Former Assessor Matson fined by ethics commission

The State of Nevada Commission on Ethics penalized former Nye County Tax Assessor Shirley Matson a total of $5,000 for her two counts of misconduct while in office.

Last year, the commission determined there was “sufficient credible evidence” that Matson used her position in government to secure or grant unwarranted privileges, preferences, exemptions or advantages, per Nevada Revised Statutes.

Ethics Commission Executive Director Yvonne M. Nevarez-Goodson said the commission deliberated more than an hour over Matson’s termination of employees in the assessor’s office as well as the ordering of employees to conduct reappraisals of certain properties in Nye County.

“The commission determined that the series of conduct undertaken by Ms. Matson with regard to the terminations was one course of conduct which was subject to one willful violation with a sanction of $2,500,” she said. “The second course of conduct had to do with Ms. Matson ordering the reappraisals of certain Nye County properties outside the course and scope of when those properties should have been reappraised. Because of the ordering of subordinates to do that with a personal component of the properties that she chose, the commission again found that to be a single course of conduct for one violation for another $2,500.”

According to the commission, while Matson was seeking re-election in 2014, office employee Sheree Stringer declared her intention to run against Matson in the election.

It was during that time, the ethics commission alleged Matson used her official position to hinder Stringer’s political campaign by seeking criminal charges against the employee.

Stringer won the two-candidate race against Matson capturing 62 percent of the vote.

The commission also determined when Matson’s efforts failed, she then issued a Notice of County Intent to terminate Stringer’s employment, in apparent violation of Nevada Revised Statutes.

The panel determined the nature of the election campaign also contributed to alleged instances of staff conflicts and allegations of misconduct.

Evidence provided to the ethics commission showed that as a result of Stringer’s concerns pertaining to her campaign, including the concern that she might lose her job, Stringer placed a hidden camera in her office work space to view Matson’s conduct while Stringer was away from the assessor’s office.

Evidence was also provided regarding Matson’s actions when she first learned about the hidden camera.

Matson, according to the commission, filed a criminal complaint with the Nye County Sheriff’s Office, where investigators deemed the hidden camera complaint did not support proceeding with a criminal investigation.

Ironically, the investigating detective was the spouse of part-time assessor’s office employee Tammy McGill.

The commission said upon learning there would be no criminal investigation, Matson proceeded to terminate Stringer’s and McGill’s employment.

The commission also said Matson required certain employees to conduct property appraisals of certain Nye County officials with whom Matson had a history of disputes.

The appraisals, according to the commission, were outside of the normal cycle and were not in compliance with applicable regulations.

As a result, the commission concluded there was sufficient evidence to render an opinion to the allegations that Matson, regarding the Stringer investigation, violated three state laws; failing to hold public office as a public trust, while failing to avoid conflicts between public and private interests.

Stringer, meanwhile, ultimately won the election.

Neither Matson, nor her attorney James Hoffman, could be reached for comment.

The former assessor has seen her share of controversy over the years after taking office.

At least one of Matson’s ethics charges stemmed from her ordering Stringer to request a personal property declaration from local resident Stephanie Lopez, a day after Lopez led a protest calling for Matson’s recall.

In late 2013, FBI agents seized two county-owned computers from the assessor’s office after allegations Matson opened a letter from the human resources department that held a computer disc containing employee records for a sheriff’s deputy under federal investigation.

During that time, racially-charged emails from Matson to her supporters and other public officials were uncovered, including a number of individuals affiliated with the group Concerned Citizens for a Safe Community.

Just months after Matson was elected to the assessor’s office in 2010, she made national headlines for her comments about “brown-skinned” construction crews working on the county’s detention center near her office.

The emails were authored just days before she won the 2010 general election.

Matson claimed the men were illegal aliens and demanded the sheriff’s office investigate their legal status, while using terms such as “dirty, filthy Mexicans.”

The Ethics Commission has jurisdiction to investigate and take appropriate action regarding an alleged violation by a public officer, employee, former public officer or employee by the filing of a request for an opinion with the commission or by the body’s own motion within two years after the alleged violation or reasonable discovery of the alleged violation, according to Nevada Revised Statutes.

Matson, who didn’t attend the hearing last week, couldn’t be reached for comment.

Contact reporter Selwyn Harris at sharris@pvtimes.com. On Twitter: @pvtimes