Ex-governor Miller puts some heat on county about software contract

Mild-mannered Bob Miller spent a decade as Nevada's governor and had his share of battles. But I don't recall him ever being more animated than he was Tuesday as he stood before the Clark County Commission.

By animated, I mean ticked off.

Advocating on behalf of Document Technology Systems, which was about to lose its computer software contract with the Clark County recorder's office to Aptitude Solutions of Florida, attorney Miller said the request for proposal in the matter was one of the most troubling processes he'd ever experienced in his professional life.

He all but accused Recorder Debbie Conway of conspiring to oust Document Technology in favor of a company that promised to unnecessarily cost the county hundreds of thousands of dollars at a time of economic hardship. Conway wasn't shy about raising questions of competence about Document Technology's ability to do the job.

Miller went further, raising the specter of a possible fix during the RFP process. He also accused Conway's office of stonewalling his client and failing to answer pertinent questions until the day the RFP was decided.

He said Conway's assertion that Document Technology was informed its work was substandard is "just not true."

"And I would suggest you talk maybe to some of the prior or even some of the present, if they will talk to you in confidence, employees of the recorder's staff as to whether that's true or not true," Miller said before the commission voted to follow staff's recommendation to award the new multimillion-dollar contract to Aptitude Solutions.

The former governor also pilloried Laurel Jimenez, the county's manager of technical services.

"It was embarrassing," Jimenez said afterward. "I certainly felt the need to refute what he was saying."

She tried. Jimenez said she had no ties to the new provider although she previously worked in a Florida county that today uses the same product. Aptitude Solutions' program "lets us be more flexible," she added. "It lets us adapt our work."

In recent weeks, a representative of Document Technology has accused officials of the Florida company of bragging that they had the Clark County contract locked up.

SARA'S STRUGGLE: Leah Burrell is on a mission to remind Gov. Jim Gibbons and the entire state Legislature to keep in mind the hundreds of innocent people whose lives hang in the balance as they enter next week's budget-cutting special session in Carson City.

The Burrell family for the past 32 years has advocated for daughter Sara Highfield, who struggles with mental challenges and was born with microcephaly, or an extremely small head. These days she works at Opportunity Village and leads a productive life within an intensive residential living program funded in part with state money.

Cuts at the state level imperil not only Sara, but many other productive mentally challenged adults who need partial support.

"I have been reaching out to anyone and everyone that will listen to me," Burrell says. "I keep getting the runaround, no return phone calls, pushed off on the poor assistants who don't have the answers but are willing to listen to me rant."

But she's not ranting. She's repeating a refrain I've heard from dozens of other Southern Nevadans whose special needs children and family members now are at risk of losing their nurses and social workers. When budget cuts are called for, let's hope legislators remember just what they're cutting.

JOLLY JOG: Worthy charities are feeling the recession's pinch this year, and Opportunity Village is no exception. Its annual Great Las Vegas Santa Run needs all you closet Clauses to join the hilarious parade of red suited Samaritans Saturday morning on Fremont Street.

You can register beginning at 8 a.m. Opportunity Village provides work and job training to hundreds of mentally challenged adults in Southern Nevada and has been in existence more than half a century.

Last year, the Santa Run drew 7,269 participants and the attention of the Guinness Book of World Records.

ON THE BOULEVARD: The Firefighters of Southern Nevada Burn Foundation starts its annual Fill the Truck Toy Drive at participating Wal-Marts throughout the valley. They hope to provide toys for 15,000 deserving children in a tough year for almost everyone. ... The vote by the County Commission on Tuesday to award a telecommunications contract to Cox Business over Embarq isn't going away soon.

Have an item for the Bard of the Boulevard? E-mail comments and contributions to Smith@reviewjournal.com or call (702) 383-0295. He also blogs at lvrj.com/blogs/smith/