NV Taxpayers Pay $7 Million So Clark County Can Walk on Nonunion Contractor

Commissioners settled lawsuit in denying low bidder on bypass project

When Clark County commissioners agreed to pay $2 million to settle two years of litigation in a lawsuit filed by Fisher Sand & Gravel, there was no discussion by any of the commissioners. U.S. District Judge Robert Jones, in approving the settlement, questioned the commissioners' integrity and stressed that taxpayers are the losers in this case.

The litigation involved a contract dispute for a road project. Commissioners rejected a low bid by Fisher Sand & Gravel in favor of a bid from Las Vegas Paving Corp. that was $5 million higher. The commissioners preferred a higher bid from a union company to a lower bid from a nonunion company.

Jones analyzed the litigation. He condemned the commissioners as a group, and Commissioners Steve Sisolak and Tom Collins in particular, for violating Fisher's due process rights through their repeated attempts to deny Fisher the bid and award it to Las Vegas Paving.

Under the agreement, Fisher was paid $2 million by the county, the county gave Las Vegas Paving a $116.8 million contract, and Las Vegas Paving paid Fisher another $3 million.

(More on Clark County's settlement of Fisher suit . . . )

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