Lyon commissioners to vote on new interim manager contract

The new interim manager for Lyon County will not be part of the county's staff, but will work as an independent contractor for the consulting company of Public Policy Innovations LLC.

Bob Hadfield, whose hiring was approved by Lyon County Commissioners on a 3-2 vote Feb. 15 following the dismissal of Donna Kristaponis, will be paid by Public Policy Innovations. The company will receive $8,500 per month for Hadfield's services if the contract is approved at Thursday's commissioner's meeting.

He said he asked B.J. Selender, owner of Public Policy Innovations, to handle the contract, which was done when he was interim manager for the Nevada Association of Counties. Hadfield said Selender will receive a fee out of the funds paid by the county.

"It's a firewall for me, that's all," he said. "I do contract, I do work under my own name, but in a situation where we're doing a formal agreement, I feel it's much better to use a third party."

Hadfield said he has worked on projects with the company, but is not a partner in it. "I'm just using his firm to make sure there's an entity, a legal separate entity." he said.

Selender is the former county manager of Churchill County.

Commission Chairman Phyllis Hunewill said the arrangement was not a new or unusual one.

"It's the way it was done when he was interim manager with NACO," she said.

Hunewill said Public Policy Innovations will be paid by the county from contingency funds, and they in turn will pay Hadfield.

Hadfield began work Friday and will be the county manager until a permanent replacement can be found.

Among the items that the contract stipulates is that Hadfield work at least a 40-hour week and provide certification from a physician that he is medically fit to take on the job.

The contract waives the requirement in the Lyon County code that the county manager must live in Lyon County. It also stipulates that Hadfield can perform his duties from any geographical area he chooses.

Commissioner Bob Milz said at the Feb. 15 meeting that one reason for Kristaponis' termination was she didn't spend enough time in Yerington. Kristponis lived in Dayton. Hadfield lives in Minden in Douglas County.

The contract, if approved, will be in force through June 3, 2007.

Either party may terminate the contract agreement by notifying the other party in writing not less than 10 days prior to the termination date.

Hadfield, 64, was head of NACO for 20 years until his retirement in 2005. He was Douglas County manager from 1977 to 1985, and returned several years later as interim county manager for nine months while Douglas officials sought a permanent replacement.

Hadfield also returned to NACO for six months last year while that organization sought a new director. He is also a member of the Minden Town Board and chairman of the Nevada Commission for the Reconstruction of the Virginia & Truckee Railway, two positions he said would not change while he is interim county manager.

• Contact reporter Karen Woodmansee at kwoodmansee@nevadaappeal.com or 882-2111, ext. 351.

If You Go

WHAT: Lyon County Commission meeting

WHEN: 9 a.m. Thursday

WHERE: 27 S. Main St., Yerington

CALL: (775) 463-6531