' 4 Thursday, July 31, 1997 Pahrump Valley Gazette
Bradshaw and Nicholson; o peas in a pod
There is a strange thing about the process that was used to select
the Nye County Manager, Les Bradshaw, and his special assistant,
Rachel Nicholson. The strange thing about the process is that there
wasn't any. These two people were appointed to the highest paid
positions in Nye County government without the jobs even being
advertised in a local paper. You can't even fill a part-time position
for maintenance at the park without advertising it. That is, of course,
if you want to abide by Nevada statute.
To top it off Nicholson's position was created out of thin air
within days, not weeks, of her being fired from her job at the district
attorney's office. This action, which was apparently taken in total
and complete violation of Nevada statutes, took place when the
county was locked down in a hiring freeze back in the days when the
Nye County Commission was still pretending that it cared about
running a balanced budget.
It seems to be more than obvious that a few key players have
made an arbitrary decision that there is no way we, or at least they,
can afford to not have Bradshaw and Nicholson on the county
payroll.
When the truth comes out you will find just the opposite to be
title.
Bradshaw and Nicholson, along with these key players, are
THIS MAN'S OPINION
code fendants in lawsuits that have exposed Nye County to damages
in the tens of millions of dollars. These lawsuits have merit and the
high priced lawyers out of Los Angeles and San Francisco that are
representing the plaintiffs are not doing so just to pass the time of
day.
In some of these cases underlying lawsuits have already been
won by the plaintiffs by summary judgements granted by the federal
court in Las Vegas.
For those readers who may not be aware: summary judgements
are made and granted only in
cases that are so clear and
concise that the court can rule
on the facts presented in pre-
trial briefs without the case
ever going to trial.
Having served on a "blue
ribbon committee" to select
candidates for the city man-
ager position for the city of Henderson, Nevada back in the mid-
1970s I am somewhat familiar with how the hiring process works for
a high profile position when it works as intended. Each of the five
members on the Henderson City Council selected a person from the
community to sit on the selection committee. The job was advertised
nationwide and over 170 applicants responded with a resume.
Each of the committee members studied the resumes at home and
selected what they felt were the top ten people out of all resumes
submitted. A week later we had our first meeting. We shared our
opinions with each other and it was decided to take a weighted vote.
A person's top choice for the job was given 10 points - down.to one
point for their tenth pick. The vote was taken and all the information
on everyone's ballot was shared with everyone else.
Not surprisingly, some of the same people showed up on just
about everyone's ballot. The weighted vote showed some surprising
irregularities to this rule. It was beautiful the way it worked because
candidates representing special interest groups showed up like a sore
thumb. For instance one of the committee members was well known
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for being heavily involved with his church. His number one pick was
completely unqualified for the job but was an active member for the
same church denomination. Compared to the quality of candidates
we had to choose from this person was an absolutely horrible choice.
There were a couple of other examples of equally bad picks and they
stood out just as conspicuously according to experience.
We adjourned the meeting and went home to review our picks
and study each others choices. Of course any candidate that had
received no votes was by then disqualified.
A few days later we met again.
At this second and last meeting
we pulled the weight off the
votes.
We cast our ballots and tal-
lied up the points. The cream
came instantly to the top. We
presented our top three picks to
the city council to choose from
in selecting their new city man-
ager. It would have been impos-
sible for them to make a bad
choice. All three were diamonds.
One thing you have to re-
member is that these kinds of people don't last forever. It is almost
impossible to stop them or even slow them down. They will stay long
enough to establish a track record of excellence and then move on to
what they consider new, better and bigger challenges. But as they
climb that ladder, it is a recognized requitemon! at they stop and
give 150 percent at cache rung ]ilon " way.. It i aprice that mt
be paid in order to get to:m. :tl'" mi t to go.
Communities like P ae.s like Nye could
should be benefiting enor'ously ffoi!x sub,.h a siation. It is sad but
tru 9 that Nye County is not. -" .
At the state level in Nevada, Nye County government is consid-
ered nothing more than a joke, and a bad joke at that. Within the last
two weeks four county employees have quit their jobs, allegedly
because they no longer wisfied, or felt they could afford, to be
associated with Nye County government. These people left well
paid positions with excellent benefits. Two of them are now em-
ployed at less than half their previous salary with little or no benefits.
It is said they are not sorry to be gone. All four worked under the
county manager and his special assistant's supervision.
Since Bradshaw and Nicholson are both attorneys, and it is a well
known fact that they both give legal advice to the Nye County
Commission both in public and in private, it is a legitimate question
to ask what type of quality is attached to the advice so received?
Other than heing assured that they will he told whatever it is that they
wish to be told, that's about it. I could give nearly countless examples
of what I am talking about. Here is one:
In mid-1995 the commission hired Nicholson away from tt
district attorney s office and #[aff¢.l i. newly created " : €
posmon
called "special counsel to the commission,, or some such thing. The
job description included duties that were the sole responsibility of
the district attorney's office according to the Nevada Constitutio
• 1 challenged this action in a formal written complaint to th
district attorney and the matter was agendized to be heard at the Nye
County Co/nmission meeting. Aiegal brief was prepared in rebuttal
to my position and made part of the backup material available to the
commission for this ffgiteaL Although the legal brief was
unsigned, it obviously came from the Nye County administration
and since Bradshaw and. Nicholson were the only two lawyers
working in administration, it is safe to assume that one or both of
them prepared it.
The legal briefs argument was based on an attorney general's
opinion and, if memory services me correctly, it was AGO-80-3%
Someone even had the gall to include a copy of the AGO as part of
the brief. The AGO in que-,ion qomp[edely hacked my position and[
. #t tOnm. w also based on an Azona
Supreme Court decision that was precisely on point to the issue
involved. Later on Dismct Attorney Bob Beckett, issued a written
medm baoking my'poSition, In actuality there was little else
any competent attorney could have done.
While Bradshaw pulls down a salary that eclipses that of the
governor of the state- this even after the governor recently received
a hefty pay increase - and Nicholson's six figure cost tothe county
is not far behind, it is reputed by people in positions to know that a
large percentage of their time is spent trying to figure out how to
defend themselves in upcoming l:ourt cases.
If the past is a guide to the future, they will both he more than
willing to spend the county's last dime in this hopeless cause.
That is this man's opinion.
Copydht 1997 by Blent Mathewson
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