Workers: County official’s anger over humiliating stories was still festering

As Las Vegas police closed in Wednesday on Clark County Public Administrator Robert Telles, his employees said they had long feared for their safety.

Officers arrested Telles, 45, on suspicion of killing Review-Journal investigative reporter Jeff German, who had documented an alleged tumultuous and hostile work environment within the outgoing elected official’s office.

“It’s just more real now. It’s like a realization that we’ve been in the office with someone who hates us and is capable of this kind of violent crime,” said Aleisha Goodwin, an estate coordinator in Telles’ office. Goodwin had filed a confidential retaliation complaint with the Clark County Office of Diversity, German reported in May.

In his investigations, German talked to a half-dozen current and former employees who alleged months of bullying, emotional distress and favoritism by Telles.

“All along, there’s been a concern for safety for myself and others who were bold and brave enough to put their names out there in the articles,” said Telles’ top deputy in the office, Rita Reid.

Police searched Telles’ house on Wednesday morning, one day after releasing a photo of a red GMC Yukon Denali they believe was tied to the killing.

“When I saw that car, the hair on my arms just stood up,” said Goodwin, who recognized it as belonging to Telles. Review-Journal reporters saw Telles in his driveway Tuesday, standing next to an SUV matching that description.

Telles was at work for about 30 minutes that morning but stayed in his office with the door shut, Goodwin said. He did not return requests for comment Wednesday.

Reid said she thought his anger was still festering, especially after he potentially learned in early August there was a new round of records requests. She said he was still complaining about German’s articles just days before the killing.

“You have not had truly bad bosses if you think I tortured you,” he wrote to her in an Aug. 28 text message that Reid shared with the Review-Journal. “You’ve ruined my life’s path and damaged the office.”

Reid, who ran in the office’s Democratic primary this summer and bested Telles, said employees interviewed by the Review-Journal were anxious about their well-being after the reporter’s killing.

The employees reported being on edge Wednesday morning but continued to come in to work. They said the building’s locks were changed, and a sign posted at the entrance Wednesday morning read, “This building is temporarily closed.”

The county declined to comment until Thursday when spokesman Erik Pappa released a statement stating that the county suspended Telles’ access to county property and that his office building was closed indefinitely. Pappa said staff did not report to Telles for a “couple of months” and would not until a new administrator is elected in November.

German, 69, was a storied newsman who spent roughly 40 years uncovering a myriad of corruption and scandals in Las Vegas and told his co-workers he brushed off threats. Police said he was stabbed to death outside his northwest Las Vegas home on Friday morning.

“The guy investigated the mob and all kinds of things,” said John Cahill, who preceded Telles in office from 2007 to 2019. “It’s just hard to imagine he gets done in by exposing operations in the smallest possible county office of government. That’s nuts.”

Cahill said he hired Telles around 2014 because he was looking for a Spanish-speaking attorney, whom he later supported when Telles ran for office. Cahill said he later heard concerns from employees about how Telles operated the workplace. Telles lashed out at Cahill in Facebook comments after the first story published.

On June 25, Telles made a gracious concession post on Twitter, stating he was ready to finish out his term and return to his private practice.

“It sounded like he was ready to move on, and then this happens,” Cahill said. “It makes me wonder, you know, did he know all along that he was gonna get even somehow?”

In a series of tweets this June, Telles called German a bully, said German was “obsessed” with him and accused the reporter of preparing “lying smear piece #4.”

When he was killed, German had an outstanding request for public government records involving Telles. He texted Goodwin Friday morning, hours before police say he was attacked.

In their exchanges, Goodwin alerted German that several employees were resigning.

“Thanks. I’ll be back at work on Thursday. That may be a story,” replied German, who was beginning a week-long vacation.

‘Justice for Jeff’

Telles previously denied his employees’ accusations against him and blamed a handful of disgruntled employees, “old-timers,” for making false claims against him and exaggerating the extent of his “inappropriate relationship” with staffer Roberta Lee-Kennett, who also did not respond to requests for comment.

German documented members of warring office factions who said they had suffered emotional stress, which in some cases had impaired their physical health.

Employees said they reached out to German out of desperation when the county refused to heed their complaints and felt some relief when their stories were told and Telles lost the election.

“The reality and the horrific nature of what’s happened has really come to a head,” Reid said. “And we just want justice for Jeff.”

Contact Briana Erickson at berickson@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-5244. Follow @ByBrianaE on Twitter. The Review-Journal’s investigative team focuses on reporting that holds leaders and agencies accountable and exposes wrongdoing.