Clark County Public Administrator Robert Telles is under fire for an alleged ‘improper relationship’

The Clark County Public Administrator’s business has been mired in turmoil and interior dissension about the earlier two years, with allegations of psychological anxiety, bullying and favoritism primary to top secret videotaping of the boss and a co-worker outside the business office.

A fifty percent-dozen existing and previous employees interviewed by the Assessment-Journal are alleging the hostile work surroundings was fueled by the elected administrator of the business, Robert Telles, carrying on an “inappropriate relationship” with a staffer that has harmed the office’s skill to offer with the public in overseeing the estates of these who have died.

The staffer, Roberta Lee-Kennett, 45, has acted in some situations as an business supervisor over and above her assigned duties as a person of several estate coordinators mainly because of her favored standing with Telles, the employees said.

Because of the brewing animosity, the top supervisor underneath Telles, Rita Reid, resolved to operate versus him in this year’s Democratic most important. And numerous workforce took the bold step of secretly videotaping Telles and Lee-Kennett conference in the back again seat of her car at a parking garage to demonstrate proof of the marriage. A single worker submitted a retaliation criticism with the county towards Telles on May well 9, data exhibit.

Both of those Lee-Kennett and Telles, 45, an lawyer, strongly denied acquiring any sort of inappropriate relationship but acknowledged that they have come to be good friends. Telles stated he has relied on Lee-Kennett’s assist though creating business office advancements resisted by workers from the former administration. Both of those are married.

Telles blames “a handful of outdated-timers” for exaggerating the extent of the relationship and falsely claiming that he has been mistreating them. He stated they have filed problems towards him with the county in the past that had been not substantiated, and he questioned the timing of the most recent accusations as he seeks a next expression in business office.

“They are not happy with the way the workplace has been taken out of their control,” Telles claimed. “All my new workforce are tremendous-satisfied and everyone’s successful and executing very well. We’ve almost doubled the productivity in the office.”

The office stress was felt through a the latest stop by, as employees faithful to Telles stated there are two factions — just one group of largely new workers hired by Telles and the other team with ties to previous General public Administrator John Cahill, who retired in January 2019 soon after 12 years.

Cahill, who endorsed Telles in 2018, is now backing Reid and voicing fears about the well-being of the personnel.

The place of work has 8-whole time staff members, a few portion-time assist staffers, and about 15 section-time investigators who shell out most of their days in the industry. When somebody dies and there are no instant family members customers to offer with the estate, the workplace normally takes possession of the house and investigators try to locate kin so the property can be turned over to them.

Psychological tension statements

Users of the warring office environment factions say they have experienced psychological worry, which in some cases has impaired their physical well being.

Assistant General public Administrator Reid consists of herself among these influenced by the upheaval.

Reid, who has worked at the business office for 15 years, said she jumped into the race recognizing she faces an uphill key fight with Telles on June 14. Her business is ideal next to his in the setting up at 515 Shadow Lane.

“I arrived to this choice not very conveniently since it affects my everyday living significantly,” Reid explained. “But I want to do whatsoever I can to enable the voters know that this is not the suitable male to be in demand of any section.”

“We’re often on guard, and we’re constantly less than tension. All of the folks in this business office are entitled to to be dealt with with regard and dignity, and the folks we serve have earned to be handled with respect and dignity.”

Holdover staffers stated they secretly videotaped Telles and Lee-Kennett soon after function a number of times slipping into the back seat of her Nissan Rogue before this calendar year in the shadows of a substantial-increase shopping mall parking garage.

The staffers said they recorded the clandestine conferences to provide proof to county officials of the workplace-dividing romance. The Assessment-Journal has received and seen videos of the conferences.

“This is unacceptable, disgusting actions for a general public servant,” estate coordinator Aleisha Goodwin stated in the confidential retaliation complaint.

“Physical make contact with with a subordinate in a general public place and permitting that subordinate use favoritism she is obtaining from these inappropriate meetings to secure energy and privileges earlier mentioned other people in the office environment is affecting most of the staff in an extremely damaging method.”

Telles responded that Lee-Kennett, who also worked under Cahill, is just one particular of the people he “could lean on” when he has experimented with to transform the workplace atmosphere. He explained he caught Reid spying on him in the past, an allegation she denied.

Both equally Telles and Lee-Kennett acknowledged driving independently to the parking framework at the Las Vegas North Quality Retailers shopping mall quite a few situations before this yr and getting into the again seat of her car or truck. They claimed they just talked about the issues in the business and only hugged just about every other.

‘Inappropriate relationship’ denied

“I assume it’s horrible that they recorded this, and they’re striving to destroy my lifetime and my marriage, when I’m in fact infinitely in adore with my spouse,” Telles explained. “I was just seeking to get matters off my upper body with someone who understands, and now it is staying framed as though I’m dishonest on my wife.”

Lee-Kennett additional, “I have not had an inappropriate partnership with him. I would not be pals with a person who thinks he’s likely to have an inappropriate partnership with me.”

When requested why the duo did not go to lunch, or somewhere else considerably less secretive, to privately explore function, Lee-Kennett mentioned they can not do that without someone in the workplace “making assumptions” about them.

She mentioned she prompt going into the back seat of the auto simply because she desired to make guaranteed Telles would hear to her problems experience to encounter. Telles claimed the meeting locale, which is throughout the road from the Clark County Federal government Centre on South Grand Central Parkway, in all probability was decided on out of “paranoia” mainly because of the discord in the business.

Goodwin declined to comment about the promises of bullying and favoritism. But in her 19-web page complaint submitted with the Clark County Office environment of Variety, she furnished facts of Telles’ marriage with Lee-Kennett, the videotaping and his alleged micromanagement of the full-time staff.

“The county has failed to guard staff members from a mentally and emotionally abusive predicament that has ongoing now for two a long time-furthermore, and the mental and bodily health ramifications have been felt by most of the total-time personnel in this department of only 8 whole-time workforce,” Goodwin wrote.

Goodwin, who’s been with the business office about 5 a long time, also alleges in the grievance that Telles is discriminating from her because she is Mormon and has retaliated versus her considering that she filed a discrimination grievance with the county in 2020. Telles denies individuals allegations.

According to her new criticism, staffers initially observed Telles and Lee-Kennett getting shut to just about every other in 2020 throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. He moved into a cubicle up coming to hers. Then they started having walks and getting lunch alongside one another. Lee-Kennett also was noticed acquiring a lot of shut-door conferences with Telles, where by they were listened to giggling. No other workers had been authorized inside his business office, which only has home windows with a view outside the making, the complaint says.

“Lee-Kennett has considering the fact that acted with assumed authority, power and privileges given that the two began their own marriage,” Goodwin wrote in her grievance. “Their habits has quite negatively affected most (of the) some others in our division.”

A county spokesman declined to comment on the complaint, saying it was a staff issue, and Deputy County Supervisor Jeff Wells, who oversees the public administrator’s workplace, was not designed readily available for an interview. Simply because Telles is an elected formal, the county has no authority to discipline him, but it does keep an eye on how personnel are addressed.

Well being of workforce questioned

Former boss Cahill claimed he is apprehensive about the impression the alleged bullying is possessing on worker well being and their dealings with the public.

“These employees speak everyday with men and women who have misplaced a loved one in their people,” he explained. “It’s an emotional, annoying position, and to include a hostile operating atmosphere to it is unacceptable.”

Cahill was also significant of the county’s failure to stop the alleged abuse.

“They’re getting harassed and the county does not look to care,” he said. “And I just think which is nonsense. These staff members are continue to county employees who have the legal rights of county staff. They are not his personal staff members.”

Some holdover staffers interviewed by the Evaluation-Journal cried though sharing aspects of their troubled get the job done atmosphere. Some asked to continue being anonymous out of fear of retaliation.

In accordance to the employees: Telles has a mood and demeans holdover workers. He assigns them unneeded perform, has set unrealistic overall performance plans, won’t respond to inquiries they have about their modifying responsibilities and attempts to dig up dust on them. He also prohibits them from making use of cellphones at work and discourages them from socializing and gossiping in the business.

Any person who queries his authority is chastised, the workers explained.

The staff contend they are consistently worried that they will not correctly comply with his sometimes-complicated directives and could be reprimanded, or verbally abused. A single worker explained she eats a bag lunch each working day in her car or truck due to the fact she does not want to be observed socializing with staffers who aren’t among Telles’ favorites.

Janelle Lea, a part-time investigator, said the workplace natural environment is a person of the worst she has at any time found. Lea has her individual live celebration firm and has invested yrs placing on enjoyment gatherings on the Strip.

“He pretty much will work to create division in the place of work,” she mentioned. “He’s so vindictive and so terrible.

“Everybody seems to be like they’re in a CYA predicament all the time. Persons are depressed, they’re physically sick. Just one staffer explained to me, ‘I’d fairly have a colonoscopy each and every day than appear here and offer with him.’”

Janie Osuzik, who labored as an executive assistant for four community directors for about 30 decades, claimed she retired in April since she received discouraged with the hostile surroundings.

“You usually experienced to be on guard, and it created the business unpleasant because you understood there were being sure folks who would operate to (Telles) on everything, even with lies, and he would accept it as genuine,” she reported. “He would storm into my office and accuse me of things and hardly ever get the time to look into something.”

She explained she at the time bought so pressured that she had to get go away to deal with migraines.

“Those of us who were being not in his favor felt that we weren’t appreciated, even right after all of individuals years of functioning in the place of work,” she mentioned. “It was a depressing place to operate.”

Reid mentioned she has dealt with complications, stomachaches, and melancholy beneath what she referred to as continual browbeating by Telles.

“When you conquer folks up, there is only so a lot strength and providers they can supply,” she reported. “You expend so substantially time combating these challenges and accusations and reprimands, it knocks you in the gut. It’s like ‘here we go yet again, a different lie,’ and you have to consider to guard you.”

Reid is also convinced that the romance in between Telles and Lee-Kennett is accountable for the business office conflict and has contributed to Telles’ endeavours to strip her of considerably of her administrative responsibilities.

“His romantic relationship with her is damaging to the functions of the place of work,” Reid said. “She has turn out to be more and more highly effective and visible. If she didn’t like something, growth, she’d be marching into his office environment and there would be some transform.”

Telles disputes the statements of hostility from Reid and the other veteran workforce.

“These allegations that I’ve chained people today to the wall, or one thing, are bogus,” he explained. “They make it seem as although everyone is depressing in this business office. I’ve accomplished my very best to try out to be as awesome and pleasant this entire time.

“For regardless of what purpose they just look to want issues to go back again to the way they were being, serving the passions of a handful of. Ahead of I obtained there, this office was in a terrible, terrible state.”

Among the modifications Telles reported he has created are closing estate scenarios quicker and chopping back again on big quantities of tax-funded additional time staff had been obtaining under Cahill.

He provided a doc that showed just one veteran employee acquired much more than $140,000 in extra time between 2017 and 2018. That was on top of the employee’s mixed $150,000 standard wage for individuals decades. The employee’s time beyond regulation dropped to approximately $13,500 in 2020 underneath Telles, according to the doc.

Lee-Kennett, who sits in a cubicle identical to other estate coordinators and employees, claimed the disgruntled staffers are liable for building the drama.

“Rob is strolling on eggshells since of all of them. We all are,” she said. “There’s no accountability on their section.”

Nichole Lofton, an estate coordinator for the past 12 months, said the old guard functions like “a little gang and has tried out to isolate her. Lofton said she has endured from migraines from anxiety.

“They informed me from the beginning to choose a side,” she stated, incorporating that Telles does every thing he can to enable her thrive when the other group wishes her to fall short.

Ariana Payne, a different Telles loyalist who performs as a complete-time place of work assistant, said she has witnessed the enhanced production of the business. “The office is managing a lot smoother,” she stated. “We’re closing a large amount of situations.”

But she reported she’s also observed a “definite divide. There’s talk of them versus us and it shouldn’t be that way. We have a duty to do.”

Aleisha Goodwin presents details in her retaliation criticism of what employees declare they observed when they observed Telles and Lee-Kennett at the Top quality Retailers parking framework among February and March.

“We ended up then capable to choose images and video from afar,” Goodwin writes. “We also had been equipped to secure a number of instances wherever they meet up in a parking garage, driving separately in their unique motor vehicles and being from 1½ to 2½ several hours on each and every go to.”

In one video, the footage displays Telles and Lee-Kennett in the back seat of her Nissan Rogue. The video appears to show two heads through the tinted back again window signing up for together in advance of the pair leaves the back again seat. Telles leaves very first, walking away without searching again. Lee-Kennett exits the motor vehicle seconds later on and gets in the entrance seat. Neither particular person acknowledges the other outside the house the motor vehicle.

“We’re getting place as a result of all of this since he’s owning a non-public factor,” just one personnel explained. “I really don’t feel he need to be allowed to operate a county division. He’s mismanaged so lots of items. This is a terrible abuse of public rely on.”

Call Jeff German at [email protected] or 702-380-4564. Comply with @JGermanRJ on Twitter.