LAS VEGAS (KTNV — New information in our ongoing look inside the Clark County Public Administrator's office.
Last week, 13 Investigates reported allegations by employees that the County failed to act on their concerns about what they call "bizarre and bullying behavior" by their elected leader, Rob Telles.
The former Public Administrator is behind bars, facing murder charges in the stabbing death of Las Vegas Review-Journal investigative reporter, Jeff German.
Now, 13 Investigates has obtained internal documentation that shows what went down in the county office in the months after German's articles were published and the days after Telles was arrested for German's murder.
We obtained more than 100 pages of internal emails, generated between May and September. Some were written by Telles himself, some by assistant Public Administrator Rita Reid — who is now running for election to lead that office — and some by Mike Murphy, a former Clark County coroner who was brought in to help straighten out the problems outlined in German's reporting.
The paper in this story paints a picture of an office in turmoil, struggling to fulfill its mission of securing the property of people who pass away in Clark County when there's no family, or none immediately available.
"I've got 25 years with the county," says Reid who is the Assistant Public Administrator. "15 years in that office."
Multiple email exchanges reveal tension in the office between Reid and her boss, Telles, at the time she was running for election to unseat him.
On June 3, Telles wrote this email to Mike Murphy, saying "FYI, this is the kind of stuff everyone can look forward to if Rita wins." he included an email from a citizen who was upset with how the office was handling her brother's case.
"And I believe without a doubt, he was just trying to get me and some of the others just to quit," says Reid. "We didn't. Some days we wondered why, but we just kept going."
Some employees could not keep going. On June 1st, one staffer sent this email to Murphy asking for "...an immediate transfer out of this organization, as soon as possible."
Multiple employees within the office tell us that request was the result of the reported bullying, belittling and favoritism from Telles.
Murphy emailed Deputy County Manager Jeff Wells, writing, "I have spoken to HR and feel this would be the best solution for this employee and the office."
"It was a very painful situation," says Reid.
Emails show the office was falling behind in handling cases and paying invoices.
A June 20th email from the Public Guardian's office says they haven't received Public Administrator invoices to pay since June 2nd, noting about "43 pending payment/fee requests in the system."
"And then the lies are that we were lazy, that we didn't want to conform to changes, and those things were not true," Reid explains.
After losing his re-election bid to Reid in the June primary, Telles would still hold the office for another six months. On June 21, Telles emailed Murphy and Reid that he would, "... retain supervision over three estate coordinators." One was Roberta Lee Kennet, with whom Telles was accused of having an inappropriate relationship.
That favoritism is one reason Murphy was brought in to oversee and alter office operations — a rare move for the county.
But in this email, Telles flipped the script, accusing Murphy of favoritism. He wrote, "When you came in favoring certain people, I thought it might be to show that you were kind when you had to later hold them accountable. Unfortunately, I'm not so sure anymore." He continues, "At this point, I'm really not sure what you are trying to accomplish."
"It apparently was received as an affront to him, a challenge of his authority," Reid says.
In another incident, when Reid reported some electronic documents had disappeared but were restored, Telles wrote to Murphy, "the staff may have intentionally deleted the file to claim that I sabotaged them..."
"If you just asked a question, because a question needed to be asked, it would flare up in some kind of inappropriate comment, tone, look," Reid explains. "The looks that people are seeing on TV now."
More apparent paranoia surfaced in a July 28 email after Telles was stripped of some administrative authority. Telles wrote of "hundreds of cases still yet in my name..." that need work and, "are piling up." Fearing blame, he wrote, "... there are rumors that there will be attempts to lay (the backlog) at my feet..."
"There was blame," says Reid. "Blame and division and lies that were spread about different people. Myself included.
Factions formed within the office, but Reid says no one foresaw how far things would go after reporter German shined a light on employees' plight.
Throughout May and June, German reported extensively on turmoil and employee allegations of bullying and favoritism by Telles.
According to the Review-Journal, German was waiting on public records for another potential story when he was killed. He was found stabbed to death outside his northwest Las Vegas home on Sept. 3.
Four days later, on Sept. 7, Telles was arrested on suspicion of murdering German. Almost immediately--on Sept. 8 and 9--certain employees reportedly loyal to Telles began leaving their jobs at the Public Administrator's office.
"It's a situation that I never really thought I would be in as far as being that kind of concerned for safety," says Reid.
That unease is echoed in this chilling email Murphy wrote to Deputy County Manager Jeff Wells. Wells is the man who many say could and should have done more to stem the rising tide of fear employees expressed about Telles.
Turns out, employees weren't the only ones who'd raised concerns. On September 13, Murphy wrote about a man whose case the Public Administrator's office was handling. He said the man had no concerns about his family's case. "His main concern is and was Rob was very rude and yelled at him and when he reported it to you [WELLS] he feels nothing was done and as a result, the crime occurred."
That crime was the murder of Investigative Reporter Jeff German.
As we've reported, some employees tell me they believe German may not have lost his life if the County had done more about their complaints and concerns. That last email is the first time we've heard a member of the public who was working with Telles say the same.
We reached out to Murphy and Jeff Wells for comment. Murphy--who's a consultant--referred us to Wells. We asked the County for a response and if Wells would be able to comment. The County said they must decline citing personnel issues and the confidentiality of the HR reporting process. The County referred us to a statement they sent 13 Investigates for our previous story.
"On behalf of the 10,000 employees of Clark County, the organization has a formal reporting process for employees to raise workplace concerns. In doing so, Clark County's Human Resource and Office of Diversity departments thoroughly investigate each report and provide the appropriate follow-up action, including discipline, if deemed appropriate. Due the confidential nature of this process, the County is unable to comment on the specific allegations raised by some employees in the department of Public Administrator, though these employees are able to share their personal perspectives. While it is true that Clark County is not able to remove an elected official from office unless a judge or a grand jury finds cause for removal, the County's role to ensure all employees are able to work in a safe and productive environment allows for appropriate measures to be taken, when determined to be necessary, even if the department head is an elected official. Clark County has taken the appropriate steps when complaints were received through our formal reporting channels to investigate and address the complaints as appropriate.
2020 - a report was received by an employee in the department of Public Administrator. The report was thoroughly investigated and the report was addressed with the applicable employees in the office, including Mr. Telles. No other complaints were filed.
2022 - no complaints were filed prior to the Review Journal reporting on conduct and behavior in the department of Public Administrator. A third-party contractor was brought in by the County to sever the reporting relationship between Mr. Telles and the employees in the department of Public Administrator. Following the RJ story, some employee complaints were received. The complaints received by Clark County's Human Resource's department have been investigated and addressed as appropriate with the applicable employees. The County continues to investigate complaints made to the Office of Diversity.
To date, no reports of workplace violence have been alleged or received through formal reporting channels. As part of the investigative process, employees are reminded of their rights, including that they are protected from retaliation and that they can request to be added to the organization's transfer list to be moved into another department and position for which they are qualified."
