MINUTES OF MEETING
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON GOVERNMENT AFFAIRS
Sixty-seventh Session
June 11, 1993
The Assembly Committee on Government Affairs was called to order by Chairman Val Z. Garner at 8:11 a.m. Friday, June 11, 1993, in Room 330 of the Legislative Building, Carson City, Nevada. Exhibit A is the Meeting Agenda. Exhibit B is the Attendance Roster.
COMMITTEE MEMBERS PRESENT:
Mr. Val Z. Garner, Chairman
Mr. Rick C. Bennett, Vice Chairman
Mrs. Kathy M. Augustine
Mr. Douglas A. Bache
Mrs. Marcia de Braga
Mr. Pete Ernaut
Mrs. Vivian L. Freeman
Mr. Lynn Hettrick
Mrs. Erin Kenny
Mrs. Joan A. Lambert
Mr. James W. McGaughey
Mr. Roy Neighbors
Mrs. Gene W. Segerblom
Mr. Wendell P. Williams
COMMITTEE MEMBERS ABSENT:
None.
GUEST LEGISLATORS PRESENT:
None.
STAFF MEMBERS PRESENT:
Mrs. Dana Bennett, Senior Research Analyst.
OTHERS PRESENT:
Mr. Mike Johaneson, Service Employees International Union (SEIU); Ms. Debbie Cahill, State of Nevada Employees Association; Mr. Bob Gagnier, Executive Director of State of Nevada Employees Association; Mr. Brian Chally, Deputy Attorney General and member of State Bar Administrative Law Committee; Mr. Mike Soumbeniotis, Attorney for Allison, MacKenzie, Hartman, Soumbeniotis & Russell, Ltd.; Councilman Arnie Adamsen, City of Las Vegas; Mr. Marvin Leavitt, City of Las Vegas; Ms. Barbara Buckley, Nevada Legal Services; Mr. Bob Gholson, Deputy Executive Director of Las Vegas Housing Authority; Mr. Roger Trounday, Chairman of the Board of First Western Savings Bank; Ms. Anita Laruy, City of North Las Vegas; Mr. Andy Maline, Plaster Development; Ms. Lisa Foster, City of Sparks; Mr. Ernest Nielson, Washoe Legal Services; Ms. Barbara McKenzie, City of Reno; Mr. David Morton, Executive Director of Reno Housing Authority; Ms. Joyce Newman, Utilities Shareholder's Association; Mr. Perry Whitt, Utilities Shareholder's Association; Mr. John Mendoza, Chairman of Public Service Commission; Ms. Madelyn Shipman, Chief Civil Deputy for City of Reno; Mr. Larry Dennison, Chairman of Reno Civil Service Commission; Mr. Glenn Taylor, Affirmative Action Officer for City of Reno; Mr. Ric Bailey, Chief Examiner for City of Reno Civil Service Commission; Mr. Marty Richard, Fire Chief for City of Reno; Mr. Ernest Nielsen, Washoe Legal Services; Mr. Mark Balen, Professional Firefighters of Nevada; Mr. Chuck Laking, President of Reno Firefighters Association; Mr. John Johnson, Vice President of Local Firefighters; Ms. Paula Treat, Peace Officer's Research Association of Nevada (PORAN); Detective Todd Shipley, Reno Police Protective Association.
SENATE BILL 309 - Grants less populous counties more flexibility in using certain money received for economic development and tourism.
At Chairman Garner's request Mrs. Dana Bennett, Senior Research Analyst, reviewed SB 309, indicating it had been supported by Lincoln and Eureka counties and some smaller communities. She said some opposition had been expressed by the Economic Development Commission and a letter of opposition from Lt. Governor Sue Wagner was supplied. Mrs. Bennett reminded Chairman Garner he had stated the committee would consider action on the bill after he spoke with the Lt. Governor.
Chairman Garner said as the concerns of the Lt. Governor had been addressed and there were no proposed amendments to the bill he would entertain a motion to do pass AB 309.
ASSEMBLYMAN SEGERBLOM MOVED TO DO PASS A.B. 309.
ASSEMBLYMAN DE BRAGA SECONDED THE MOTION.
THE MOTION CARRIED. Assemblyman Freeman was not present for the vote.
Chairman Garner requested Mrs. de Braga handle the bill on the floor.
SENATE BILL 363 - Revises requirements for approval by board of directors of district for control of floods of certain projects, improvements and proposals relating to control of floods.
Mrs. Dana Bennett explained SB 363 was presented by the Las Vegas Valley Flood Control District and no opposition had been expressed to the bill during testimony, but she said there had been some concerns from the committee. She said Chairman Garner had requested Mr. McGaughey to find out if the bill was acceptable to the cities involved.
Mr. McGaughey indicated Mrs. Valentine had visited with the other local governments in Clark County and they had agreed the new make-up of voting would be acceptable to all.
ASSEMBLYMAN MCGAUGHEY MOVED TO DO PASS S.B. 363.
ASSEMBLYMAN BENNETT SECONDED THE MOTION.
THE MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY.
Chairman Garner requested Mr. McGaughey handle SB 363 on the floor.
ASSEMBLY BILL 703 - Limits certain types of surveillance of public employees at place of employment.
Mr. Mike Johaneson, Service Employees International Union (SEIU), testified AB 703 was a very narrowly focused bill which provided that public employers could not use spy cameras to monitor employees' activities unless there was a court order allowing such activity or the employees were informed of the monitoring.
Mr. Johaneson said the need for the legislation arose from the recent incident of a surveillance camera being discovered in the changing room at the Reno Department of Highways (NDOT) shop. He indicated Garth Dull, the head of NDOT, had been cooperative in working out the bill, and that particular incident could be set aside as being resolved. However, it brought forth the need to look at and clarify the issue as there was confusion as to the legality of surveillance cameras. Mr. Johaneson said the Attorney General had issued an order that, failing legislation, in her opinion a surveillance camera could be placed in any employee changing room or other place involving public employees without cause or court order. He stressed this bill would prohibit that.
Mr. Johaneson mentioned Mr. Gagnier had found some areas of concern and had proposed amendments (Exhibit C) to address those areas. He said there should be a more specific statement on page 1 line 4 relating to "without the employees knowledge." Mr. Johaneson pointed out it was not the intent to stop using surveillance where it was proper and obviously if a court had evidence of criminal activity, surveillance would be useful. He also indicated subsection (b) under Section 1 should be deleted.
Ms. Debbie Cahill State of Nevada Employees Association (SNEA), testified for the record in favor of AB 703.
Mr. Bob Gagnier, Executive Director of SNEA, testified in favor of AB 703 and commented there was another bill, SB 422, which would have an amendment out momentarily. He thought the hearing on that bill pointed out the real need for this legislation. Mr. Gagnier maintained SNEA was not aware state government had become so intrusive in the lives of its employees until the hearing on SB 422. Mr. Gagnier revealed there had been previous incidents of surveillance by the state which had not been discovered. He said the Attorney General's written response stated a court order was not necessary if surveillance was to be in a common area.
Mr. Gagnier said AB 703 differed from the Senate bill in a couple of ways and hoped with the amendment (Exhibit C) part of the problems could be taken care of. Mr. Gagnier pointed out there was a typographical error on his amendment, the last line, "delete sub-section (b)" should read "delete sub-section (a)." He described the changes the amendment would make to AB 703.
Mrs. Freeman questioned if surveillance had been common practice in various agencies over the years, had the surveillance presented evidence of criminal activity or anything of major concern.
Mr. Gagnier replied he did not recall any testimony in the Senate hearing indicating criminality or anything of consequence had been discovered through such surveillance. He said there might have been, but he did not think so. Mr. Gagnier further pointed out the agency which had used surveillance the most did not testify on the bill in the Senate.
There being no further testimony Chairman Garner requested a motion to amend and do pass.
ASSEMBLYMAN HETTRICK MOVED TO AMEND AND DO PASS A.B. 703.
ASSEMBLYMAN WILLIAMS SECONDED THE MOTION.
THE MOTION CARRIED. Assemblymen Augustine and Neighbors were not present for the vote.
Chairman Garner requested Mr. Williams handle the bill on the floor.
ASSEMBLY BILL 707 - Makes various changes related to administrative law.
Mr. Brian Chally, Deputy Attorney General and member of State Bar Administrative Law Committee, briefly explained the committee was a non-partisan group made up of public and private attorneys whose purpose was to educate on the Administrative Procedures Act (APA). He indicated there were amendments which Mr. Soumbeniotis wished to propose (Exhibit D). Mr. Chally reviewed the bill and the changes the amendments would make.
Mr. Chally indicated there were actually two amendments they wished to propose, one would be a new section NRS 233B.1211 and the other would be a change in NRS 233B.125 and they were just a reorganization of existing language that should make it easier for people to read and use the APA.
Mr. Mike Soumbeniotis, Attorney for Allison, MacKenzie, Hartman, Soumbeniotis & Russell, Ltd., testified the provisions of NRS 233B had been worked on and felt AB 707 went a long way in clarifying NRS 233B. He indicated the law committee also believed the amendments Mr. Chally had provided should be incorporated in the statute and felt it would be helpful to the administrative agencies and the people who practiced before them.
There being no further testimony Chairman Garner indicated as the amendments were quite extensive, action by committee would be taken on June 14, 1993 to allow committee members to review them. Chairman Garner closed the hearing on AB 707.
ASSEMBLY BILL 708 - Makes various changes concerning low-income housing.
Councilman Arnie Adamsen, City of Las Vegas, testified the City of Las Vegas was in favor of AB 708 (Exhibit E).
Mr. Marvin Leavitt, City of Las Vegas, proposed an amendment to AB 708 (Exhibit F), and indicated since the bill was originally prepared for introduction, representatives of the city of Las Vegas had met with various other cities and groups interested in the bill and the proposed amendment should eliminate some concerns which had been expressed by those entities. Mr. Leavitt reviewed the amendment.
Ms. Barbara Buckley, Nevada Legal Services, testified in favor of AB 708 (Exhibit G).
Mrs. Segerblom asked if there was land set aside for the housing. Ms. Buckley replied the land could come from a variety of sources. One of the pieces of land the community had recently obtained came from the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) which had given it at a reduced cost. Ms. Buckley said Congressman Bilbray was trying to create an amendment whereby the BLM would give land at the cost of a dollar so the projects could be built more affordably. Ms. Buckley gave other examples of possible land acquisition.
Mr. Bob Gholson, Deputy Executive Director of Las Vegas Housing Authority, testified in wholehearted support of AB 708. He gave a brief background of his extensive experience in housing and indicated he was quite concerned with the problems of housing.
Mr. Roger Trounday, Chairman of the Board of First Western Savings Bank, testified his bank had been very active in the program and supported AB 708 with the proposed amendments. He said there was money set aside for those types of programs and the bank president had been actively working with the housing authorities and redevelopment agencies. He thought expanding it to allow for this type of funds to work with the private lending institutions was the proper direction to go.
Ms. Anita Laruy, City of North Las Vegas, testified she was in full support of AB 708 with the proposed amendments.
Mr. Andy Maline, Plaster Development, testified as a developer he encouraged passage of AB 708.
Ms. Lisa Foster, City of Sparks, indicated the Sparks City Council had taken a position in support of AB 708.
Mr. Ernest Nielson, Washoe Legal Services, testified he had been involved with affordable housing for some time and wanted to point out Nevada was the second worst in affordable housing according to two different national surveys. He also noted the poverty population had increased by 75 percent over the past decade while the overall population had increased only 50 percent. Mr. Nielson said some of the concerns were the impact of large projects and the need for affordable housing.
Ms. Barbara McKenzie, City of Reno, testified the city council had unanimously agreed to support AB 708 as amended.
Mr. David Morton, Executive Director of Reno Housing Authority, endorsed passage of AB 708.
Chairman Garner entertained a motion to amend and do pass AB 708.
ASSEMBLYMAN WILLIAMS MOVED TO AMEND AND DO PASS A.B. 708.
ASSEMBLYMAN BACHE SECONDED THE MOTION.
THE MOTION CARRIED. Assemblyman Bennett was not present for the vote.
Chairman Garner requested Mr. Williams handle SB 708 on the floor.
SENATE BILL 441 - Declares policy of legislature concerning regulation of public utilities.
Ms. Joyce Newman, Utilities Shareholder's Association (USAN), a proponent of SB 441, introduced Perry Whitt, a director of Utilities Shareholder's Association, and Bob Crowell, Legal Counsel.
Mr. Perry Whitt, Utilities Shareholder's Association, testified in favor of SB 441 (Exhibit H).
Mr. John Mendoza, Chairman of Public Service Commission (PSC), arose in support of SB 441, indicating the PSC had worked with the shareholders on the language of the bill and felt it was important the wording be examined to better understand exactly what it proposed. He said there was no expression in the Nevada Statutes of the mission or goal of the PSC and this was an attempt to try to establish that. He explained several points regarding the balance of interests.
There being no further testimony, Chairman Garner requested a motion to do pass SB 441.
ASSEMBLYMAN HETTRICK MOVED TO DO PASS S.B. 441.
ASSEMBLYMAN NEIGHBORS SECONDED THE MOTION.
THE MOTION CARRIED. Assemblymen Freeman and Lambert were not present for the vote.
ASSEMBLY BILL 27 - Makes various changes to charter of City of Reno.
Ms. Barbara McKenzie, City of Reno, introduced Madelyn Shipman, Chief Civil Deputy for City of Reno, indicating she would answer any specific questions on the first several sections of AB 27. Ms. McKenzie testified AB 27 incorporated a number of charter changes the city of Reno and city council had authorized. She briefly reviewed the changes AB 27 would make to the city charter. Ms. McKenzie deferred to Ms. Shipman for further explanation.
Ms. Madelyn Shipman, Chief Civil Deputy for City of Reno, indicated the packets received by committee (Exhibit I) would indicate how the bill worked.
Mr. McGaughey explained when the bills were introduced on the floor of the Assembly, the entire title of the bill would be read, which would alert legislators to the subject matter of the bill being introduced. He wondered, in regard to the city of Reno meetings, if the people did not recognize an ordinance by the way it was referred to, how they would know the content in order to try to be alert as to when the hearing would be held on the ordinance they were interested in.
Ms. Shipman replied in all meetings the agenda was posted in advance in accordance with the open meeting law and agendas were available for everyone including the stamp reports which went with them.
Further discussion ensued between Mr. McGaughey and Ms. Shipman regarding such things as posting agendas and descriptions of ordinances.
Ms. McKenzie continued with her explanation of the bill. She suggested an amendment to Section 6, subsection 3 as indicated by Exhibit I. She read into the record a letter from the Mayor of Reno, "Honorable Val Garner and members of Government Affairs Committee. On behalf of the members of the Reno City Council, please accept this letter as an unqualified endorsement of AB 27 as amended. [The amendment I just discussed with you.] The Rule of 3 certification issue is a matter of vital concern to this city in our efforts to meet the challenges of the future. Our interest in this matter stems from our desire to promote a truly diversified and representative work force. AB 27 amends Reno's charter to bring it into conformance with the provisions contained in the charters of sister cities throughout Nevada as well as the enabling legislation of Washoe and Clark Counties. Your favorable consideration of this bill is requested. Sincerely, Peter J. Sferrazza, Mayor of the City of Reno."
Ms. McKenzie introduced Mr. Larry Dennison, Chairman of Reno Civil Service Commission, Mr. Glenn Taylor, Reno Affirmative Action Officer, and Mr. Ric Bailey, Civil Service Chief Examiner and indicated they would continue the presentation regarding the Rule of 3.
Mr. Larry Dennison, Chairman of Reno Civil Service Commission, gave a brief background of his personal history with the City of Reno. He was hired by the Reno Police Department as a cadet in 1962 and through the next 26 years he worked his way through the system, being involved in many promotional tests and examinations in the process. He indicated he had 26 years of experience in the application of the Rule of 3 process. Mr. Dennison stated in addition, after he retired in 1988 he applied for and was appointed to the Civil Service Commission and subsequently became chair for that position, so had administrative experience in addition to the process of being promoted, tested, and as a captain, hiring personnel under the Rule of 3. He said based on the totality of his personal experiences and professional interaction with the city, he wholly supported Section 6 of AB 27 which dealt with the change in the charter, giving the Civil Service Commission the ability to deal with the numbers of people who would be certified on employment lists.
Mr. Glenn Taylor, Affirmative Action Officer for City of Reno, testified in favor of AB 27, indicating it would allow the Reno Civil Service Commission the opportunity to establish through an open court public forum a more effective selection procedure for the city of Reno. He pointed out all other chartered entities within the state of Nevada had that opportunity and authority through their local boards and commissions. Mr. Taylor said it had been proven in court the Rule of 3 had hampered the ability to hire within the city of Reno, and it had been waived by a district court judge with respect to the Reno Fire Department. He stated he came with the concurrence of the Reno City Council, the Affirmative Action Advisory Committee for Reno, as well as the Civil Service Commission.
Mr. Ric Bailey, Chief Examiner for City of Reno Civil Service Commission, explained the proposed method for replacing the Rule of 3, indicating the Civil Service Commission would meet with the Affirmative Action Committee which would result in a joint determination of decision rules for certification models. The models would be based on those existing in other urban Nevada jurisdictions. The Civil Service Commission would also solicit input from employee associations, unions, the general public, groups for minorities and women, employees in general and management. Mr. Bailey further explained the process for replacing the Rule of 3.
Mr. Marty Richard, Fire Chief for City of Reno, briefly summarized recent history of the Consent Decree as it related to hiring of minority personnel and the Rule of 3. He pointed out to reinstate the Rule of 3 would take the city back to a system which would not be consistent with affirmative action or equal employment needs as it would inhibit the hiring and promotional opportunities for minorities.
Mrs. Augustine indicated Sparks had amended their charter by stating, "not less than the three most highly qualified applicants," and she felt that would address both parties concerned. She said the three at the top of the list could be interviewed as well as other applicants.
Mr. Richard replied what was needed was a model which would encompass more individuals and those models would have to be determined after input from the citizens, unions and others. He said the Rule of 3 would remain in place until such time as the input was received.
Further discussion ensued between Mrs. Augustine, Mr. Richard and Mr. Taylor.
Mr. Ernest Nielsen, Washoe Legal Services, briefly testified in support of AB 27. He stressed the Rule of 3 was an obstacle in promoting with diversity in the work force. Mr. Nielsen commented the waiver of the Rule of 3 continued as one of the conditions to the dismissal of the consent decree.
Mr. Mark Balen, Professional Firefighters of Nevada, testified in opposition to AB 27. He introduced Chuck Laking, President of Reno Firefighters Association and Jon Johnson, Vice President of Reno Firefighters.
Mr. Chuck Laking, President of Reno Firefighters Association, testified in opposition to AB 27. He indicated a number of minorities had been promoted within the fire department. Mr. Laking spoke in opposition to two portions of AB 27, specifically Sections 5 and 6, which provided for the elimination of the Rule of 3 within the hiring and promotional process. He said currently the promotional process encompassed an examination and certification of individuals to ascertain who had the knowledge, abilities and skills to fill various promotional positions. After examinations, individuals would be ranked on a list according to their performance in those examination processes and at present the ranking on the list was the only criteria by which individuals should be promoted within the fire department. Mr. Laking gave further testimony regarding the procedure of the Rule of 3. Mr. Laking felt if the Rule of 3 were eliminated the predictability factor for an employee would be entirely eliminated, and more importantly, it would render the examination process meaningless if the ranking on an eligibility list was not to be the determining factor for a promotion.
Mr. Laking continued, stating he did not believe the Rule of 3 was the obstacle to achieving diversity within the fire department. He said the fire department had achieved diversity and would also like to see diversity within the various promotional ranks and did not believe it was the Rule of 3 which obviated that opportunity. It was his opinion that within the city of Reno the most significant problem lay mostly within the fire department, and he said he had been told there was not a problem throughout the remainder of the city.
Mr. Laking believed there were certain things which could be done to address the issue, mainly an aggressive and affirmative program of training and preparation of individuals to take the exams and prepare them to understand and know the job they were pursuing.
Mrs. Augustine questioned why it would affect the affirmative action policy of the city as a whole if minorities were not being hired within the fire department, as other positions within the city would carry the quota.
Mr. Laking replied he agreed the city should not be separating departments or identifying departments individually, but he felt he was not qualified to answer the remainder of the question as to how ratios were obtained citywide.
Extensive discussion ensued between committee members and testifiers regarding citywide quotas, the Rule of 3 system statewide, testing and hiring procedures. Discussion was also held on the training, qualifications and possible life-threatening aspects of firefighting.
Chairman Garner indicated he knew there were no problems with entry-level positions relating to minorities, but questioned if there were minority type employees in supervisory positions and if so, how many.
Mr. John Johnson, Vice President of Local Firefighters, answered he did not have exact numbers but thought there were a couple of members of the Hispanic community who had been promoted since the Consent Decree, there was a woman in the top three on the operator's promotional list and there was a person hired under the Consent Decree who had been promoted to captain. Mr. Johnson indicated more information could be obtained if the committee so wished.
Mr. Johnson commented on another issue of concern, "And that is our perception that this bill violates the basic intent of the civil service, and that being our understanding of the Civil Service Commission, is it was chartered with the purpose of being autonomous and providing for merit principles of employment and promotion. And, as we see this bill, by merging the vote of the city council... by imposing their authority and their participation on the decisions of the civil service, we make the civil service a political body and not an autonomous body that is dedicated to fair and merit principles of hiring and promotion. We invite, in our opinion, Tammany Hall in Reno."
Ms. Paula Treat, Peace Officer's Research Association of Nevada (PORAN), testified PORAN was made up of close to 800 law enforcement officers, rank and file. She introduced Reno Police Protective Association President, Detective Todd Shipley. Ms. Treat indicated they had come to oppose AB 27 and she felt it was very precedent setting.
Detective Todd Shipley, Reno Police Protective Association, testifying in opposition to AB 27, stated one department had been under Consent Decree for many years and that department had taken 13 years to "get out from under that Consent Decree." Mr. Shipley said the police department had for many years aggressively attacked the minority hiring and promotional issue within the department and he felt it had been very successful. He did not believe a change would affect the area the city was trying to pinpoint. Mr. Shipley said the Rule of 3 was one particular problem and how the police department had successfully attacked the minority hiring problem was through the testing process and he felt that was where the changes should be made for getting minorities into departments and onto eligibility lists for promotions. Mr. Shipley pointed out the police department had gone out areawide and west-coast wide to recruit minorities into the department and had been very successful. He gave further testimony regarding the police department hiring practices and problems encountered with the city of Reno.
Mr. Marty Richard responded, indicating he was in his 30th year on the Reno Fire Department, and had been fire chief for the past three years. He said, "My statement to you earlier... is that since we have been under the Consent Decree and have hired, since 1984, I made the statement that for the past nine years, of those that we have hired from the black list, from the women's list, from the Asian-Pacific Islanders, from the native Americans, from the Hispanic list, that to my knowledge, none of those class representatives have been promoted in the Reno Fire Department. I stand by that statement. There are no blacks that have promoted, there are no women that have promoted, none of the other protected classes have been promoted in our department since 1984 of those hiring... I think it needs to be understood that the score separations is not a large area, we could be dealing with fractions of points between the candidates, but as the fire chief I only get to see a very small segment of that particular group to be selected... only those candidates in the top three."
Chairman Garner indicated the committee would weigh the information received. Chairman Garner and Mr. Balen discussed the testing procedure and agreed there was a problem with the testing process.
Further discussion ensued between Chairman Garner and Mr. Balen.
There being no further discussion Chairman Garner closed the hearing on AB 27.
There being no further business to come before committee, the meeting was adjourned at 10:41 a.m.
RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED:
LINDA FEATHERINGILL
Committee Secretary
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Assembly Committee on Government Affairs
June 11, 1993
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