Activist criticizes official’s lobbying

A community activist is criticizing School Board member Linda Young for lobbying the Clark County School District on behalf of a former state lawmaker who had applied to be a substitute teacher at the campus that bears his name, Wendell P. Williams Elementary School.

"There's a lot of stuff behind him, a lot of baggage," Marzette Lewis said of Williams. "I don't want him around nobody's babies."

Lewis organized WAAK-UP, a West Las Vegas community action group

Williams, who lost his Assembly re-election bid in 2004 after a series of scandals eroded his support, once received the district's Crystal Apple Award in appreciation for his contributions to education.

The veteran lawmaker's fall from grace was fueled by evidence from his one-time employer, the city of Las Vegas, that he was getting paid for work he did not do when he was serving in Carson City. At the time, he also had failed to reimburse the city for $1,844 in personal cell phone calls.

That's not the kind of role model students should have, Lewis said.

Young on Wednesday denied she was using her influence to get Williams a teaching job, saying "I don't have that kind of authority." But she criticized school district staff for not responding to Williams' inquiries about his job application, saying it was a missed opportunity to get a male role model into a school where many students need one.

Young acknowledged Williams, 59, supported her politically in 2008 when she ran for School Board in District C. The area includes West Las Vegas, a historically minority neighborhood generally bordered by Bonanza Road to the south, Rancho Drive to the west, Carey Avenue to the north and Interstate 15 to the east.

West Las Vegas was Williams' base of support while he was an assemblyman. The Democrat held office for 17 years and was speaker pro tem and chairman of the Legislative Committee on Education before he lost the Assembly seat he had held since 1987. He now is the education chairman of the Las Vegas chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.

Williams did not respond to phone calls and e-mails from the Review-Journal.

Young said she was only asking district staff why they had not yet responded to Williams. She said he applied for the job in August. Constituents often complain that the district is slow or non-responsive to their inquiries. "This wasn't so unusual," she said

In a series of e-mails to district staff and School Board members obtained by the Review-Journal, Young was harsh in her criticism.

"The complaint is that the dignity and care and just good old public relations are lacking in this issue with Mr. Williams," Young wrote to Superintendent Walt Rulffes.

"Where is the kindness, professionalism, and outreach to community partners and our taxpayers? Walt, how would you feel if this were you? I find this whole process insulting, humiliating, and disappointing to a community and students have to endure too many situations like this."

Williams has told Young he is no longer interested in the job.

"As a former teacher in CCSD with a bachelor and masters and a namesake (school), I do not think that (I) need to be treated as a terrorist," he said in an e-mail to Young. "Some of the comments stated by some of the processing staff has no place in an institution of learning."

The Nevada Department of Education said Williams' teaching license has lapsed.

Rulffes declined to comment. As a policy, the district does not discuss personnel or hiring issues.

But Martha Tittle, the district's director of human resources, responded to Young in an e-mail and said Williams' application was being processed. According to Tittle, Williams returned a signed application on Sept. 21.

Anyone who applies for a substitute teaching job is told the application process normally takes four months.

School Board President Terri Janison said she could vouch for the accuracy of the e-mails between Young, the School Board and district staff.

Janison has asked Young to discuss her concerns privately with the superintendent, because the "e-mails had taken on a life of its own. I asked for the e-mails to stop."

As a matter of board policy, School Board members are not to get involved with hiring decisions, Janison said.

Lewis said Young showed bad judgment in pushing a controversial candidate as a substitute teacher.

"Once she gets an idea in her head, she can't get it out. She gets so single-minded," said Lewis, who lives in Young's district.

Young said she has known Williams since the mid-1970s, when she moved to Clark County. She said Williams has been active at his namesake school as a tutor and volunteer. The school, at 1030 J St., near Washington Avenue, opened in 2002.

Young said Williams often gives motivational talks at the school, which has an enrollment that is 64 percent black and 30 percent Hispanic.

"I don't wish to stereotype, but many of the children there do not have fathers," Young said.

She acknowledged Williams has "stumbled in the past."

"You know what, somebody could say Bill Clinton was not a good role model or people said Barack Obama was not a good role model. Or perhaps people said former President Bush was not a good role model. ... You know, it's about learning from all of our experiences."

The School Board member said young people "need to know people stumble as well as succeed. So when they stumble, like they're going to do -- you stumble, I stumble -- but we get back up."

Young and others who know Williams said they did not think he applied for the substitute teaching job because he needed the work.

State Assemblyman Harvey Munford, who defeated Williams for the District 6 seat, said Williams wants to be an entrepreneur.

Williams approached Munford for help with the state in starting some new businesses, including a bus service for senior citizens and a car wash in North Las Vegas.

"He's doing OK," Munford said. "I heard he wants to get back into politics."

Contact reporter James Haug at jhaug@reviewjournal.com or 702-374-7917.