NLV city manager fired in controversial decision

North Las Vegas City Council decided Tuesday not to retain City Manager Linda Hinson by a vote of 4-1, sparking the anger of residents who felt that Hinson had not been given a fair chance.

"The three new council members and the mayor wanted to put their own person in a position of power," said Pastor S.S. Rogers, one of more than 30 residents who attended the special council meeting. "They want a new direction when what the old council and city manager were doing was working."

Hinson, who has been city manager since 1994, did not fit into the plans for North Las Vegas' future, said Councilwoman Stephanie Smith, who made the motion to dismiss Hinson -- the only item on the meeting's agenda.

"We had to move forward, and we felt this was the way the council needed to head into a new direction," Smith said. "We are grateful for all the work that she (Hinson) has done for the city and we wish her the best."

When asked what Hinson did to impede the council's new direction, Smith had no comment.

Hinson, the first woman and first black to hold the city manager position in North Las Vegas, had no comment after the meeting.

North Las Vegas Mayor Michael Montandon, Smith and council members John Rhodes and Paula Brown all voted against extending Hinson's contract. Councilman William Robinson cast the lone dissenting vote against Smith's motion.

"I don't want to call my colleagues hypocrites but that's what they are acting like," Robinson said. "They talk about a new direction but they haven't given her (Hinson) a new direction to follow."

In a 1997 closed-door meeting, the council unanimously had voted to extend Hinson's contract one year after reports that Hinson was being pressured to step down.

At the time, Smith said the council had decided that "... we can aggressively go forward with Linda Hinson as the city manager."

Montandon refused to comment about what had changed for the council since Hinson's 1997 contract extension.

Smith made two other motions, both of which passed 3-2, with Rhodes joining Robinson as a dissenter. The first called for Hinson to be placed on a paid leave of absence as of Friday until her contract expires on Oct. 2.

The second made Assistant City Manager Patrick Importuna the interim manager and charged him with beginning a national search for a replacement.

After the motions passed, Montandon opened the floor to public comment, and for about 40 minutes an overwhelmingly pro-Hinson audience raged at the council.

"The community is very displeased with this decision and the council should rescind the vote," the Rev. Jesse Scott said. "This is a terrible mistake, and for the first time I'm sorry to say that I am ashamed to be a resident of North Las Vegas."

Robinson questioned why the council could not do an evaluation of Hinson before dismissing her.

"We could have gone through a performance evaluation to asses her strong and weak points. That didn't happen because the council wanted to play its little games."

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