Clark County stonewall runs into problems in court

Clark County’s effort to hush up a scandal in its Public Works Department ran aground in court this week. It’s a welcome development.

On Wednesday, District Judge Bita Yeager ordered county officials to provide the Review-Journal with certain unredacted records involving the paper’s investigation into a fired official whose wife’s company was awarded a lucrative county contract. County officials had been fighting such disclosure for months — using taxpayer money to do so — after RJ reporter Mary Hynes uncovered the potential conflict of interest.

The dispute involved Jimmy Floyd, the head of the county’s construction management division. In December 2024, the county awarded a $10 million contract to Diversified Consulting Solutions related to managing the construction of the 215 Beltway and Summerlin Parkway interchange. The company had worked on its proposal with Rock Solid Project Solutions, which stood to gain at least $1.5 million as a subcontractor. The owner of that company was Raquel Floyd, the wife of Jimmy Floyd, who had overseen the bidding process.

After two internal investigations, the county fired Mr. Floyd. It then went into circle-the-wagons mode, refusing to provide information and documents on the probes that led to his dismissal, citing that tired old standby about “personnel records” being exempt from the state’s open records laws. This dodge is depressingly common among government officials attempting to cover up embarrassing information.

Nobody is asking the county to divulge Mr. Floyd’s Social Security number. To claim that reports about the potential misuse of millions of taxpayer dollars falls under some blanket “personnel records” exemption is to undermine the entire concept of open records. Notably, the law acknowledges that transparency is vital “to foster democratic principles by providing members of the public with prompt access” to government documents.

In this case, county residents have a right to expect that those toiling on their behalf handled this issue appropriately. Hiding behind an illegitimate cloak of secrecy only raises further suspicions.

Judge Yeager this week said the county must provide the newspaper with unredacted copies of bid evaluations, including the names of those who were part of the evaluation process. This is a step forward. Meanwhile, the judge ordered county officials to provide her with other disputed documents for review.

County officials could save the judge and everyone else involved a lot of time — and show a modicum of respect for local taxpayers — by dropping their opposition and simply following the law.