Nevada government corruption
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Protesters create giant ‘crime scene' in front of Nevada AG's office
On April 27, 2012 a group of Nevada citizens protested the Nevada Attorney General's Carson City office to demonstrate numerous abuse-of-power and acting under the color of law & office. The Nevada Attorney General ("NAG") under Masto's watch has backdated court filings, withheld evidence in many cases, allowed bribery to thrive, and fails to listen to the people of Nevada. NAG Masto is the "top cop" and queen of corruption in Nevada which was recently declared America's 9th most corrupt State in the union. Nevada received an F grade in transparency. Nevada Department of Corrections fails to disclose a computer glitch, costing taxpayer's money and inmates their time and lives.
Clark County Board of School Trustees meet away from public
It seems school board advisory committees and appointees are holding closed meetings as well.
The board of trustees organized the Bond Oversight Committee (BOC) in the late 1990s. It is an independent body with the purpose of providing financial, bond and investment oversight of the district's capital improvement program. It is supposed to assure the public of district accountability.
In April, school district staff moved school architect selection process to the Purchasing Department, which decided to put the usual, favored contract firms in with the smaller firms for modernization or renovation work. The Nevada Policy Research Institute reported that together the five prototype firms have received more than $145 million from new construction jobs in the last 10 years, compared to $10 million earned by approximately 30 smaller modernization companies.
Committee members requested the new architect selection process return to the committee for discussion and new recommendations to the board of trustees.
There had been no public resolution to the conflict until August 12, 2009, when the school district called a "staff meeting" in a closed session with no public access.[1]
Nevada News Bureau says state transparency site needs improvement
Eighteen months have passed since Gov. Jim Gibbons issued an executive order requiring the state’s financial information to be posted on an easily searchable website for the public.
Nevada’s transparency website has been up and accessible since January. However, the only content available so far is budget and spending information for fiscal years 2006 to 2008. It now includes the 2009-11 legislatively approved budget.
As of early November 2009, the website have a searchable database and taxpayers can delve into detail showing actual payments to vendors, State Budget Director Andrew Clinger said said. Citizens can search by vendor name or by agency.
However, financial data is still being loaded into the system for fiscal year 2009, which ended June 30, as well as for the current 2010 budget year. The site is supposed to have the current budget and spending information by the end of October. The information will supposedly be updated nightly, Clinger said. After it reaches this step in development, Clinger said Nevada’s site will be about 70 percent complete. It will be missing data on contracts between state agencies and other entities as well as details of the state payroll is also a work in progress.[1]
Nevada Lt. Gov. indicted on fraud charges
The indictment is the culmination of a 20 month long criminal investigation. It accuses Krolicki of two counts of misappropriation and falsification of accounts by a public officer and two counts of misappropriation by a treasurer. His former chief of staff Kathryn Besser is also charged with two counts of misappropriation. All six charges are felonies that are each punishable by four years in jail.[2]
Independent review of Gibbon's emails ordered
The newspaper went to court, asking Maddox to force Gibbons to release the emails or provide a log explaining why each of them was not open to review under the Nevada Open Records Act. Maddox refused the request, saying that such a document could provide too much private information. "The index would require them to disclose things they may not need to disclose, and I'm not going to do that," he explained.[3]
I-Team: Councilman Subject of Corruption Investigation
"A North Las Vegas City Councilman, who is the favorite to become that city's next mayor, says there is no substance to allegations that he accepted bribes from undercover FBI agents.
Councilman William Robinson says the bribery allegations were created by a crooked businessman and are being exploited by his campaign rival. And Robinson is right about one thing -- it is political."
In search of open records at the county building
"Sometimes you have to climb down from the pulpit and practice what you preach.
One afternoon this past week I sauntered into the Clark County Government Center in quest of some public records. Union contracts have been much in the news, what with various attempts to renegotiate pay raises, so I figured I'd ask to see some."
Woman wins high court decision on school district e-mail records
"In a legal decision made during Sunshine Week, which promotes open government and access to public records, the Nevada Court Supreme Court denied an “emergency motion” to delay the release of a year’s worth of e-mail records from the Clark County School Board.
Karen Gray, a Henderson resident who requested the information, will likely get it Friday because of a deadline set by District Judge Susan Johnson.
And she won’t have to pay a cent for it. For now, anyway."
Opening Nevada public records
"Trying to check out a contractor in Nevada can be difficult. The law prohibits the Nevada State Contractors Board from telling the public about any pending complaints against contractors.
That means if the board is investigating complaints of a contractor running a scam, it cannot tell anyone until it takes action against the contractor, no matter how much evidence it has against him. That leaves consumers vulnerable to fraud."
EDITORIAL: You've got mail
"District Judge Susan Johnson has ordered the Clark County School Board to turn over e-mails to a citizen watchdog who challenged its public records policy.
In an order distributed Tuesday, Judge Johnson ruled that e-mails created on public servers regarding public business fall within the state's definition of a public record. Judge Johnson ruled the burden was on the school district to prove that individual e-mails are not public records before denying them to activist Karen Gray.
Ms. Gray filed her lawsuit in June 2007, seeking copies of board members' e-mails from November 2005 to November 2006. Ms. Gray expressed concern that members might be violating the state's open meeting law by discussing School Board business in private, said Lee Rowland, an attorney with the ACLU of Nevada, which represented Ms. Gray.
Ms. Rowland praised the order Wednesday, saying the judge ruled "broadly in favor of public disclosure.""
NV judge tells school district to release e-mails
"A judge has ordered the Clark County school board to turn over e-mails to a citizen watchdog who challenged its public records policy in court.
In an order distributed Tuesday, District Court Judge Susan Johnson ruled that e-mails created on public servers regarding public business fall within the state's definition of a public record. Johnson ruled the burden was on the school district to prove that individual e-mails are not public records before denying them to activist Karen Gray." Read the full article here.
IN DEPTH: Public service pays off
"Former Henderson Police Chief Richard Perkins was on the city payroll two months this fiscal year, but he stands to pull down nearly $450,000 from City Hall at a time when politicians must slash services or raise taxes as government revenue plummets with the state economy.
Perkins, 47, stepped down this past summer with the minimum 25 years of service credit on the police force, necessary to qualify for a full pension.
His years, combined with the $168,478 salary he received when he departed, gave him a pension worth an estimated $99,400 a year."
Governor's e-mails withheld
"A judge on Wednesday denied the bulk of a Reno Gazette-Journal lawsuit seeking access to Gov. Jim Gibbons' e-mail records, holding that most of the correspondence is confidential under Nevada law.
Carson City District Judge Todd Russell also denied the newspaper's request for an itemized list of the e-mail records so it could independently assess whether the correspondence fell under the state's public records law.
Russell told Gibbons to release six of 104 emails that were reviewed in private by a court master to determine whether they were public. The court master, Dave Nielsen said the rest were personal, of a non-public "transitory nature" or privileged."
Use of private entity raises openness issues
"The UNLV Research Foundation’s use of a private, nonprofit corporation to help develop the university’s business park is reducing public access to information about the 122-acre project in ways some public officials are criticizing.
Foundation officials say the more secretive approach will pay off by allowing business matters including negotiations with companies to remain confidential. Universities often use private corporations to develop land, and the change will help shield the foundation from lawsuits, including those that lenders and tenants might file."
They're stamping their feet in frustration
"I suspect most of us have these little visual memories that we savor over the years and replay in our minds when some event, phrase or visual jars it loose.
Whenever I read about a judge or a court standing up for the people's rights to access public records, I replay this one moment of high drama and low humor that occurred in the chambers of the Nevada Supreme Court in March 2000.
The Review-Journal had sued the county under the state public records law. Two years earlier, we had asked for records of phone calls county commissioners had made on their taxpayer-provided cellular phones. We lost at the District Court level but appealed to the state's highest court."
Municipal salaries ruled public record
"A Washoe County judge Friday decided not to block the Reno Gazette-Journal's access to public employees' names and salaries and ruled that the information is public record under Nevada law.
Washoe District Judge Patrick Flanagan ruled against public employee groups and unions that sought an injunction blocking the municipalities from providing employee names. In his decision, Flanagan cited precedent that the public has a legitimate interest in the salaries of public employees."
Nothing to see?
"This year a Reno newspaper asked for Gov. Jim Gibbons’ e-mail correspondence with several people over a six-month period. The e-mails on the governor’s state account are certainly public records, but the governor has refused to release them. In October the Reno Gazette-Journal filed a lawsuit seeking the release of the records.
In a document filed with District Court on Friday, the attorney general’s office, representing the governor, said the e-mails were privileged or not of public importance and thus shouldn’t be released.
In other words: Trust us. There’s nothing to see here."
Governors e-mail privacy defended
"A newspaper's lawsuit seeking copies of e-mails between Nevada Gov. Jim Gibbons and 10 individuals should be rejected because the e-mails aren't public records or don't exist, the attorney general's office said Friday.
State attorney Jim Spencer, in a brief filed Friday in response to the Reno Gazette-Journal lawsuit, said Carson City District Judge Bill Maddox can privately review the e-mails on the governor's state account that do exist to verify their nonpublic status."
Judge issues order in Gibbons e-mail lawsuit
"A district judge has ordered Gov. Jim Gibbons to answer a Reno newspaper’s lawsuit seeking his state e-mails for a six-month period.
District Judge William Maddox today directed Gibbons to either produce the records for the Reno Gazette-Journal or provide the reasons for the refusal. Gibbons has until Nov. 14 to reply to the suit filed in District Court in Carson City Tuesday. Maddox has set Nov. 26 for a hearing to address why he should not issue a writ to force the governor to release the records."
Nevada governor sued
"The Reno Gazette-Journal filed a public records lawsuit against Gov. Jim Gibbons on Tuesday, seeking a court order compelling Gibbons to release certain e-mail correspondence under Nevada's public records law.
The Carson City District Court lawsuit was filed after Gibbons' lawyer, Chris Nielsen, rejected a June 4 public records request from the newspaper for six months of e-mail from the governor's state account."
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