North Las Vegas acting city attorney resigns

Nicholas Vaskov, North Las Vegas' acting city attorney, resigned Thursday, citing the city's "current political environment."

In a three-sentence resignation letter, Vaskov said he could "no longer effectively serve and defend the interests of the city and its citizens" because of that environment.

He declined to comment further when reached at home Thursday evening.

Vaskov began working as a deputy city attorney in North Las Vegas seven years ago and was named acting city attorney in September 2009.

"Nick Vaskov has done a good job of representing the city during these unprecedented times," said Maryann Ustick, acting city manager. "He has been a valuable member of the team."

Vaskov supervised a staff of 19 and was managing several high-profile legal battles on behalf of the struggling city, which in recent years has gone through several rounds of budget cuts, layoffs and often contentious contract concession talks with its employee labor unions.