sounded good. You need to resign and go away.
I would love to become the next Director. There would be some Wardens going bye bye. Then I as the Director would lock all the yards down and everyone would start with zero. There would be no "grandfathering"-"grand-mothering" of anything the prisoners had. During this time I would order a mass retraining of all staff from Wardens to the new officer.
Calling it cleaning house after all the stuff the Nevada Department of Corrections have done.
The State of Nevada had years to downsize its correctional system, as New York, for example, has done. For one, they could have shifted the system to more parole and probation years ago. The State and counties also could have spent more in social investments (e.g. more spending in education, mental health, drug addiction services, more investment in "million dollar blocks", job training for ex-cons). Instead they reactively plan to build more prison beds, including a $150,000,000 addition to High Desert (with a new death chamber). I am sorry that correctional workers have to bare the brunt of this poor judgment and lack of vision of the leaders of Nevada.
YESSSSSSSSSSSSS!!! It is Christmas and my birthday all rolled into one! I call on all people of conscience to show up to the Board of Prisons meeting to let the state officials know how we the people feel about Skolnik.
This man is a petty tyrant without a care in the world for right and wrong. He doesn't care how he wastes out money defending ridiculous lawsuits that in any other state would have been handled without costly litigation. He burns our money like yesterday's garbage because he is mean, dishonest, arrogant and vengeful. He is not the kind of person who should ever be in a position to have power over an animal, let alone over people's lives, and I am not just talking about inmates here.
SKOLNIK MUST GO
nevadacorruptions.com
make.the.walls.transparent@gmail.com
This has been a long time coming. THANK YOU!! I have never seen a prison system ran as this man has been able to do with the time he has been in the appointment. I will be at that meeting, and my friends will be at that meeting and I want to see you walk out and have to pack your desk up and leave. Actually, I think you should have to spend a few years in the place you have so called over seen right along with some of your wardens too. I have seen more corruption, and criminal activity then some of the people housed in your system. Maybe some of these men that you are keeping to fight fires can go home to their families. Maybe you should volunteer for the fire department and take up their slack. Just a suggestion.
SKOLNIK MUST GO ~~ Bye Bye
As one small example, right now, after the Supreme Court has ruled definitively and decisively numerous times that inmates have the right to freely practice their own religion, Skolnik's pet wardens are confiscating sage from Native American prisoners. They are actually taking away their right to pray! This would be unheard of in another state.
I am sorry that VegasQuixote cannot recognize who has actually borne the brunt of Nevada's ill conceived ideas on mass incarceration. You call yourself an advocate. Let's see some advocacy.
I work for the NDOC. I have watched as the incompetence of the Director has systematically destroyed morale. The director, while pretending to be concerned with the safety of his staff and the general public, is only protecting himself and a few chosen ones. He actually told an employee who had gone to him with some serious allegations that there was nothing he could do to stop what was happening to her so she should sue the department. How is that for leadership!
I have gone to the director on more than one occasion with issues that needed to be addressed. Nothing was done.
We are not permitted to program any inmate unless the yard warden agrees. This is not how it should be done. If we do not work with the inmates to help them fit into the real world, we might as well put a revolving door on all of our institutions.
I understand the issues about prohibiting full size toothbrushes by inmates. They have and do create weapons with them. As staff, we are not treated any better. The only real difference is that we are allowed to leave at the end of our day.
There are so many ridiculous rules and regulations that do nothing but intimidate and punish the staff. Most of them are not made to keep people safe, but are used as a way to control them.
There are many ways costs could be cut with the Department. We could start with getting our four ten hour days back.
Isn't it strange nothing ever seems to get to the attention of the public when there are abusive administrators, within the state of Nevada prison system, when it relates to prisoners or theft or worse, but let the abuses effect the working partners/guards of these abusive administrators (AND THERE ARE MANY) EVERYTHING hits the fan. Some poor guards cannot speak to their director, and may be transferred to another Nevada prison. So what's new. Many families of prisoners cannot get a caseworker or warden to address their concerns about loved ones in their charge. What's different here. True, there are many better men than skolnut to run Nevada's prisons. The man is truly a fool in the opinion of most, but what about the governor? The two are in the same boat. Don't think Gov. Gibbon's isn't just as stupid--as he is the one that appointed Skolnut--and wants to keep him. wonder how he would feel if he were sitting in one of his Skolnut run prisons.
Come to think of it--he almost was sitting in a federal prison, but luck got him off the hook--it is said. However, his little episode at the garage in Las Vegas may put a dent in his wallet. Would anyone care to comment on the rumor of Skolnut being under investigation for his activities while acting as administrator of Prison Industries? It is rumor, but heard more than once. How about the rumor of all of High Desert State Prison administrators being investigated? I'd like to hear if any are true.
In the meantime: Try eating on $2.17 a day, and living in administration segregation 24/7 every- day while doing your sentence. My God, Howard: "Tooth brushes and dental floss." Are you for real? Or, just a disappointed little man? Putting you in charge of anything more than janitor of a playground--is mismanagment.
I agree with Spartacus, Wildmind, Beanie, Daisy, William Clarke, Vegas Quiote.
Well said.
This guy needs to go, and NOW.
Beanie hit the nail on the head. I have talked to several families who have contacted Skolnik's office about fairly minor problems and have been told to file a lawsuit! It is easier for Skolnik to say file a lawsuit than to make a phone call to make sure that things are running legally. He creates danger, he has mismanaged the system with wanton disregard for the inmates, officers, families of inmates and, in fact, for the whole state of Nevada. He needs to remember who pays his salary. And then he needs to go.
SKOLNIK MUST TO. Donat and McDaniel need to go with him.
That last line should read SKOLNIK MUST GO
It has been well said, in this comment section, on Director of prisons, skolnut. It was an oversight to not mention the abusive and totally righteous fiefdom rulers under skolnut--his wardens. These men & sometimes women, are as useless as tits on a boar hog. At Ely it isn't hard to see where the food budget goes. While prisoners lose weight due to sub-par food, Warden McDaniel's 400 to 500 pound body absorbs more food than a full table of convicts. His tyrannical rules, and use of administration segregation, is something he couldn't do himself, but demands others less fortunate do what he couldn't even dream of doing. The man is a coward & a pig in the thoughts of many Nevadan's. Don't get me wrong--he isn't alone in his dictatorial rule. Citizen's need to take a more protective role in the treatment of prisoners, as do our elected officials. Why should citizens care? Because the released prisoners commit hatred crimes against citizens--not paid political hacks. How many wardens, directors, caseworkers, policemen and prosecuting attorneys die from convicts seeking revenge? Prisoners with fair treatment are not bound to hatred of those that imprison them, unless, as in Nevada--you're not guilty of the crime that put you in prison. In Nevada as many as 20% of our convicted inmates are not guilty.In fact, that figure holds out to the entire United States. Another 40% of drug users, petty criminal and the like should never see the inside of a prison. Citizens don't profit from these type convicted felony incarcerations,but the correctional facilities do. You know who I mean: police, judges, attorneys, prosecutors, wardens, guards, prison directors, elected officials, parole board members, and other state paid parasites. All this leading to: Why is SOS Ross Miller waiting until April, 2009 to bring the matter of Skolnut to the prison commission. Director of Prisons leader, Skolnut, needs to go NOW! If it is the right thing to do in April, why wouldn't it be appropriate NOW? Come on commissioners--Skolnut, has been at the public feeding trough long enough. If you can't put him in a prison cell--fire him! It is the least you prison commissioner's can do for the taxpayer. It won't be forgotten at voter time! Do the right thing. Show citizens you really care for them and their tax dollars. spartacusproject@yahoo.com
THANK GOD SOMEONE IS STARTING TO FIGURE OUT HOW SCREWED UP THE ENTIRE PRISON SYSTEM IS. THE WHOLE NEVADA JUDICIAL SYSTEM ALSO NEED A COMPLETE OVERHAUL. SO MUCH CORRUPTION EXISTS THAT IT IS ALL JUST PATHETIC. I THINK A THOROUGH AND COMPLETE INVESTIGATION OF THE PRISON SYSTEM AND JUDICIAL SYSTEM IN NEVADA IS PAST DUE. I WONDER HOW MANY INNOCENT FOLKS ARE IN PRISON JUST TO KEEP THE NUMBER 2 INDUSTRY IN THE STATE ALIVE AND WELL. THE AMOUNT OF PRISON TIME GIVEN OUT IS MANY TIMES MORE THEN OTHER STATES DEAL OUT ALSO. NOW WONDER THE STATE IS GOING DEEP IN DEBT. IT COSTS A BUNDLE TO KEEP THE SYSTEM RUNNING. HOWARD IS A YES MAN THAT DOES WHAT HE IS TOLD. WAKE UP NEVADA AND START AN INVESTIGATION OF THE MESS THAT IS ALIVE AND RUNNING STRONG.
Spartacus, You rock dude!
Mobley I don't believe Howard is a yes man. My experience has shown me that it is Gibbons who is too lazy and inept to govern, so he lets Skolnik do it for him, at a huge cost to the state. Skolnik just sucks up to those beastly wardens without bothering to find out if what they are doing violates law and the constitution. He would rather we simply "file a lawsuit." But who pays? Not Skolnik!
I have watched the escalating crisis in Nevada prisons for over a decade. Business as usual in this dysfunctional atmosphere of social neglect and apathy may now be cresting?
Change is possible only with more pressure, however, from members of the outside community.
But, how many will attend the April prison commissioners' meeting in which Mr. Miller may ask Mr. Skolnik to step down? Five? Ten?
A least a HUNDRED are needed at the April commissioners' meeting to put the fear of God into this "Wild Bunch" of commissioners and prison administrators... irresponsible public servants, who would undoubtedly be convicted of criminal neglect if an attorney would only take the case. The facts are there...
If each member of this commentary would recruit 10 people to attend this meeting... and make sure that media covers it, something could happen.
Without public outcry, however, there is little hope for positive change for either employees or prisoners... and that's the truth.
GOVERNOR:Do you understand that the years taken away from convicted felons can never be returned. It can never be replaced by any state run agency. True, the persons being held and made responsible for their actions need to get even with society for their aggressions--if they are guilty! Not found guilty, or pled guilty, but were truly guilty. In Nevada you never know how that goes. Guilt in Nevada is undefined.
To keep a man or woman from their families and loved ones is a crime in and of itself. But for the state to pay for their families welfare while their loved one serves time, and the system collects $20,000.00 a year for their keep with taxpayer dollars--is a bigger crime. "If the convicted could, and should, be released". There are those who belong in prisons, but not all, yet I support the welfare to needy families. It is those that never needed to be in a prison cell in the first place--is the position from which I speak today. (Notice I am not threatening the public with releasing violent prisoners--as both Salling & Skolnut continually do, when they are asked to release prisoners that don't need to be in prison--and save millions of $$ of taxpayer's money, which could be, and should be, spent on Nevada's needy). So where is Gov. Gibbons on this subject of saving money? You has denied the need to save millions of dollars by keeping the state paid parasites in their positions--which go against the general public's needs. Thanks Governor. You're burying our children & seniors, with your stupidity and lack of knowledge on public safety.
Your bloated law enforcement committee (Advisory Committee on the Administration of Justice) is a farce. It is a lie.
Your minion, Judge Hardesty, hasn't made one move to correct anything discovered in this committee that would be helpful in making a bad situation better--things that don't need legislative action to correct. Maybe you could put a few more D.A.'s, prosecutors, Attorney Generals, and cops to help the Judge solve this citizen/taxpayer money squandering problem? How about a dentist, doctor, business man and a prisoner advocate to move this farce along?
Just quit feeding the taxpayers your old line of manure.The stench rising out of this prison industry theft to keep state paid parasites on payroll--must come to a stop! You are caught. Now, man-up and fix the problem: Let some of the low risk prisoners go home. Skolnut & Salling must GO!
Director Skolnut & Parole Board member, Darla (The Beast) Salling, are two persons in state employ feathering their bottom line on the backs of taxpayers. Friends of yours? Northern Nevada old time buddies? If not, then What?
In the above posted comment there is the word: "has", which should read : "have... Sorry about that.