• " Pahrump Valley Gazette, Thursday, J'anuary 30, 97 9
D-Day for Nicholson - February 4, 1997
by Brent Mathewson
At the upcoming meeting of the Nye County Commission,
to be held in Tonopah on February 4, 1997, the commission will
be faced with a decision of some interest to the special assistant
to the Nye County Manager, Rachel Nicholson, and of enor-
mous importance to all citizens of Nye County.
The agenda item won't look like much on the surface. It will
read something like - "discussion and decision regarding
transfer of funds from the District Attorney's Office to Nye
County Administration".
Nye County Manager, Les Bradshaw, has stated in the past,
both verbally and in print, that approval of this item would
"memorialize", which means to commemorate or give honor
to, is interesting upon examination.
The referred action taken by the commission on October 1,
1996 was approval of an item buried deep in the consent agenda
under the line item "personnel actions" and identified a transfer
taking place from the D.A.'s office to county administration.
The person being transferred was Rachel Nicholson.
A reasonable person would conclude that this buried
agenda item was meant to blur, confuse and negate action
taken on September 17, 1996 when the commission retused
to approve the newly created high priced position if it was
going to be funded out of the Nye County General Fund. The
position was then approved under the condition that it be
funded out of Yucca Mountain grant money with Bradshaw
assuring the commission that this could be an ideal situation.
Rachel's position stands alone as the only newly created
position in Nye County since a resolution was passed earlier
in 1996 imposing a strict hiring freeze due to severe and
ongoing budget difficulties that have already approached
crisis level.
Highly placed Yucca Mountain officials went on record
almost immediately after being approached and stated verbally
and in writing that there was no possible way that Nicholson's
salary could be justified and paid out of Yucca Mountain grant
money. At the very most, and only occasionally, 20% of the
expense of her salary could be absorbed by Yucca Mountain
Repository monies. In spite of this fact Nicholson' s salary from
September 1 l, 1996 to October 6, 1996 was paid 100% out of
Yucca Mountain funds in violation of the terms of the grant.
Could it be possible that his alleged misappropriation of Yucca
Mountain grant money has anything to do with the fact that a
4 million dollar grant that was applied for in mid-1996 has
never yet been approved by the federal government? Informa-
tion from a highly reliable source indicates that misappropria-
tion of Yucca Mountain grant money goes back on a continu-
ous basis to 1992. If these allegations were to be pursued by the
federal government and proved to be correct, all federal grant
money coming into Nye County could be placed in jeopardy.
Salary paid to Nicholson out of the Nye County General
Fund since October 6, 1996 is a felony criminal violation of
Nevada statutes and this has been brought to the attention of the
commission some time ago through a formal district attorney's
opinion written by D.A. Bob Beckett and staff at the request of
former District 3 Commissioner, Jeff Taguchi.
The Nye County citizen deserves to be made fully aware
that a tidal wave of debt is sweeping towards Nye County.
Actions taken arid n?t taken by the Nye County manager and
his special assistant appear to place them at the vortex of the
cause of events that are unfolding and will continue to unfold
in the near and immediate future.
The crest of the wave broke on January 7, 1997 when the
entire Nye County Commission sat dumbfounded and in shock
as Bradshaw informed them that the Nye County group insur-
ance fund was facing an immediate 1 million dollar shortfall
that would have to be addressed in February of this year. In
December 1996, when Bradshaw requested and received ap-
proval of an illegal PETT fund loan of $250,000 to shore up this
account not a word was uttered regarding this upcoming chaos
of the county budget. A check of county records and conversa-
tion with county personnel revealed that this problem could and
should have been easily identifiable six months ago. Is anybody
asking whether the commission, let alone the county citizen, is
getting their money's worth for their high priced county
manager and his equally high priced special assistant?
To ignore the ramifications of the upcoming Bill Offutt
lawsuits against the county, precipitated by alleged actions by
the previous Nye County manager, is like pretending to be able
to hide Mount Vesuvius inside the Amargosa Community
Center. Anyone who is aware of even 2% of the documented
evidence that would come to light should this case ever go to
trial knows that it describes a man that is completely and totally
morally bankrupt. Any Nye
County commissioner that is
not informed to this degree in
this matter simply does not
wish to be informed.
Investigative journalism by
its very nature requires a writer
from time to time to gain ac-
cess to information that can-
not, will not, should not and
will never be divulged by any
person that has any respect for
the creed or a code of ethics.
What I can say is that it is the general consensus of those
most familiar with the Bill Offutt lawsuits that these cases will
never be allowed to go to trial and to do otherwise would only
needlessly extend and magnify a tragedy that has already
exceeded any realm of reason. These same people also share a
consensus opinion that Nicholson's apparent incapability or
refusal to act in an appropriate manner when first informed of
Offutt's alleged actions in early 1994 increased Nye County's
exposure to lability a thousand fold.
In the future decades as we, who are still around, look back
it will be obvious that the Bill Offutt lawsuits were not the straw
that broke the financial back of Nye County• One hundred
thousand pounds of bricks dropped on the back of a mortally
crippled and dying goat would be more like it. The Offutt
lawsuit settlement will in the end be paid by the county's
general insurance policy and therein lies the rob.
Nye County participates in an insurance "pool" which
includes most other counties in Nevada. The rates paid into the
This Man's Opinion
by Brent Mathewson
"pool" depend on your "driving record"
just like car insurance. Nye County's
driving record is already atrocious and
as a direct result of this fact the premium
paid in 1996 of $412,000 reflected a 65% increase of the
amount paid in 1995 which was right at $250,000. At the same
time the "deductible" fee of $10,000 that was required to be
paid to the pool with each claim submitted in 1995 was
increased to $25,000 in 1996.
To state that the county's driving record has deteriorated
since the adjustment in the premium made back in 1996 is an
understatement of vast proportions. The county's situation is
worse than that of a person with two DUI' s including a fatality.
When the county's general insurance premium next comes up
for renegotiation Nye County will be thrown out of the pool like
a bad penny, or a rotten apple if you prefer. For all intents and
purposes the county will become uninsurable. It will be forced
to go to someone like Lloyds of London and the cost of the
premium will hit the stratosphere. A conservative estimate
would be around 4 million dollars a year.
Again, let me say that the Offutt lawsuits are not what will
break the camel's back, for we were headed there anyway.
Lawsuits against Nye County are virtually so numerous that no
one is able to keep track of them. A review of the causes behind
them reveals a common factor. That factor is an apparent
arrogance if not incompetence or apparent criminal action
reflected in decisions made by the Nye County Commission
with the advice and consent of the Nye County Manager and
staff. I will give one example of multitudes I could choose from.
On July 18, 1995 the Nye County Commission fired Mark
Zane, an employee of district attorney, Bob Beckett, who was
working as a special investigator in the D.A.'s office. Zane had
a sterling 14 year work record as a Nye County employee.
Beckett had gone before the commission requesting a 30 day
extension to an unpaid 30 day leave of absence previously
granted by the commission in regards to Zane. The unpaid
leave of absence was the result of an agreement between
Beckett and Zane that would relieve a budget difficulty in
Beckett's office. The commission voted to refuse Beckett's
request and summarily fired Zane out from beneath Beckett
instead. The decision was appealed by Zane and upheld by the
commission. Zane brought suit against the county. In 1996,
when the commission voted to turn the suit over to the insur-
ance pool rather than pay the claim, Rachel Nicholson advised
the commission that, "our attorneys (meaning the attorneys
representing the insurance pool) have advised us that we have
a solid case in this matter. Mark Zane just walked out of his
office one day and never re-
turned and now he has filed this
ridiculous claim against the
county." The truth of the matter
might have something to do
with the fact that Zane is a highly
intelligent person that happens
to know where most if not all
the skeletons are buried in Nye
County government.
Just because Nye County is
in all probability irrevocably
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headed for bankruptcy, do not expect the Nye County Commis-
sion to address the problem head-on. If past actions taken and
not taken regarding the Nye Regional Medical Center in
Tonopah - which is surely going under - are any indication of
what to expect, then the tidal wave of debt which is now
cresting will drown the entire county before the wake up call is
acknowledged. Some time ago one commissioner, to his credit,
foresaw what was inevitably going to financially happen to the
hospital in Tonopah. If his warning calls had been heeded as
much as a year ago millions of dollars of taxpayers' money
would have been saved and the good people of Tonopah would
now be on their way to finding workable solutions to their
health care problems instead of slipping deeper into the inevi-
table trap of bankruptcy. Giving credit where it is due, that
commission's name is Cameron McRae.
By now the reader may think that I have gotten off the
subject matter that this article started out with. That is not true.
The material presented has been offered in an effort to show
where we end up when high government officials use slight of
hand, diversionary tactics, illusion and outright lies in order to
mislead us and guide us down pathways that end up as blind
alleys.
Bradshaw says that be wants the commission to memorial-
ize an action taken by the commission on October 1, 1996.
What he means is that he wants the commission to legalize
felony actions that took place in his office in regards to Rachel
Nicholson's salary that are still ongoing today.
Somehow the Nye County citizen is expected to believe that
we owe Rachel Nicholson some enormous debt of gratitude
and that her employment should be continued at any cost.
Any cost? With the shape the county is in any cost is too
high.
That is this man's opinion.
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