City official admits to ethics violation

An agreement for Boulder City Administrative Officer Bryce Boldt in which he admitted to a “willfull violation” of state law was approved as presented by the Nevada Commission on Ethics on Wednesday.

In it Boldt concurred to using his position and government property for personal and financial gain.

The agreement approved by the ethics commission states Boldt admitted to staying in a city building during the week for almost seven months after his family moved to Arizona.

The commission fined him $1,000 for his actions and concluded that “he acted intentionally and knowingly” as defined by state law. It also determined that despite being reprimanded by former City Manager David Fraser, not having any other ethics law violations and cooperating with the ethics commission, Boldt’s violation “should be deemed a willful violation” in accordance to state law.

According to ethics commission Executive Director Yvonne Nevarez-Goodson, a final stipulation will be executed by the parties and will become public record.

Prior to the commission’s meeting, Boldt waived his right to a panel determination of the violation complaint and acknowledged “that credible evidence establishes just and sufficient cause for the commission to render an opinion.”

The ethics commission determined that despite needing to obtain files and documents from the records storage area as part of his job, Boldt accessed it 162 times after the end of normal work hours on 80 different days between July 18, 2016, and Feb. 14, 2017.

“Boldt entered this city facility for personal purposes, including on several occasions to stay overnight,” the ethics commission wrote in the agreement.

During that time period, his access also “consistently occurred on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday” with some entry times as late as 9 p.m.

Boldt’s work schedule is 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday to Thursday.

Whistleblower

Former Councilman Cam Walker said he was alerted to the situation in late February or early March by a city employee.

As per city charter, the next day he approached Fraser, who said he had no knowledge of Boldt using the city storage building as a place to sleep.

“In my business it is not normal and customary to check doors and who goes in, but if someone in my executive team was sleeping in my office, I would know about it,” Walker said.

Walker said he asked for records of key card usage to access the records storage building, not specifically asking about anyone but instead who went in and out of the building.

Once Walker learned of Boldt’s activities, he said he continued to work with Fraser to get the situation remedied.

“He did do something and took action,” Walker said, adding “I sure would have liked for it to have been a little quicker.”

System records

Acting Manager Scott Hansen said that there are protocols in place when an employee is hired or no longer works for the city.

“When a new employee begins working for the city or if a change needs to be made to access rights for an existing employee, the department head responsible for the building approves access,” he said. “When an employee separates from the city, all access is cancelled. The access control system does record each time an identification badge is used.”

According to the ethics compliant, filed by Boulder City resident Joseph Kranyac III in September 2017, Kranyac heard of the situation and told another resident, Neil Hoskins, about it. Hoskins then asked Walker about it on May 7, 2017, at a community event. Walker confirmed to him that knew of the situation and had taken “immediate action” to stop it.

Boldt received a letter May 15, 2017, from Fraser that reprimanded him for his admitted use of a city facility for personal reasons. Consequently, Boldt was suspended and placed on leave without pay for two days.

This loss in salary amounted to $1,203.60 as well as a $337.01 reduction in employee retirement contributions.

Fraser was asked to resign less than a month later.

New residence

Boldt sold his Las Vegas residence July 7, 2016, according to the Clark County assessor’s office. Six days prior, he purchased a home in Scottsdale, Arizona, Maricopa County recorder’s website shows.

In the documentation included with the ethics complaint, Boldt signed a deed of trust for the property July 14, 2016, and four days later he started clocking into work 30-90 minutes late.

The ethics commission’s staff issued a notice to Boldt on Oct. 26, 2017, saying that they were investigating the allegations and giving him an opportunity to issue a written response.

On Dec. 6, 2017, Boldt chose to meet with them to give an oral response instead.

According to the city, Boldt is no longer staying on city property. It also said in terms of whether violating state law is a fireable offense that is a “personnel matter” as well as whether council will punish Boldt more than the initial loss of pay.

Boldt has been a city employee since December 2009.

Hali Bernstein Saylor is editor of the Boulder City Review. She can be reached at hsaylor@bouldercityreview.com or at 702-586-9523. Follow @HalisComment on Twitter.

Contact reporter Celia Shortt Goodyear at cgoodyear@bouldercityreview.com or at 702-586-9401. Follow her on Twitter @csgoodyear.

Boldt Ethics Agreement by Boulder City Review on Scribd