Nevada officials asked to oust Henderson Mayor Hafen

A former Henderson mayoral candidate is turning to the state instead of the courts to try to remove Mayor Andy Hafen from office because of term limits.

The attorney for Rick Workman sent a second letter Friday requesting that the governor, attorney general and secretary of state intervene to oust Hafen, who is in his second term as mayor but served on the City Council since 1987.

The first letter was sent April 4, but Workman and his attorney did not receive a response.

“Due to the fact that Mayor Hafen has refused to voluntarily step down, we have requested that Gov. (Brian) Sandoval, Attorney General (Catherine) Cortez Masto and Secretary of State (Ross) Miller bring action to remove him from continuing to hold office in violation of the Nevada Constitution,” according to a statement released Friday by Workman’s attorney, Stephanie Rice.

In the April 5 correspondence with state officials, Rice asked that one or all three state officials start proceedings to have Hafen explain why he should remain in office, and that under state law “any or all of you may be involved with or direct the commencement of legal proceedings” in the case.

Catherine Lu, spokeswoman for Miller, said the office has received the letters and will review them. Sandoval spokesman Mac Bybee said the request “is a legal matter for the secretary of state’s and attorney general’s offices.”

Rice’s letter said if state officials decline to take action then Workman will seek relief from the courts, but did not specify which one.

The state Supreme Court on Feb. 20 ruled by a 5-2 margin in Lorton v. Jones that term-limit provisions in state law mean that members of the Reno City Council who already have served 12 years under the restrictions cannot run for mayor. The court on March 5 denied a request by a potential Reno mayoral candidate to reconsider its ruling.

Workman’s request to the state is his first action after a March 19 letter sent to Henderson City Attorney Josh Reid asking Hafen to “voluntarily step down from his position” because Hafen “fails to meet the qualifications to remain seated” as mayor. In stepping down, Hafen would “avoid the costs and publicity associated with a formal removal proceeding.”

Hafen, through his attorney Todd L. Bice on March 24, said he has no plans to step down and will “vigorously pursue his legal remedies” if a lawsuit challenging his standing as mayor is filed.

Bice did not return a request for comment Friday.

Rice’s statement Friday said, “We have not given up our mission to enforce term limits. The fact that Mayor Hafen will, at the end of his current term, have served literally three decades on the Henderson City Council, more than 20 of them after the 1996 term limits amendment was passed, is an urgent matter of public concern. We have not forgotten the citizens of this state who voted in favor of term limits in order to stop career politicians like Mayor Hafen.”

Hafen has been mayor since 2009, winning re-election last year after receiving 55 percent of the vote in the primary. Workman, a city employee since 2000 who works for the Henderson Police Department as its criminalistics administrator, received 37 percent of the vote.

Bice’s letter in March said Workman’s claim doesn’t square with the state’s Rules of Civil Procedure, “which mandates a good faith basis for making a legal claim.” The letter said the state Supreme Court has ruled in another case that “private citizens who have no entitlement to the office for themselves …necessarily lack standing to assert any claim,” despite Workman finishing second to Hafen in last year’s mayoral primary.

Contact reporter Arnold M. Knightly at aknightly@reviewjournal.com or 702-477-3882. Follow on Twitter: @KnightlyGrind.