County fires its head of construction management following RJ investigation
Clark County has fired its head of construction management following an investigation into claims of a conflict of interest involving his wife’s company and the awarding of lucrative public works contracts.
Jimmy Floyd, manager of the public works’ construction management division, was terminated on Aug. 4, county spokesperson Jennifer Cooper confirmed on Thursday.
The county placed Floyd on paid administrative leave on May 22 as it investigated claims of impropriety, including the award of a $10 million construction management contract to a team that included his wife’s firm.
Floyd’s wife, Raquel, is the owner of Rock Solid Project Solutions, a subconsultant that stands to gain $1.5 million on a county contract with Diversified Consulting Services to manage the $130 million Clark County 215 Beltway/Summerlin Parkway Interchange Project. Jimmy Floyd was an evaluator on proposals for the contract and prepared the request for qualifications, the county has said. The contract was awarded in December.
Jimmy and Raquel Floyd did not respond to requests for comment Thursday.
The contract’s requirements were unusually specific and appeared to give Rock Solid’s team a decisive advantage, according to an anonymous complaint sent to county officials in December and later obtained by the Las Vegas Review-Journal. Multiple sources made the same claim to the newspaper, which granted them anonymity to protect them from retaliation by the county.
As of earlier this year, Rock Solid had been paid $442,200 over four years as a subconsultant or subcontractor on county construction management contracts, records obtained through a public records request show.
The county last year prequalified the firm to be a primary contractor for construction management services on public works projects of $10 million or less. Jimmy Floyd prepared the statement of qualifications for companies seeking to prequalify.
County conducts investigations
Beginning in late May, the county placed Jimmy Floyd on paid administrative leave for five weeks as it conducted the first of two investigations, according to information from Cooper.
The first investigation resulted in a weeklong suspension. He then was placed on paid administrative leave for two days as the county conducted a second investigation, after which he was placed on leave without pay for three weeks before being terminated.
Cooper would not say whether any other county employees had been disciplined.
“We would decline to comment further on personnel issues,” Cooper wrote in a text message.
Asked if the county was taking any action regarding the construction management contract for the 215 Beltway/Summerlin Parkway Interchange, Cooper said the contract was awarded to Diversified Consulting Services, not Rock Solid. In Diversified’s contract proposal to the county, it listed Rock Solid as a subcontractor with an anticipated 15 percent involvement.
“There is no action for the county to take on this project,” Cooper wrote.
Citing employee privacy interests, the county has declined to provide records on the details of its investigation with the exception of several documents that are redacted in their entirety.
The county has begun to implement changes to its protocols for awarding multimillion-dollar public works contracts that include requiring employees evaluating firms that are bidding to receive ethics training and to disclose conflicts of interest, Cooper previously said.
A conflict-of-interest disclosure form is now required to be completed by any employee serving as an evaluator of public works proposals.
The form states, “A conflict of interest may be present if you are related to or closely associated with one of the responding firms, their partners, subconsultants, or any of their employees.” It states that conflicts must be disclosed to determine if the employee can remain on the committee.
In April 2019, Jimmy Floyd, who had been promoted to his managerial role in November 2018, reported in a county financial disclosure statement required annually that Rock Solid was a business entity in which he had a direct financial interest. The statement said his wife was the sole owner.
He did not file a subsequent statement until March of this year, when he again reported a direct financial interest in Rock Solid.
Ethics complaint filed
Ross Armstrong, executive director of the Nevada Commission on Ethics, previously said the filing of an annual disclosure statement is generally insufficient for compliance with Nevada’s ethics statutes pertaining to a conflict of interest. Disclosure is required to be made at the time a matter is considered.
The law states that public officers or employees shall not use their position in government to secure or grant unwarranted advantages for any business entity in which they have a significant pecuniary interest or for any person to whom they have a commitment in a private capacity.
A complaint about the potential conflict of interest was filed May 7 against Jimmy Floyd with the ethics commission. A copy of the complaint, filed anonymously, was provided to the Review-Journal, along with a receipt from the agency.
The commission says it cannot comment on a complaint, or even confirm one has been filed, in the initial stages of an investigation.
Last year, Jimmy Floyd was paid $130,900 by the county and received $60,400 in benefits.
Contact Mary Hynes at mhynes@reviewjournal.com or at 702-383-0336. Follow @MaryHynes1 on X. Hynes is a member of the Review-Journal’s investigative team, focusing on reporting that holds leaders and agencies accountable and exposes wrongdoing.
