New DMV chief to emphasize customer service

Gov.-elect Brian Sandoval on Tuesday announced Bruce Breslow as his choice to run Nevada's Department of Motor Vehicles, a development that surprised DMV officials.

Breslow is now the executive director of the Nevada Agency for Nuclear Projects and is a former mayor of Sparks.

As director of the DMV, Breslow's job will be to "focus on customer service and improved processes that make doing business with the DMV a more efficient and pleasant experience," Sandoval said.

Breslow takes over an agency that has one of the most thankless tasks in Nevada, registering vehicles, issuing driver's licenses and serving as the punch line for jokes about long lines and government bureaucracy.

The agency, like most others in the state, is coping with employee furloughs and recent budget cuts that are likely to get more drastic as Sandoval and the Legislature attempt to balance the 2011-13 general fund budget without raising taxes.

"It is going to be the biggest challenge I have ever had," Breslow said.

Breslow said he found out less than 48 hours earlier he would be offered the job and had time to give the DMV a cursory review only, mostly via its website. He plans to take over Jan. 11.

"I have been very surprised at some of the extraordinary technology they have brought online, which includes kiosks at malls," he said. "Those are things I didn't know existed as a customer."

He does not yet have specific ideas to improve the DMV but said he will visit every office in the state and attempt to understand what goes into every job.

He also said he expects the agency will do more to inform customers about how they can avoid lines by completing much of their paperwork online or at kiosks.

"You have to be able to present that and promote it to the community so people know it is available," he said.

With his experience with the nuclear agency, Breslow was a commissioner and administrative law judge for the Transportation Services Authority, appointed by former Gov. Kenny Guinn.

Sandoval said in that role Breslow was credited with helping restructure an organization that had been derided by columnist George Will as the "worst-run agency in America" by resolving backlogged cases and moving stalled applications.

"For many Nevadans, the DMV is the public face of state government, and I believe Bruce has the know-how and entrepreneurial spirit to make a real difference at this agency, just as he has throughout his career," Sandoval said in a statement.

There's no outward indication the DMV is in as poor shape as the Transportation Services Authority before the Breslow-led improvements.

Average wait times at most DMV offices have dropped this year despite funding cuts.

Since November 2009, the average wait time at the DMV office at 7170 N. Decatur Blvd. has fallen from 79 to 37 minutes. At 8250 W. Flamingo Road, average wait times fell from 104 to 73 minutes.

At the DMV office at 2701 E. Sahara Ave., average wait times increased from 60 to 73 minutes.

Use of automated kiosks has increased steadily since 2008 at all Las Vegas offices.

Improvements since 2009 are attributed to technology upgrades paid for by federal grant money and installed by in-house staff under direction of Edgar Roberts, who was appointed in 2008 by Gov. Jim Gibbons.

Tom Jacobs, spokesman for the DMV, said Sandoval's decision was a surprise.

"It surprised me and surprised most of the people in the agency," Jacobs said.

He said Roberts was unavailable for comment.

Sandoval spokeswoman Mary-Sarah Kinner said Breslow's salary would be as set forth in the unclassified pay bill of 2009, which sets DMV director's salary at $127,721.

The DMV change leaves a vacancy at the top of the nuclear agency.

Breslow was appointed two years ago by Gov. Jim Gibbons to replace Bob Loux as the executive director of the Nevada Agency for Nuclear Projects.

Loux, the agency's longtime director, stepped down in 2008 amid controversy that he gave himself and his staff large, unauthorized pay raises. Loux was cleared of wrongdoing by the Ethics Commission six months later.

Breslow took over as head of the Agency for Nuclear Projects on Jan. 12, 2009, after he was recommended for the post by the Nevada Commission on Nuclear Projects from a field of five candidates.

While at the helm of the agency, Breslow worked with the state's legal team to fight the Department of Energy's license application for building a repository for the nation's highly radioactive waste at Yucca Mountain, 100 miles northwest of Las Vegas.

Under his watch, the administration of President Barack Obama terminated funding for the project, and the Department of Energy requested to withdraw the license application from further review by a Nuclear Regulatory Commission licensing board.

The board rejected the DOE's request, and the commission might be deadlocked on whether to overturn the board's decision.

Breslow said his thoughts on leaving the Nuclear Projects Agency are that "the state is positioned well in what seems to be a never-ending fight to stop this ill-advised project. Whether it ever goes to licensing or not, I think the team here has the full capability to protect the safety and welfare of Nevada citizens."

He said he knows Sandoval "is committed to keeping Nevada from being the nation's nuclear waste dump."

Breslow said that it's now up the Nevada Commission on Nuclear Projects to fill his position and that he is committed to making a smooth transition.

Contact reporter Benjamin Spillman at bspillman@reviewjournal.com or 702-477-3861. Reporter Keith Rogers contributed to this article.