Search for chief of Nevada Taxicab Authority starts anew

The search for an administrator for the Nevada Taxicab Authority is continuing after state officials have determined that they wouldn’t be able to deliver the names of three vetted applicants for the job.

Interim administrator Tom Ely said Tuesday that the Business and Industry Department has re-advertised the position in a nationwide search for a person to serve as the head of the state agency that regulates the taxi industry in Clark County.

Two men with connections to transportation systems in Louisiana appeared to be the finalists for the position in February.

Malachi Hull, a transportation consultant on for-hire transportation systems who formerly headed the taxi and for-hire bureau of the Safety and Permits Department in New Orleans, and Dwight Brashear, a former executive with Keolis Transit America in Las Vegas and the former CEO of the Capital Area Transit System in Baton Rouge, La., were interviewed for the opening by the authority board.

But regulations involving the selection of an administrator state that the names of three qualified candidates need to be forwarded to Bruce Breslow, director of the state’s Business and Industry Department, for consideration.

A third candidate for the job withdrew his application at the last minute, effectively thwarting the authority’s efforts.

Ely, a Public Safety Department captain on loan as interim administrator, said the position would be advertised for several weeks.

It’s unclear whether Hull and Brashear would have to reapply for consideration.

Ely was named interim administrator in October following the resignation of Charles Harvey.

The authority is without an administrator at a time when the Nevada Legislature is debating several bills that could affect future transportation operations.

Although the authority is without a permanent administrator, it did get a new member Tuesday.

James Campos, senior adviser to the president on economic business development in the president’s office at Nevada State College, attended his first meeting of the five-member board.

Campos, who formerly served as a Consumer Affairs Division commissioner for the Business and Industry Department and worked with the state’s of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation Department, filled a vacancy that had been open since last summer.

In authority actions Tuesday, the board clarified a service boundary for a small cab company’s operation and agreed to allow additional cabs to serve Laughlin for this month’s Laughlin River Run.

Deluxe Cab had requested clarification of its geographically restricted boundaries, hoping to be able to serve McCarran International Airport. An authority order listed the company’s northern border for operations as Russell Road, but in a unanimous vote, the board ruled that Terminal 3’s address was not included in Deluxe’s service area.

The board also ordered allowing two additional cabs per company for the Laughlin River Run, a motorcycle rally event planned April 23-27. An estimated 40,000 people are expected.

Contact reporter Richard N. Velotta at rvelotta@reviewjournal.com or 702-477-3893. Find @RickVelotta on Twitter.