Tuesday, December 31, 2002
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

Top official Sandoval fills spots on 'team'

Attorney general-elect promises to keep up challenge of Yucca waste repository

CARSON CITY -- Attorney General-elect Brian Sandoval on Monday announced a list of appointments to his leadership team, including several names from the current administration.

In naming the appointments, Sandoval said they "bring a wealth of courtroom and state experience" to the job.

Sandoval, who takes office in January, said the biggest challenge facing the state is the defeat of the proposed high-level nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain. It is being challenged by several private legal teams retained by the state.

"The Yucca proposal is neither safe nor scientific, and we're going to win," Sandoval said.

Among the appointments are Ann Wilkinson, a senior deputy attorney general, for the job of assistant attorney general; and Jeff Parker, who has served as general counsel for the Public Utilities Commission as solicitor general. Parker will begin his duties Feb. 3.

Other appointments include:

• Jonathan Andrews as special assistant attorney general. Andrews, who has served for the past two years as deputy director in the Department of Human Resources, had served in the attorney general's office as chief of the civil division from 1991 to 2000.

• Elizabeth Macias Quillin as regional chief deputy attorney general in Las Vegas. Quillin has served most recently as a public defender for Clark County. She also has served as a prosecutor in the city attorney's office in Las Vegas.

• Drennan "Tony" Clark as chief security counsel. Clark has served for the past two years as the solicitor general in the attorney general's office. He also served for 14 years as adjutant general and commander of the Nevada National Guard. He will begin his new duties on Feb. 3.

• Charlotte Matanane Bible as chief of the Civil Division. Bible has been with the attorney general's office since 1991, serving the past two years as assistant chief of the division.

• Greg Zunino as senior deputy attorney general for taxation. Zunino joined the attorney general's office in 1998 and has been working as a prosecutor in the Workers' Compensation Fraud Unit. He begins his new duties Jan. 27.

• Robert Auer as senior deputy attorney general for insurance. Auer has served most recently as a deputy district attorney with the Lyon County District Attorney's office. Previously he had worked in the attorney general's office.

• David Otto as senior deputy attorney general for the Workers' Compensation Fraud Unit. Otto has been in private practice since 1997, working in telecommunications and general civil litigation. He previously served as a trial attorney for the Washoe County Public Defender's office. He will begin his duties Jan. 27.

• Tom Sargent as public information officer. Sargent has been serving in that position in the current administration.

• Marietta Lopez as chief financial officer. Lopez served in the position from 1991 to 1999 and since September 2000 has been a consultant to the agency.

• Christina Davis as executive assistant. Davis has been working as a management assistant for the Audit Division of the Legislative Counsel Bureau.