Editor:
Recently, this newspaper published an article about the Humboldt County Library hiring a terminated employee through Manpower.
According to the article, despite the fact that no county policy was violated and no laws were broken, the Humboldt County Administration took issue with the Library hiring the employee temporarily and went so far as to contact the co-chair of the Library Board of Trustees, Barbara Duncan, and instructed her to contact Manpower and terminate the employee’s assignment. This was all done with the knowledge of the other four Library Board Members and without a conversation with the Library Director, Cyndi O. Human Resources Director Abel Del Real-Nava was quoted as saying that the plans to propose a change to county policy to make sure that this doesn’t happen again in the future.
First, why is the county manager involving his office in matters that are the responsibility of the Library Board selected and appointed by the county commission per Nevada Revised Statute 379? Second, why did the county administration knowingly choose to throw Barbara Duncan under the bus by instructing her to take action on behalf of the Library Board of Trustees without discussing the matter with the rest of the Board in an open meeting, which is required by law?
In the article, Mrs. Duncan was quoted as saying, “we all made mistakes here.” However, the Humboldt County Manager Dave Mendiola is making these types of “mistakes” on our tax-paying dime. According to county commission meeting minutes from 2014, at the time of his hiring, (because some on the commission felt he was under-qualified) Dave Mendiola was advised that if it were discovered he could not appropriately do the job he would be terminated. Yet, he still has the job. Why is that?
Shawn A. Nelson
Winnemucca
