YUCCA MOUNTAIN BATTLE: Nuclear projects chief steps down - News

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Sep. 30, 2008
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YUCCA MOUNTAIN BATTLE: Nuclear projects chief steps down

Controversy over unauthorized raises leads to downfall

By KEITH ROGERS
REVIEW-JOURNAL

Yucca Mountain: Nuclear Waste in Nevada

Nuclear Projects Commission Chairman Richard Bryan makes a point during Monday's meeting at Las Vegas City Hall on accepting Bob Loux's resignation as chief of the State Nuclear Projects Agency.
Photo by Craig L. Moran.

Bob Loux
Chief of State Nuclear Projects Agency apologizes for raises.

Nevada's Nuclear Projects Commission accepted the resignation Monday of Bob Loux, the man who for 23 years led the state's charge against federal plans to bury nuclear waste in Yucca Mountain and whose career now ends marred by controversy over unauthorized pay raises.

The seven-member commission, led by former U.S. Sen. Richard Bryan, decided unanimously to accept Loux's resignation and allowed him to continue to serve as executive director of the State Nuclear Projects Agency until his replacement is chosen by Gov. Jim Gibbons.

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That process is expected to take at least six weeks.

"It's clear to me now this issue of my employment and other related issues have become too big of a distraction to the overall effort," Loux, 59, said as he apologized to the commission and to the public for giving himself and other agency staffers unauthorized pay increases of up to 16 percent.

"I think it's appropriate at this point in time that I do step down from this position," he said.

Bryan acknowledged that Loux, the agency's only executive director since it was created by state lawmakers in 1985, had "ably advised four governors." He also said Loux has steered the state's effort against the planned high-level nuclear waste repository, 100 miles northwest of Las Vegas, to a crucial point. The Department of Energy's plans are now entering a lengthy licensing review by nuclear regulators.

But, Bryan said, Loux's unauthorized pay raises to himself and his staff were "an indefensible lapse of judgment."

"Obviously the actions that you've taken with respect to your own pay are things that have been greatly troubling to all of us," Bryan said.

Loux has admitted that last year he gave his entire staff, including himself, salaries that exceeded what was authorized by Legislature. He told the commission he thought he had the latitude to do so because of a state employee classification created when Kenny Guinn was governor in 1999. Essentially, he said, he redistributed money to himself and his staff that would have been paid to an employee who left.

Loux contended the agency never exceeded the budget or salaries allowed by the governor's chart.

But he sought permission a few weeks ago from the Interim Finance Committee to transfer money from the agency's current budget to cover $500,000 he had overspent last year. The request included $72,000 for additional retirement and benefit expenses for himself and his staff that had not been factored in when he increased salaries beyond legal limits.

Upon learning that, Gibbons called for Loux's resignation. The governor then sent a letter Thursday to Bryan and other commission members that said he had ordered that the salaries in question be corrected to the approved amounts and asked that the Department of Personnel obtain repayment of the excess salaries.

"This action will ensure that the general fund is reimbursed for any salary overpayments and will also ensure that any retirement benefits to employees of the Agency for Nuclear Projects are based on the correct salary levels," Gibbons wrote.

Gibbons' chief of staff, Josh Hicks, said Monday that Loux's salary has been rolled back to the 2006 budgeted amount of $104,497. Loux's retirement will be based on a percentage of his three highest pay years, excluding the unauthorized salary increases.

"We're still in the process of ironing everything out," Hicks said, referring to an audit Gibbons ordered. It will "determine how far back overpayments go; then we'll determine any corrective action."

In a statement, Gibbons said the commission's action to accept Loux's resignation "sends a strong message that fiscal accountability must be maintained."

Before Bryan called for a vote to accept Loux's resignation with the condition that he serve until his successor is hired, he said, "This is a sad day for all of us."

After the meeting, Bryan said he had many conversations with Loux after the salary issue surfaced. "He recognized in light of the public outcry that existed that he needed to submit his resignation. He used the term, 'stepping down,' and we accepted his offer."

Commissioner Steven Molasky was absent during the meeting at the Las Vegas City Council chambers. Commissioner Joan Lambert participated by telephone.

In public comments, several people praised Loux's service but a couple of his critics, including Stuart Waymire, said that Loux, who holds a bachelor's degree in education from the University of Nevada, Reno, did not have credentials for the job.

"There must be at least a thousand people in Nevada who have better expertise than Bob Loux," Waymire said.

Contact reporter Keith Rogers at krogers@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0308.

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Please enter your name Name: Please enter your email Email: Please enter a comment COMMENTS : (word count limit is 300) You have reached the maximum number of words allowed Current Word Count: Note: Comments made by reporters and editors of the Las Vegas Review-Journal are presented with a yellow background. AreYouKidding? wrote on October 01, 2008 07:20 AM: milesfromnowhere, You sound like you were brought up with no morals, ethics or integrity. Plus, you complain, bit&#, and try to put down others. You are a real class act! If you have all these fabulous ideas, why don't you run for Mr. Loux position. With your lack of integrity, ethics and morals, you should be a shoe in! Another Nevada Joke- wrote on September 30, 2008 05:28 PM: That Bob Loux guy looks like a dork. He reminds me of the kid the jocks used to beat up on at school. Pete wrote on September 30, 2008 05:02 PM: Yippee !! When Yucca Mountain opens, finally Nevada will have something to call its very own !! Come on you morons, we have much bigger problems to deal with in the U.S. right now other than Yucca Mountain. And even if it does open, which it will anyway, Harry Reid will have something to do other than ramble and babble when he steps down from the senate. he can take his family there, take some nice pictures and have a nice picnic lunch... milesfromknowere wrote on September 30, 2008 04:16 PM: To Vegas native,nice job on letting local gov. ruin Lake Mead.Golf courses are way more important!!!Now you want to pipe it from Northern Nevadas water tables.I also love how you let developers build right up to Red rock Canyon.I also love what you've done with the clean air laws making Vegas 5th worse in the nation.Yea you love Nv. To Enough is Enough:Are you talking about the same F.B.I that let a terorist cell live and learn how to fly jets in the U.S. for two years. Yea thats a real sharp bunch,or maybe we should call the C.I.A who funded Bin Laden with arms and money in the 80's!Obviously you don't understand how our government works. Vegas_Native wrote on September 30, 2008 01:53 PM: OK, milesfromnowhere- I am a native thank you very much. I also understand the benefits of providing a safe storage as opposed to a much more serious national security matter (leaving them where they are). How can you defend Bob after everything he has done. Regardless of what he "may" have done, he doesn't have the education of science, or management to make any scientific analyses. Like all the rest of them in state government, they are crooked. I am a second generation Vegas native and I grew up in the North West part of town. My Great-Grandfather retired from the Test Site wiring bombs and I fully support the option of alternate fuel and if one of the least populated states is the place to start- so be it! You keep believing everything Harry "the crook" Reid and Oscar "the drunk" Goodman say, maybe what they say has reasoning to you. Enough is Enough wrote on September 30, 2008 01:52 PM: Are there any people out there that think it might be time to TAKE BACK control of this train wreck? It's easy to sit back and blog. I need volunteers. It's time to look forward to OUR future. This is an easy one. Let's hold PINKY and Son up to the flames for a minute. What if the Department of Justice was available? What if the F.B.I was available? Anybody interested? If a couple of homeowners, One Chicken, the other one Blind, can call the F.B.I. and light up a bunch of Developers, HOA's, Attorneys, Management Companies and Construction Thieves, What makes you think we can't get the REID dynasty to answer for their misconduct? Anyone? Don't let this one get away. O.K? Time for the Citizens of Nevada to STAND UP to this type of corruption. What are we waiting for? They are on the ropes. Lets Knock em out of Office. It's time. Bobby opened the door for this. Let's use his misconduct as a tool to straighten out this State. Let's hold them accountable for letting a common thief walk away with OUR money. Grand Theft! It's Time! slm wrote on September 30, 2008 01:43 PM: Loux is telling the truth! He was entitled to steal the money with the blessings and approvals of our elected Gov Kenny Guinn!!!! FACT! The complaint with the ETHIC COMMISSION is still active, but without public out cry, I see little chance of Nevada recouping any of this money. Native wrote on September 30, 2008 01:19 PM: Bobby Loux, We ain't done with you! Every scumbag that attached themselves to this miscarriage of justice will be held responsible for your crimes! Do you think the Citizens of Nevada are gonna put up with this sht anymore? The only train cummin is the one reserved for you in the State Pen. The only waste cummin is going to be somewhere near the rear area. Time for Nevadans to step up and find out how much more waste we've been dealt. Lets get to Bobby's bottom. Harry Reid. Richard Bryan. What a mistake we've made. Time to take out the TRASH! milesfromknowere wrote on September 30, 2008 12:55 PM: To all you wonderful people,may a train loaded with NUCLEAR Waste derail in your home town.Then well see who is right and who stopped what....Idiots! AreYouKidding? wrote on September 30, 2008 12:42 PM: milesfromnowhere, Are you kidding? What IS the positive in theft? Regardless what he has done to stop YM, the point is he broke the law. Maybe he's done good things in the past and that would be great and positive. But I tell ya what, if it were you... You'd be in jail. Read All Comments