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TransparentNevada Lowlights List for Northern Nevada

1.  Three Washoe County Sheriff Deputies made more in overtime than in base pay in 2013.

2. Nine of Nevada’s highest paid 10 employees in 2013 were in Reno. This includes two UNR School of Medicine employees who each made over $1 million in 2013.

3. The Sparks city manager made $267,057.56, while the Reno city manager made $266,996.61.

4. The Reno-Tahoe Airport Authority President made $521,674.92. The Chief Operating Officer made $316,301.71.

5. Washoe County School District Superintendent was the highest paid superintendent in Nevada. Pedro Martinez made $358,190.52, while Pat Skorkowsky, the Clark County School District’s mid-year replacement for Dwight Jones, took home $327,312.94.

6. The legislative counsel for the Legislative Counsel Bureau made $243,236.03, including $83,951.67 in overtime. In all, LCB employees took home over $3.9 million in overtime in 2013.

7. 2,022 employees earned more than Gov. Sandoval’s $183,120.30 compensation package.

8. The President of the Reno/Sparks Convention and Visitor’s Authority made $343,899.67.

9. Carson City’s 11 highest paid employees, including the only six who made over $200,000, are firefighters.

10. The State of Nevada continues to defy Nevada’s Public Records Act by not releasing the names of 3,282 employees including game wardens, correctional officers, and agricultural enforcement officers.

11. Sparks has 87 fire department employees and spent $1.22 million in overtime, while Reno has 264 fire department employees and spent $1.73 million in overtime.

12. Five Reno police lieutenants took home more than $250,000 each in 2013.

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NPRI welcomes Nevada Legislature into its case against state’s Catalyst Fund subsidies

CARSON CITY — On behalf of its client, NPRI’s Center for Justice and Constitutional Litigation today filed a Non-Opposition welcoming the Nevada Legislature as a party in its lawsuit against the Governor’s Office of Economic Development, the State of Nevada and GOED Executive Director Steven Hill.

On March 24th, The Nevada Legislature filed a motion to intervene in the case, and after filing a non-opposition in the First Judicial District Court, CJCL Director and Chief Legal Officer Joseph Becker released the following comments:

We welcome the Legislature as a defendant in our lawsuit, which seeks to uphold Nevada’s Constitution by stopping the government from picking winners and losers in the economy.

For decades the Legislature acknowledged that Article 8, Sections 9 and 10, of the Nevada Constitution prohibited the state from providing subsidies to private businesses. In recognition of the clear words of the Constitution, the Legislature even tried three times, in 1992, 1996 and 2000, to amend the Constitution to allow subsidy schemes similar to the Catalyst Fund.

Voters, though, overwhelmingly rejected those proposals.

We look forward to discovering why legislative officials tried three times to amend the Constitution to allow schemes like the Catalyst Fund, but now insist that the Catalyst Fund is constitutional despite no change to the relevant constitutional provisions.

Article 8, Section 9, of the Nevada Constitution reads, “The State shall not donate or loan money, or its credit, subscribe to or be, interested in the Stock of any company, association, or corporation, except corporations formed for educational or charitable purposes.”

CJCL filed its lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the Catalyst Fund on Feb. 19, 2014. CJCL is representing Michael Little, a clean-energy entrepreneur, whose competitor, SolarCity, has received a commitment from GOED to provide it with a $1.2 million taxpayer-funded subsidy.

“In addition to being unconstitutional, the Catalyst Fund is fundamentally unjust, because it makes a business owner subsidize his competition,” Becker continued. “Furthermore, history has shown that companies receiving government handouts — like Solyndra, Abound Solar, Fisker and ThromboVision — often fail, personally enriching the politically connected but wasting hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars.”

Case documents:

The Center for Justice and Constitutional Litigation is a public-interest law organization that litigates when necessary to protect the fundamental rights of individuals as set forth in the state and federal constitutions.

Learn more about the Center for Justice and Constitutional Litigation and this case at http://npri.org/litigation/.

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Membership in Washoe Education Association falls to 60 percent following NPRI information campaign

RENO — One hundred and sixty-eight teachers left the Washoe Education Association, bringing its membership down to just 60.5 percent of teachers in the Washoe County School District, the Nevada Policy Research Institute announced today.

The drop followed NPRI's statewide campaign in summer 2013 to notify educators that they can opt out of their union by submitting written notice between July 1 and July 15. Prior to the summer of 2013, 2,499 of WCSD’s 3,984 teachers, or 62.7 percent, were part of the WEA. After the campaign, which saw union membership decline by 168, just 2,331 of 3,853 teachers, or 60.5 percent, are union members, according to public records provided by the school district.

In response to the news, Victor Joecks, NPRI's executive vice president, released the following comments.

Actions speak louder than words. Last summer, after NPRI informed teachers in the Washoe County School District that they have the ability to opt out of their union over 165 left the Washoe Education Association. Union membership fell over two percent and stands at just 60.5 percent of teachers.

This is the reason that union bosses limit the freedom teachers have to leave their union by only allowing teachers to opt out by submitting written notice between July 1 and July 15. Once teachers find out they have the ability to leave, many do.

Every teacher has their own unique reason for wanting to leave WEA. Some teachers believe they can spend their over $700 in dues better than a union boss. Some prefer low-cost alternatives, like the Association of American Educators, for liability insurance that's even better than the union's policy. Some don't support the teacher union’s efforts to raise taxes through the margin tax initiative.”

As a result of NPRI's informational campaign, WCSD teachers were able to keep $119,407 for themselves and their families that otherwise would have gone into the hands of union bosses.

After NPRI’s campaign informing teachers around the state of their ability to leave the teacher union, union membership fell in school districts throughout the state, including in Clark County School District, Pershing County School District, Nye County School District and Douglas County School District.

Joecks also announced that NPRI will continue to its efforts to let teachers know they can leave their union this summer between July 1 and July 15.

“Every teacher in Washoe County — and the state of Nevada — should be able to make the decision about union membership that's best for him or her,” said Joecks. “To do that, teachers have to know they have options. That's why NPRI is committed to do, and will do, more this year than ever before to let ever teacher in Nevada know when they have the ability to leave the union.

“Unlike union bosses, NPRI trusts teachers to make the decision about union membership that's best for them.”

Joecks added that the legislature should eliminate the ability of union bosses to hold teachers hostage by outlawing drop periods.

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NPRI opposes CCSD attempt to stall lawsuit seeking public-records transparency

CARSON CITY — At the Nevada Supreme Court today, the Nevada Policy Research Institute filed an Opposition to the Clark County School District’s second motion to extend the period the Court had set for CCSD to respond to NPRI’s demand that it follow the Nevada Public Records Act (NPRA).

NPRI is seeking a list of government-issued email addresses for government employees, specifically teachers employed by CCSD.

For the second time since NPRI’s Center for Justice and Constitutional Litigation (CJCL) filed its opening brief in the Nevada Supreme Court in mid-January, CCSD has waited until the 11th hour to ask the Court to extend the period it has been given to respond to the open-records case, claiming its team of attorneys is too busy with other matters. On March 20, the very day its response was due, CCSD filed for yet another 30-day extension. Previously, CCSD filed and the Court granted a 30-day extension.

Joseph Becker, director of NPRI’s Center for Justice and Constitutional Litigation, released the following statement after filing the opposition Monday morning:

The Clark County School District is already infamous for stalling public-records requests and now it is trying to use those same delay tactics with Nevada’s Supreme Court.

The Nevada Public Records Act provides for expedited treatment by the courts, and CCSD’s second refusal to answer the appeal in the allotted time period serves as the latest instance in the school district’s history of non-compliance with the NPRA. Continual delays serve no purpose but to postpone needed transparency.

What makes this last delay tactic even more outrageous is that the private firm representing CCSD has three attorneys on the case, at least 40 attorneys on staff in its Las Vegas office and, in 2013, CCSD itself had a legal team of at least 10 attorneys.

We urge the Court to reject CCSD’s latest delay attempt and to continue the Supreme Court’s strong defense of Nevada’s Public Records Act, most recently seen in its Public Employees’ Retirement System of Nevada v. Reno Newspapers, Inc. decision.

Becker added that the Supreme Court of Nevada has previously found that even email content from government officials’ accounts is subject to Nevada’s Public Records Act, and he noted the absurdity of CCSD claiming that government-provided email addresses for government employees are confidential.

In January, the American Civil Liberties Union of Nevada filed an amicus brief in support of NPRI’s case and Nevada’s public-records law.

Case documents:

The Center for Justice and Constitutional Litigation is a public-interest law organization that litigates when necessary to protect the fundamental rights of individuals as set forth in the state and federal constitutions.

Learn more about the Center for Justice and Constitutional Litigation and this case at http://npri.org/litigation/.

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February PERS payouts now available on TransparentNevada

LAS VEGAS — The second month of pension payout data released by Nevada PERS is now online and searchable at TransparentNevada.com/NVPERS, the Nevada Policy Research Institute announced today. Retiree payouts for February 2014 have been combined with January amounts and provide an even more complete picture of what retirees are making.

Eighty-nine percent of Nevada’s nearly 50,000 PERS retirees received the exact same amount in February as they did in January.

Of the 11 percent of retirees who received different amounts in January and February, 10 percent received more in February. The remaining 1 percent was broken between 0.7 percent who received less, and 0.3 percent who left or entered the system between the two months. Pensioners who received the same amount in January and February are identified by a check mark next to their payout amounts.

Responding to the new information, Andy Matthews, president of the Nevada Policy Research Institute, issued the following remarks:

Adding February payouts to TransparentNevada shows, yet again, why it’s imperative for PERS to fully comply with the Nevada Supreme Court’s order, rather than fight it, and release previous years and types of data. These PERS payouts show a system where payouts have spiraled out of control.

Combining January and February payouts reveals that over 1,000 retirees are poised to make more than $100,000 this year. More than 20 percent — 10,775 — are projected to receive more than Nevada’s median household income of $54,083 this year in retirement payments. Notably, some PERS retirees begin collecting “retirement” benefits in their 40s.

Even the information on TransparentNevada understates the benefits received in many cases, because these payouts do not include disability payouts or the cost of health benefits.

PERS is taxpayer-backed and terribly underfunded — according to normal accounting standards, its unfunded liability is over $40 billion. This is something that should not only concern taxpayers, but public retirees. As we are seeing in Detroit, in the face of bankruptcy, not even public pensions are safe.

Numerous retired public employees with high PERS payouts had the exact same gross payouts in January and February. These include:

  • Michael K. McClary, an assistant sheriff with Las Vegas Metro, whose $181,563.20 base pay in 2010 has turned into a projected 2014 pension of $208,797.72.
  • Gregory McCurdy, another assistant sheriff with Las Vegas Metro, who turned $174.267.60 in base pay in 2012 into a projected 2014 pension of $186,354.48.
  • Barbara Ginoulias, director of comprehensive planning for Clark County, who received $156,219.20 in base pay in 2008 and is on pace to receive $171,608.76 in 2014 pension payouts.

“Making more in retirement than your highest base salary shows either that employees are spiking their pensions or a pension system that is completely broken,” said Matthews. “It’s probably both, but we can’t confirm this until PERS releases more information. We urge Nevada courts to enforce the full spirit of the Supreme Court’s ruling and force PERS to fully comply with Nevada’s public-records law.”

Most of the projections of high-paying pensions highlighted by NPRI and the media when TransparentNevada published January payouts remain the same or have increased when accounting for the second month of data. For example:

  • Donald C. O'Shaughnessy, a former Clark County fire battalion chief, made $109,113.72 in base pay in 2009 but is projected to pocket pension payouts in 2014 of $238,772.16.
  • Randall Walker, former aviation director for Clark County, made $229,091.20 in base pay in 2012 and is on pace to collect $222,949.56 in pension payouts.
  • Current State Sen. Joyce Woodhouse is projected to receive $101,716.44 this year in retirement payouts.
  • Former Assembly speaker John Oceguera is projected to receive $120,137.40 in yearly payouts.
  • Las Vegas City Councilman Stavros Anthony is projected to receive $146,984.52.

PERS has pledged to provide NPRI with monthly payout data going forward. TransparentNevada and retirees' projected yearly payouts will be updated to reflect the new data, when available.

Since 2008, NPRI has operated TransparentNevada as a public service. Last year, it received over 1.98 million page views.

More information:

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NPRI sues Governor’s Office of Economic Development over Catalyst Fund subsidies

CARSON CITY — Nevada’s Catalyst Fund, administered by the Governor’s Office of Economic Development, provides unconstitutional taxpayer subsidies to private businesses, charges a new lawsuit filed today by NPRI’s Center for Justice and Constitutional Litigation.

CJCL filed the lawsuit on behalf of Michael Little, an alternative-energy entrepreneur and a taxpayer whose alternative-energy competitor, SolarCity, has received a commitment from GOED to provide it with a $1.2 million taxpayer-funded subsidy. Named defendants in the lawsuit include the State of Nevada, the Governor’s Office of Economic Development, and GOED Executive Director Steven Hill.

State subsidies to a private business, according to the complaint, violate Article 8, Sections 9 and 10, of the Nevada Constitution. Article 8, Section 9 reads, “The State shall not donate or loan money, or its credit, subscribe to or be, interested in the Stock of any company, association, or corporation, except corporations formed for educational or charitable purposes.”

“Nevada’s constitution clearly states that state government has no business picking winners and losers in the economy by subsidizing the favored,” said Joseph Becker, chief legal officer and director of the Center for Justice and Constitutional Litigation. “Subsidies from state government to private businesses are unconstitutional and directly harm both taxpayers and competing businesses.

“Fully aware that Nevada’s constitution prohibits business subsidies by state government, politicians have tried to circumvent this constitutional prohibition by routing Catalyst Fund payments through local government agencies that it itself authorized to provide handouts. But GOED is still selecting and approving the subsidy-fund recipients and may not contract with or delegate to others authority it itself does not have.

“Having a so-called regional development authority or a local government give money it received from the state to a private business doesn’t change the fact that state taxpayer dollars are going to private businesses in violation of Nevada’s constitution,” said Becker.

In 1992, 1996 and 2000, Nevada voters overwhelmingly rejected proposed constitutional amendments that would have allowed government loans or gifts to, or so-called “investments” in, private businesses.

“Unable to get the voting public to change Nevada’s constitution, politicians have resorted to law-circumventing pass-through entities to dole out these subsidies. Nevada’s constitutional protections will be rendered meaningless if state politicians can avoid them by creating a local government agency for the express purpose of taking constitutionally prohibited actions,” said Becker.

“We urge the court to uphold and defend Nevada’s constitution by holding that subsidies through the Catalyst Fund are unconstitutional.”

Becker also noted that forcing a business to subsidize its competitor is fundamentally unjust and that similar programs in other states have led to charges of political favoritism.

“Taxpayers, at the federal level and in states like Texas, have given hundreds of millions in loans and subsidies to the companies of politically connected donors,” said Becker. “After receiving taxpayer handouts, numerous companies, including Solyndra, Abound Solar, Fiskar and ThromboVision, have gone belly-up. Along with being unconstitutional and unjust, GOED subsidies are bad economics.”

The lawsuit calls for the court to:

  • Declare all defendants, in operating the Catalyst Fund, are violating the Nevada Constitution
  • Enjoin all defendants from continuing the Catalyst Fund program or any such program that subsidizes private entities under the guise of economic development or any such label

Case documents:

The Center for Justice and Constitutional Litigation is a public-interest law organization that litigates when necessary to protect the fundamental rights of individuals as set forth in the state and federal constitutions.

Learn more about the Center for Justice and Constitutional Litigation and this case at http://npri.org/litigation/.

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Media Mentions

All Media Mentions

CCSD Administrators Hiring Outpaces Teachers over Past Decade

Policy director, Geoff Lawrence, was interviewed about CCSD’s hiring trend.

This North Las Vegas official quit in May. He made $1M anyway

Las Vegas Review-Journal article featuring interview with Policy Director, Geoff Lawrence

November Could Determine Future of Ranked Choice Voting in US Elections

Daily Signal article featuring quotes by Nevada Policy President, John Tsarpalas

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