Clark County suspended public works manager Jimmy Floyd last May after determining that his wife’s firm had likely received preferential treatment as a result of his position. But it was emails between Floyd and his wife that sealed his firing in August, according to newly released records.
After a first investigation by the county showed that Floyd had been “highly involved” in managing county projects that included his wife’s firm, a second investigation into emails revealed that he had done favors for the firm, according to the records, which the Las Vegas Review-Journal sued to obtain.
The records also revealed a third investigation into what Jimmy Floyd’s boss, public works director Denis Cederburg, knew about any conflict of interest.
The county concluded an investigation last spring into claims of a conflict of interest between Floyd, head of construction management since November 2018, and the firm of his wife, Raquel Floyd, who owns Rock Solid Project Solutions. Her firm was hired by construction management consultants as a subconsultant or subcontractor on lucrative contracts with the public works department.
This initial county investigation determined that Jimmy Floyd was “heavily involved in the selection, project management, and invoice processing of projects that included Rock Solid Solutions as a subcontractor,” according to what the county called a “draft” investigative summary that recommended his demotion.
A second investigation involved the review of 150 emails between the spouses, according to newly released records. The county found that “Jimmy was providing assistance and ‘favors’ that benefitted Rock Solid Solutions, while using his Clark County email address,” according to a July investigation summary “draft” that recommended his firing.
The Floyds did not respond to requests for comment for this story.
Jimmy Floyd told county investigators that in his professional capacity he would help anyone who asked. He also emphasized that Cederburg had known of his connection to Rock Solid, records show.
Brian Boschee, an attorney for Jimmy Floyd, stated in a letter to Cederburg delivered via email and certified mail in July: “As the Director of Public Works, you were aware of any and all relationships Mr. Floyd had with Rock Solid and allowed him to continue in his role without issue.” He said his client denied the allegations against him.
In an email to human resources manager Ashley Mazzone in June 2025, Cederburg stated, “Jimmy did notify me of the conflict with his spouse’s company but not the degree of the conflict.”
Findings from the county’s investigation showed “a lack of oversight from Denis Cederburg which allowed the identified conflict of interest to grow and have a further damaging impact on the Public Works department,” according to an investigative summary draft.
In a Tuesday email to the Review-Journal, Cederburg wrote, “I entrusted Jimmy with the management of the division and relied upon his experience, knowledge, judgment, and recommendations. In hindsight, I should have exercised more oversight.”
In the past week, county officials turned over hundreds of pages of additional records to the Review-Journal after District Judge Bita Yeager ordered them to do so. The news organization, which last year conducted its own investigation into conflict-of-interest claims, sued in March to obtain records related to the findings of the county’s investigations.
County attorneys asserted that Yeager’s initial order in May to release records pertained only to the county’s first investigation. The judge disagreed and on June 3 ordered the release of “any and all” records pertaining to its investigations.
Anonymous complaint triggers probes
Triggering these events was an anonymous complaint to Clark County officials in December 2024 that claimed Jimmy Floyd had given preferential treatment to Rock Solid, part of a team that had just been awarded a $10 million county public works contract to manage construction of the 215 Beltway/Summerlin Parkway Interchange Project.
The Review-Journal, which later obtained the anonymous complaint, published stories in May of last year about how Jimmy Floyd had overseen the award of the 215/Summerlin Parkway contract, served as an evaluator of contract proposals and continued to manage the project. Later that month, the county suspended Floyd.
This month, after obtaining the unredacted proposal evaluations from the county, the news organization further reported that Floyd had ranked highest the company whose proposal included Rock Solid as a subconsultant. That company, Diversified Consulting Services, was awarded the contract, for which Rock Solid was expected to be paid at least $1.5 million, according to the proposal.
Records show that for its first investigation, which resulted in Jimmy Floyd being placed on leave in late May, county officials interviewed at least 11 other public works employees, some of whom expressed concern over his connection to Rock Solid.
The county refused for a year to provide the findings of its investigations, claiming they were confidential personnel information.
‘Pull a favor’
A summary of the second investigation states that in a January 2023 email, Raquel Floyd copied her husband on an email in which she wrote, “Jimmy said he would try to pull a favor for us at NVE,” a reference to NV Energy. The request was not related to any business or projects with public works, according to the summary.
In May 2021, Raquel Floyd forwarded an email in which a representative of a construction management company asked if Jimmy could help with a traffic-control issue, according to the summary. Jimmy Floyd told county investigators that “if anyone asks him for help, he gives them help,” the summary states.
“There were many emails similar to this one, in which Jimmy appears to be consulting or assisting in projects” unrelated to Clark County public works, the summary states.
In another email chain with his wife in October 2018, Jimmy Floyd disparaged an associate, whom he later told a county investigator was trying to prevent his promotion because of his connection to Rock Solid.
In an email to his wife in May 2024, he detailed issues he was having with a colleague. He told investigators he was seeking her advice.
“Findings from this investigation further affirm that Jimmy has been using his official County position to grant preferential treatment for his spouse and her company, Rock Solid Project Solutions,” the summary states. “Jimmy’s actions of using his County email and resources for personal pursuits, as well as sharing information about internal PW (public works) issues with a PW vendor, are a violation of Clark County policies.”
Citing “egregious violations of Clark County policies,” the summary recommends that Jimmy Floyd be fired.
Kristol Bradley Ginapp, an attorney for Jimmy Floyd, argued that the emails did not demonstrate preferential treatment for Rock Solid, according to a letter to Jimmy Floyd in August from Deputy County Manager Lisa Kremer that recapped a disciplinary hearing.
“Using his County email for personal pursuits was inadvertent and emailing his wife regarding interpersonal issues he was seeking consult on don’t rise to a terminable offense and would like the termination to be rescinded,” the attorney asserted.
‘He’s been aware the whole time’
When Rock Solid was lined up to be a major subconsultant for Diversified Consulting Services, a company bidding for the construction management contract for the interchange project, Jimmy Floyd said he asked Cederburg if he needed to recuse himself as an evaluator of the bid proposals. Cederburg said no, Floyd told investigators, according to a summary of the first investigation and audio of the interview.
However, the summary report states, “Denis did not confirm this but shared that Jimmy was removed from the project after the complaints were received.”
One investigator, Mazzone, told Jimmy Floyd that county officials were trying to determine how aware Cederburg was “of all this” and asked if he thought his boss had put him in the position of being the subject of an investigation.
Jimmy Floyd responded, “He’s been aware the whole time, and that’s a frustrating point. … I don’t know that Denis is intentionally putting me in this position. I would hope not,” according to redacted audio of the interview.
According to an investigation summary, “Jimmy Floyd did not disclose each incident of Jimmy’s Clark County work interactions with Rock Solid Project Solutions to supervisor Denis Cederburg, particularly when Rock Solid Solutions expanded their services to include construction management and inspection services.”
Jimmy Floyd said he had been advised by Cederburg and a deputy district attorney that he had no conflict with Rock Solid, but he also acknowledged that he could provide no documentation of meeting with them, according to redacted audio of his interview with Mazzone.
The summary of the investigation into Cederburg provides further details: “While Denis Cederburg said he did not recall this meeting, the information provided throughout the investigation supports that some kind of meeting like this happened. It was also confirmed that Denis had other meetings with Raquel Floyd and was aware that she was Jimmy’s wife and the owner of Rock Solid Solutions.”
In a newly released email to Raquel Floyd in February 2021, Cederburg wrote after their meeting, “I am fine with your firm working with consulting firms under contract with the County for projects administered by Public Works.”
Cederburg, a county employee since 1980, was not disciplined as a result of the investigations, county spokesperson Jennifer Cooper confirmed Monday. She noted that the county identified that “potential conflicts of interest could result from subcontractor relationships” and had taken steps to address these.
In an email to county officials last June, county Chief Financial Officer Jessica Colvin said that while Cederburg was aware of Jimmy Floyd’s connection to Rock Solid, a personnel directive prohibits employees from engaging in activities that represent a conflict of interest. In other words, Cederburg’s awareness did not inoculate his employee.
In her letter to Jimmy Floyd, Kremer, the deputy county manager, wrote that she found just cause for termination. She wrote that the county’s ethical standards, contained in the personnel directive, require that “employees will not attempt to use their official County positions to secure or grant privileges, exemptions. advantages, contracts, or preferential treatment for themselves or others.”
Contact investigative reporter Mary Hynes at mhynes@reviewjournal.com or at 702-383-0336. Follow @MaryHynes1 on X.
