Monday, April 27, 1998 | 9:48 a.m.
A familiar face has been sitting across from Clark County's negotiating team during collective bargaining sessions for a new labor agreement with firefighters.
Weeks after she left her position as human resources director for the county, Cheryl Miller returned as part of the local firefighters' union negotiating team.
County officials aren't happy about the union benefiting from Miller's 15 years of institutional knowledge of Clark County, but legally there's nothing they can do to change it.
"When we met at the table for first time, she was at the table," County Manager Dale Askew said. "It really threw me for a loop. The last thing I expected was to see her at the bargaining table after so many years on the other side."
Mark Balen, chief negotiator for the firefighters, refused to comment about the hiring of Miller or what services she was providing for the union.
"We can't comment on our negotiations as part of our ground rules," Balen said. "We've been told that's a no-no."
Miller also refused to comment publicly.
It isn't the first time a ranking official or former commissioner parlayed her experience and knowledge into consulting gigs for clients doing business with the county after leaving government service.
State law doesn't require a cooling-off period or prevent county or other municipal employees from lobbying on behalf of a client or doing other business with their former bosses.
But Askew said the issue is a little different with Miller because as personnel director she was privy to confidential information that is generally not open to public scrutiny.
Miller resigned Feb. 1 from her $117,400 job as the county's personnel director, a position that included contract negotiations. She also got a $50,000 severance package to prevent her from filing a personnel grievance, Askew said.
That payment did not come with any requirement that she not work for any of the bargaining units that are negotiating labor contracts with the county, Askew said.
Weeks after resigning, she showed up at the first of several ongoing negotiations over the firefighters bargaining agreement. The current agreement expires in June.
The situation once again raises the issue of whether the Legislature should limit how soon government workers can start lobbying or doing business with their old bosses after leaving public service.
Currently state law only requires that employees with regulatory agencies wait one year before working for an industry they oversee. Other state and local government workers are regulated by the state Ethics Commission.
There has been legislative discussion in past sessions about putting some restrictions in, even to the point of drafting and introducing bills. But no action has ever been taken on any of those measures, the Legislative Counsel Bureau said.
"The thing you described may not be appropriate, but I'm not sure if it's illegal," said James Hulse, the incoming chairman for Common Cause of Nevada. "It's the revolving-door phenomenon."
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