A little over a year after being sworn in
resigned unexpectedly in Tuesday city council meeting.
According to Rodriguez the reason for his resignation was the fact that his nephew had recently been hired in the city’s public works department and that he had been advised by the city attorney to resign to avoid the charge of nepotism.
However according to Nevada law, while illegal, nepotism applies only to relatives of the first degree sanguineness (father, mother, sister and/or brother) and only in cases of direct supervision.
West Wendover however may have a different interpretation. A couple of elections past City Manager Chris Melville asked that council candidate Scott Weyland withdraw from the race on the grounds that being married to the daughter of his father’s wife could also violate the statute.
During his tenure on the city council Rodriguez was a crucial part of a 3-2 majority that killed the purchase of the Wendover Gas Company and the construction of a natural gas pipeline last year.
More recently he began to question the public works department maintenance of several city streets. He was elected to the council in 2012.
His departure also means that November’s ballot will feature four council seats instead of the expected three.
