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Record of Proceedings

Board of Civil Service Trustees Meeting – April 22, 2026

Public Meetings — Wednesday, April 22, 2026
BodyLas Vegas, Nevada
SessionPublic Meetings
DateWednesday, April 22, 2026
StatusFILED
Video Record
0:00 / 9:11

Original source
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0:36

Good afternoon.

0:38

This is the April 22nd, 2026 Board of Civil Service Trustees meeting.

0:45

Items listed on the agenda may be taken out of the order presented.

0:48

Two or more agenda items for consideration may be combined, and any item on the agenda may be removed or related discussion may be delayed at any time.

0:57

Backup material for this agenda may be obtained from Luanne D.

1:01

Holmes, City Clerk, at the office of the City Clerk, 495 South Main Street, second floor on the city's webpage at WWW.gov.

1:11

I call the meeting the order, and City Clerk, will you please call Ro.

1:17

Vice Chair Ponacello.

1:19

Here Member Brown is excused.

1:23

Member Hesh.

1:24

Present.

1:25

Member Stamper.

1:26

Here.

1:26

Member Jimenez.

1:29

Clear.

1:30

Thank you, Vice Chair.

1:31

You have a quorum.

1:32

Thank you.

1:33

Item number two.

1:36

City clerk, are we on compliance with the open meeting law?

1:39

Yes, we are, Vice Chair.

1:41

Thank you very much.

1:42

Item number three, public comment.

1:44

Comment during this portion of the agenda must be limited to matters on the agenda for action.

1:48

If you wish to be heard, come forward and give your name for the record.

1:51

The amount of discussion as well as the amount of time.

2:06

Hello.

2:06

Yeah.

2:12

I think you are on.

2:13

I was on, sorry.

2:14

Yeah.

2:15

Good afternoon.

2:16

My name is John Abel.

2:17

I'm the government affairs director for the Las Vegas Police Protective Association.

2:21

Represent the city marshals.

2:23

What was that last night?

2:23

John Abel, A B E L.

2:25

Okay.

2:25

During public comment portion of the agenda, I'll be limiting the comment to two minutes.

2:30

Sure.

2:31

Okay.

2:32

So we are here today because the city marshals want to change the probation period that's currently enacted to it right now.

2:42

I think it's 18 months.

2:44

Uh once they join the department.

2:46

Um the the academy, eight eighteen months.

2:50

Um they want to change that to just four years of law enforcement experience, meaning a lateral could come over from Metro or another age agency.

3:00

They have experience, they join the marshals, and once they're off probation, they can immediately test.

3:45

Okay.

3:45

And which item you were referring to?

3:48

It was item number six.

3:49

I believe so, yes, ma'am.

3:51

Okay.

3:51

Thank you very much.

3:52

Thank you.

3:52

Is anybody have any questions?

3:55

Yes.

3:56

Okay, thank you.

3:57

Thank you.

4:04

Hi, uh, my name is Nicole Garcia, Chief Deputy City Attorney for the City of Las Vegas.

4:08

I just wanted to uh also address item number six really briefly.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Procedural█████████████████████████████████████████████61%
Personnel Matters███████████████20%
Public Safety██████████████19%
Summary of Proceedings

Board of Civil Service Trustees Meeting – April 22, 2026

This meeting of the Las Vegas Board of Civil Service Trustees was called to order at an unspecified time on April 22, 2026. A quorum was present with Vice Chair Ponacello presiding, Members Hesh, Stamper, and Jimenez present, Member Brown excused. The board considered routine approvals and a contested classification specification change regarding law enforcement experience for deputy city marshals.

Consent Calendar

  • Approval of Minutes (Item 4): The minutes of the regular meeting of April 8, 2026 were approved by unanimous vote (Member Stamper moved, all ayes).
  • Certification of Eligible Lists (Item 5): The board approved by unanimous vote (Member Hesh moved) the certification of eligible lists for: community program technician, deputy city marshal lateral, IT supervisor promotional, land survey associate, maintenance worker, and youth behavioral specialist.
  • Abolish Eligible Lists (Item 7): The board unanimously approved abolishing eligible lists for deputy city marshal lateral (established October 22, 2025) and pull technician.
  • Rehire List (Item 8): The board unanimously approved placing Messial Arabula and Orlando Hernandez on the rehire list for maintenance worker.

Public Comments & Testimony

  • John Abel (Government Affairs Director, Las Vegas Police Protective Association) spoke against Item 6. He stated that the city marshals are seeking to change the current 18-month probation period (academy + 18 months) to instead allow a lateral hire with four years of law enforcement experience to test immediately upon completing probation. He did not explicitly express support or opposition as an organization but noted the change was desired by the marshals and that his union opposed it.
  • Nicole Garcia (Chief Deputy City Attorney, City of Las Vegas) addressed Item 6, stating that the classification specification change was within the city’s purview, intended to expand the applicant pool, and that it counts existing law enforcement experience from outside the department. She confirmed the city met and conferred with the PPA (Police Protective Association) but ultimately disagreed with their position.

Discussion Items

  • Item 6: Classification Specification Change for Deputy City Marshal
    • The board considered a proposal to certify revised classification specifications for court clerk, court specialist, deputy city marshal, and deputy city marshal sergeant. The staff (via Deputy City Attorney Garcia and Assistant Chief Robert Strawberry) recommended approval, arguing it would increase competition and recognize prior law enforcement experience.
    • Vote: Member Stamper moved to approve Item 6 as read, “considering the comments made by council and by PPA.” The motion carried unanimously (all ayes, none opposed).

Key Outcomes

  • Item 6 approved unanimously – The classification specification change for deputy city marshal (and related positions) now allows lateral entry candidates with prior law enforcement experience to have that experience count, thereby shortening the time before they can test for promotion.
  • All other agenda items (Items 4, 5, 7, 8) were approved unanimously without dissent.
  • No citizens participated during the citizens’ participation portion (Item 9); the meeting was adjourned.

Meeting Transcript

Good afternoon. This is the April 22nd, 2026 Board of Civil Service Trustees meeting. Items listed on the agenda may be taken out of the order presented. Two or more agenda items for consideration may be combined, and any item on the agenda may be removed or related discussion may be delayed at any time. Backup material for this agenda may be obtained from Luanne D. Holmes, City Clerk, at the office of the City Clerk, 495 South Main Street, second floor on the city's webpage at WWW.gov. I call the meeting the order, and City Clerk, will you please call Ro. Vice Chair Ponacello. Here Member Brown is excused. Member Hesh. Present. Member Stamper. Here. Member Jimenez. Clear. Thank you, Vice Chair. You have a quorum. Thank you. Item number two. City clerk, are we on compliance with the open meeting law? Yes, we are, Vice Chair. Thank you very much. Item number three, public comment. Comment during this portion of the agenda must be limited to matters on the agenda for action. If you wish to be heard, come forward and give your name for the record. The amount of discussion as well as the amount of time. Hello. Yeah. I think you are on. I was on, sorry. Yeah. Good afternoon. My name is John Abel. I'm the government affairs director for the Las Vegas Police Protective Association. Represent the city marshals. What was that last night? John Abel, A B E L. Okay. During public comment portion of the agenda, I'll be limiting the comment to two minutes. Sure. Okay. So we are here today because the city marshals want to change the probation period that's currently enacted to it right now. I think it's 18 months. Uh once they join the department. Um the the academy, eight eighteen months. Um they want to change that to just four years of law enforcement experience, meaning a lateral could come over from Metro or another age agency. They have experience, they join the marshals, and once they're off probation, they can immediately test. Okay. And which item you were referring to? It was item number six.

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