Canned insider gets big bonus, on you

Yet another politically juiced insider is laughing all the way to the bank, on the verge of collecting a totally undeserved windfall at your expense.

The only remotely good thing about Clark County's proposed $499,000 payout to former longtime administrator Terry Lamuraglia: It should be the last time he plays the system to grab piles of tax money for himself (assuming you can look past his six-figure pension, of course).

Lamuraglia is hardly a headline name in a town full of ethically bankrupt officials. But he has worked in almost every corridor of county power and Democratic Party politics over nearly three decades, and he has had a role in many of the valley's worst stories of public-sector privilege and abuse.

Lamuraglia was a player's player, an ambitious survivor who was feared by many and completely unafraid of burning bridges and throwing people under the bus to save his own skin and soak the unwashed masses.

And he's about to become a half-million dollars richer.

The payout, scheduled to be discussed by the County Commission this week, would settle Lamuraglia's complaint that he was wrongly fired from his final county post as assistant parks director in 2008. He alleged he was canned by Director Leonard Cash as retaliation for refusing to discriminate against a gay manager by giving her a bad evaluation.

It might be the only county document on file in which Lamuraglia is alleged to have done the right thing.

The county claimed Lamuraglia was fired because he hatched a plan, documented in emails, to have park police abandon about 90 parks over Memorial Day weekend to focus on the remote shooting complex and Wetlands Park and thereby compel Las Vegas police to pick up the department's slack.

At the time, the tiny park police force's existence had become a budget issue, and the diversion would have highlighted its lack of resources. Or it might have justified axing the department altogether. But park police went public with Lamuraglia's emails, Metro brass were outraged, and the idea was dropped.

At that point, Lamuraglia knew his days were numbered. Cash wanted to fire him. So Lamuraglia went to the county's human resources director, Jesse Hoskins, and reported that Cash was a Bible-quoting homophobe who discriminated against employees not only on the basis of sexual orientation, but gender, race and disability as well.

That sent Cash over the edge, and he obtained the county's authorization to fire Lamuraglia in early June, 2008. But before he was fired, Lamuraglia filed a formal discrimination charge with the county, laying the foundation for his retaliation complaint. A county investigation determined that Cash frequently made inappropriate comments at work, but the facts did not support Lamuraglia's contention that he was fired for refusing to discriminate against the manager. "The facts, however, do support his charge of retaliation," the county report said. (Cash is now a court administrator who makes about $130,000 per year. Now that's accountability!)

Well-played, Terry, well-played.

It certainly wasn't the first time he worked the system to his advantage.

Lamuraglia began his career with the county as a fire inspector in 1981, and he quickly moved into union leadership. For years, he was the front man for firefighters, answering the earliest questions about salary spiking within the department while handling lobbying and political duties.

Amazingly, he parlayed those jobs into a position as labor and employee relations manager for the county, where he helped negotiate firefighter contracts, supposedly as the taxpayers' advocate. For some perspective on that move, imagine the county hiring current firefighter union president and longtime taxpayer nightmare Ryan Beaman to look out for management's interests.

In the mid-'90s, Lamuraglia became one of the county's lead lobbyists, helping to ignite the controversy over local government spending on lobbying in Carson City. During the four-month 1995 session, when he brokered a shift in sales tax revenue to benefit the county, Lamuraglia spent $11,600 on meals. As a reward for his lack of spending discipline, he was promoted to Human Resources assistant director, where he advised department heads on personnel rules - and learned exactly how workers cover their rear ends. When a new director came on board and tried to demote him in 1998, he filed an age discrimination claim and a charge that a formal study was required for any departmental reorganization.

By that point, the then-43-year-old had become buddies with 25-year-old Democratic Party rising star Dario Herrera. Lamuraglia frequently accompanied the young county commissioner to strip clubs for comped dances and drinks, and to return the favor, Lamuraglia let Herrera put $20,000 worth of furniture on his credit card, according to testimony in Herrera's 2006 political corruption trial. Herrera had his liaison, Kelvin Atkinson, deliver cash to Lamuraglia to repay the bill.

Lamuraglia decided to try politics in 2002, running for the state Senate, and Herrera hooked him up with campaign contributions from his corrupt benefactor, strip club owner Michael Galardi. Because Lamuraglia's former lobbying gig and management position created problems for his election chances, Review-Journal columnist Erin Neff reported in 2008, Herrera pressured staff to transfer Lamuraglia to the parks gig. Lamuraglia lost the election and kept the six-figure job.

Atkinson, meanwhile, won an Assembly seat in 2002. And when the Review-Journal broke the Legislature's double-dipping scandal after the 2003 session, the county tried to fire Atkinson for collecting sick pay from the county while drawing his legislative salary. Guess who Atkinson's direct supervisor was at the county? Lamuraglia, who conveniently was never aware of Atkinson's sick leave requests. Atkinson got to keep his job, and now he's running for state Senate.

Which brings us back to the present, where commissioners will consider giving Lamuraglia a parting gift much bigger than the nearly $150,000 in severance and cashed-out sick and vacation time he received for being fired nearly four years ago. Guess who will vote on the settlement? A slew of labor-friendly, party-loyal Democrats including former Assembly members Tom Collins and Chris Giunchigliani, who go way back with Lamuraglia.

So get ready to pay up. This is how the system works. And Terry needs a new pair of shoes.

Glenn Cook (gcook@reviewjournal.com) is a Review-Journal editorial writer.