Clark County commissioners favor inside search for new county manager

Most Clark County commissioners want to appoint a new county manager from within the local government’s ranks.

That’s good news for three high-level county officials who already have indicated an interest in the county’s top job: Director of Comprehensive Planning Nancy Amundsen, Chief Financial Officer Yolanda King and Assistant County Manager Randy Tarr.

The county’s current chief executive officer, County Manager Don Burnette, announced via email last week that he plans to resign after the Nov. 8 general election. Burnette, 51, has worked 26 years within the county manager’s office and has been at its helm since 2011.

“I’m ready to do something different,” he said Wednesday. “I don’t know how many more career moves I have left. I haven’t had any now.”

Burnette is paid an annual salary of almost $265,000. He said he does not have plans on what his next move will be after his resignation.

If the county hires an executive search firm to scour the country for Burnette’s successor, the process would likely take several months. That could mean entering the 2017 legislative session and union contract negotiations with only an interim county manager.

But Burnette and the commissioners believe they can find a qualified candidate already on the county’s payroll.

“We have excellent employees in the county manager’s office who I think could absolutely step into the position and pick up where I left off,” Burnette said. “If I didn’t think that we had good people who are capable of jumping into this position, I would not have elected to leave when I plan to.”

Commission Chairman Steve Sisolak said he did not support widening the search to include external candidates because it would require more time and money.

“I think we’ve got some qualified candidates internally,” he said.

Sisolak expects commissioners will discuss the process of appointing Burnette’s successor at a commission meeting in late September or early October.

Commissioner Lawrence Weekly noted that hiring externally would require the new county manager to spend extra time learning the “lay of the land” of Clark County government.

“I think we have talent that has risen to the top, and we’ll already have a working relationship with these individuals,” he said.

INTERESTED IN THE JOB

Amundsen, 59, started her career as a county employee in 2006, working as an assistant planning manager in the development services department, now named the building department.

She joined the comprehensive planning department in 2008 as a planning manager, and was promoted to director in 2010.

Her department has 53 employees and a budget of about $8 million. The department is responsible for creating the county’s land use, zoning and growth plans and programs.

Amundsen holds a bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of Central Florida and a master’s degree in public administration from the University of Baltimore.

King, 48, has duties as both the county’s CFO and as an assistant county manager.

She began working for the county in 1986 as a part-time parking toll collector at McCarran International Airport while attending UNLV. Today she holds a dual bachelor’s degree in accounting and management information systems from the university, as well as a master’s degree in business administration from the University of Phoenix.

King became a financial analyst for the county in the mid-′90s and rose through the ranks to become the director of budget and financial planning.

King oversees the county’s $6.5 billion budget, serves as the county’s lead lobbyist and is the county management’s lead negotiator during talks with county employees’ largest two unions.

Tarr, 53, has been an assistant county manager since June 2010. He oversees business and development-related departments including comprehensive planning, public works and parks and recreation, among others.

Prior to that he was director of the county’s real property management department, a title he held since January 2008. In the early ′90s he worked in the North Las Vegas public works department.

Tarr has a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from UNLV. He’s also a registered professional engineer in Nevada.

He has more than 25 years’ experience in the local development industry and has held senior executive management positions for Lewis Operating Corp. and KB Home.

Burnette said he hopes all seven commissioners will show their support to whomever is selected as his successor. He also wants the new county manager to continue working toward having the state’s property tax cap raised.

We need to do “everything we can to pursue changes in the state law that will allow us to recover some of our lost property tax revenue. Revenue that was lost during the recession,” he said.

Contact Michael Scott Davidson at sdavidson@reviewjournal.com or 702-477-3861. Find @davidsonlvrj on Twitter.