New-fangled voting system gets a ‘NO’ from Collins

By Brian Eckhouse

Sunday, Aug. 10, 2008 | 2 a.m.

It wasn’t exactly the image county officials envisioned when they pitched a $400,000 electronic management system to the Board of County Commissioners: Commissioner Tom Collins using pingpong paddles to register votes on agenda items, one with YES affixed, the other with NO.

What is the management system?

More than a year ago, county commissioners — including Collins — approved spending $400,000 for what are actually two systems: a voting system, also referred to as a meeting management system, and an agenda management system. The cost included money for hardware, software and maintenance. Collins readily admits he approved the systems, but quickly adds he did so reluctantly.

They went into effect last fall.

What led to Collins’ protest?

Collins is frustrated with the new voting system, which he says is flawed. He estimates that in the past six months, there have been problems four out of five times — a figure officials dispute. “Right now, you can’t vote until the clerk says you can vote,” he said Friday. “It’s embarrassing.”

Collins says he’s had enough. “I told them to put it where the sun don’t shine,” he said.

Indeed, his use of the paddles wasn’t a one-day protest. From here on in, they’ll be his voting method.

OK, but what are county officials saying?

Officials say they feared the previous system, which relied heavily on paper, was about to fail, and were relieved when the new, paperless system came online. Eleven months later, they have few complaints about it. County spokesman Erik Pappa said Friday the “best part of the whole system” is that the dual system allows citizens to access information and county meetings via the Web.

Enough about the management system. What’s on the county’s legislative wish list?

At first glance, nothing sounds sexy, but the items are of huge consequence. The commissioners have decided on three, thus far:

• The commission wants to have the right to make certain county penalties related to business licenses civil, rather than criminal, violations. They are pushing this, in part, so they’ll have power in cases such as the hepatitis outbreak this year. Had the Endoscopy Center of Southern Nevada been in unincorporated Clark County, rather than in Las Vegas, the commissioners wouldn’t have been able to sanction the clinic with a civil penalty, noted Sabra Smith-Newby, the county’s director of administrative services.

• Officials at University Medical Center hope to require acute care hospitals in Clark and Washoe counties to provide core specialty services — including cardiology and neurology — to treat patients with “typical injuries” seen in an emergency department.

• UMC officials also are asking for a bill that would allow hospitals to move patients they expect will qualify for Medicaid.

Whoa. What’s that last request about?

Patients who haven’t been deemed eligible for Medicaid benefits sometimes linger in hospitals for weeks and months — and sometimes more than a year.

“Patients get stuck here because they’re waiting for their eligibility,” UMC spokesman Rick Plummer said.

This bill would allow hospitals to determine whether these patients would likely qualify. If so — if hospital care isn’t required — patients could be transferred elsewhere, say to a rehabilitation center, if that’s the level of care they need.

The state would front the money, but UMC officials believe the government in the end would benefit.

How?

Plummer said hospitals almost always are more expensive than other medical facilities, including rehab centers.

Why does the county need the state’s approval?

Local governments in Nevada lack home rule, meaning — as the Sun’s Michael J. Mishak reported two weeks ago — they need permission from Carson City to tow cars out of county parking lots or give refunds from airport parking garages.

In 2007 state legislators limited the requests allowed per cycle from 15 to four, and county commissioners have until Sept. 1 to decide what to ask for.

Last week county commissioners decided on three of the four requests. They could decide the fourth this week, officials said Friday.