8 Thursday, November 20, 1997 Pahrump Valley Gazette
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Taxation investigation moves forward
In a move that is reminiscent of one trying to hide the proverbial
elephant under a do/ly, the Nye County Commission along with the
Nye County Manager, Les Bradshaw and his assistant, Rachel
Nicholson, are pretending that the State of Nevada Department of
Taxation's preliminary review/investigation into alleged fiscal
improprieties, up to and including criminal activity at the highest
levels in Nye County government, is a nonevent.
This pretension has been exacerbated by the fact that no
newsprint media in Nye County, of which there are several, other
than the Pahrump Valley Gazette has devoted a single column inch
to this unfolding drama.
While the magnitude of the story is drawing interest from
if Beckett had not fired her he could have conceivably faced
disciplinary action for not abiding by his oath of office. Several
days after Nicholson got fired the Nye County Commission cre-
ated a new position called "Special Assistant to the Nye County
Manager." There was a formal county-wide hiring freeze in place
at that time. The commission voted to hire Rachel to fill the
position and have her pay being retroactive to that action. In fact
her pay was to begin, by agreement of the commission, from the
very moment of her firing by Beckett.
At the time the commission created this new position the
commissioners voted to refuse to fund it out of the Nye County
general fund. The Nye County Manager, Les Bradshaw, informed
journalists in San Francisco, Los
Angeles and Sacramento, Cali- I
f°rnia' the C°un'Y newspa- T M
I
per, other than the PVG are sit- HIS AN'S ON
ling on their hands.
One might just as well be- by Brent Mathewson
lieve that you could send your
daughter down the aisle wearing --
a virgin white bridal gown while
being eight months pregnant and not draw a raised eyebrow from
the commission that they could fund
the position out of Yucca Moun-
tain grant money. The commission
voted to do so.
A while later a person or per-
sons got in the county records and
caused the word "void" to be writ-
ten across the document signed by
Beckett when he fired Nicholson.
At the same time a new document,
those in attendance.
The states' interest as to the fiscal condition of Nye County was
first aroused during an investigation of the financial condition of
Nye Regional Medical Center (NRMC) that took place in the early
part of this year. That investigation led to the state taking over
complete financial control of NRMC. Prior to the state taking
control of the hospital in Tonopah, NRMC was draining a quarter
of a million dollars a month from the Nye County treasury in over-
budgeted expenses.
Since the first day that the state wrested control of NRMC from
Nye County, this facility has not taken one unbudgeted dime from
the Nye County treasury. Prior to the state usurping control of
NRMC, the Nye County Commission held the reins of responsibil-
ity for this whirlpool of debt that had been created.
In spite of this fact, an uninformed reader in the act of browsing
through supposedly hard news coverage in some Nye County
newspapers of late is left with the impression that somehow the
Nye County Commissioners are supposed to be the heroes and
given credit for this stoppage of the incredible waste of taxpayers'
money that was taking place at NRMC. Reportage of this type is
known as putting a "spin" on a story and if the reader is less than
fully informed it can have the effect of turning black into white.
According to written statements made by personnel at the
Nevada State Department of Taxation, an article published under
my byline "This Man's Opinion" and titled, "Only in Nye - When
an Audit is not an Audit," was at least a catalyst that helped move
the state's present investigation into alleged fiscal improprieties
taking place in Nye County forward. Whether I am supposed to
take the credit or the blame for this state of affairs, I guess, depends
upon your point of views.
A preliminary review being conducted by the Department of
Taxation began in earnest in early October, 1997 and is tentatively
scheduled to be completed by November 30, 1997. Copious
amounts of heavily documented material have poured into the
offices of the Department of Taxation to assist that departments
personnel in unraveling the mysteries of Nye County's true fiscal
condition and the alleged illegal activities that led us to this point
in time.
Several people are anxiously waiting in the wings to supply
more. Nye County citizens that have come forward to supply the
Department of Taxation with information and express their con-
ecru, encouragement and appreciation during this preliminary/
review stage of the investigation include the commonest of citi-
zens, Nye County personnel, both elected and appointed, and
business people who have been seriously aggrieved and suffered
enormous economic loss because they are not among the chosen
few that Nye County insists that it does the vast bulk of its business
with.
Much of the information that has been given to the Department
of Taxation, and some that is still waiting to be given, I happen to
be privy to. In order to not impede, prejudge or prejudice decisions
to be made by state personnel in the course of the preliminary/
review I will say little about most of it at this time.
However, in a free society that supposedly has access to a free
press, it is not reasonable or necessary for the citizens to be kept in
the dark when matters of this magnitude of importance are being
decided.
Some of the documented material being looked at by the
Department of Taxation has been covered in previous columns by
this writer. Much of it has not.
One item of interest that miy perk your imagination. Some
readers will remember that back in the fall of 1996 the Nye County
District attorney, Bob Beckett, fired his chief civil deputy, Rachel
Nieholson. This oceurred I believe on about September 11, 1996.
Deputy D.A.s are "at will" employees. This issue was decided
some time ago by the Nevada Supreme Court and is acknowledged
by almost all attorneys in Nevada that know how to read a law
book.
The situation that led up to Nicholson's dismissal was such that
signed by no one, was entered into
the record stating that Nicholson
had been "transferred" to county
administration. At the request of
then Nye county Commissioner, Jeff Taguchi, Beckett wrote a
formal district attorney's opinion informing the commission that
the alterations that had been done to these county documents were
possibly criminal and that class "C" felony violations of the law
may have taken place.
Beckett's opinion was worded in such a manner as to put the
commissioners on full alert that serious violations of Nevada law
were apparently taking place because of this fiasco, and that
remedial action should be taken immediately to rectify the prob-
lem. Included in Beckett's opinion was also documented informa-
tion that Nicholson's position could not be legally funded out of
Yucca Mountain grant money which was contrary to the advice
given to them by the county Manager, Les Bradshaw, at the time
the position was created retroactively.
The commissioner's response to Beckett's opinion and advice
was to do nothing. Another thing that had come to light at about this
time was that Nicholson was now being paid her $100,000 salary
out of the Nye County general fund which was exactly what the
commission had voted to refuse to allow at the time that the
position was created in direct violation of their own resolution No.
96-13.
A key question in this matter is, "How was Nicholson suddenly
able to begin being paid out of the Nye County general fund
account when such an action was in direct violation of a vote by the
commission?" Who gave the order? Who signed the paperwork
authorizing an action that would have to be considered illegal by
any reasonable thinking person?
The answer to that question happens to be just a very small part
of a great mound of evidence presently being sifted through by the
Department of Taxation in its preliminary/review investigation. I
happen to have a copy of this county document in my possession.
It is in the form of an interoffice memo from Rachel Nicholson to
Donna Motis. Nicholson has initialed the memo authorizing the
requested action. The subject of the memo is: Funding for special
assistant position. The memo is dated October 21, 1996. The last
paragraph of the memo reads: "For purposes of ease of payroll
bookkeeping, please fund the position from administration on a bi-
weekly basis. Then, quarterly, repository will reimburse adminis-
tration for the appropriate portion of the salary."
Because of the amount of information that the Department of
Taxation is attempting to deal with in this matter the tentative
November 30, 1997 date to wrap up the preliminary/review stage
of this investigation may not be met.
When the preliminary/review stage is completed recommenda-
tions will be made to the Department of Taxation as to what actions
the review team thinks may be appropriate.
Recommendations which may be made includethe following.
1. That hearings be conducted to decide whether a severe financial
emergency exists in Nye County. The results of such a hearing
could cause the state to take over financial control of Nye County.
This is, in fac 4, what occurred after such a hearing involving the
financial condition at NRMC.
2. That information gathered during the preliminary review be
turned over to the Attorney General's office for possible prosecu-
tion.
3. That a grand jury be impaneled and staffed so that a more
thorough investigation can be funded and any appropriate prosecu-
tion move forward.
4. That a copy of the preliminary/review investigation be
forwarded to the Nevada Commission on Ethics for consideration
of appropriate action by the body.
If there is anyone in Nye County that thinks that "none of the
above" will take place, you're just whistling in the dark.
That is this man's opinion.
copyright 1997 by Brent Mathewson
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