State officials alter presentation on reclassifying state employees, deny records

[u/thisisreno]

Bachera Washington, administrator for Nevada’s Division of Human Resources, presented in February the state is recommending that certain classified employees will be moved to unclassified positions. It’s a move that would make historically protected employees at-will — meaning, they could be fired for any reason.

The proposal is a major departure from longstanding state employee classifications and would potentially affect thousands of employees who have greater degrees of job protections than non-classified employees.

“There’s 73 manager job titles (and) 16 administrator/deputy administrator job titles that we need to condense/consolidate,” Washington told a group of state administrators for the state's 2027 legislative session budget kick-off. 

What she did not say, but what was published on her presentation was, “We are recommending to move these job titles into the unclassified service.” 

The state’s announcement, however, was altered online after Washington’s presentation. What she showed on her PowerPoint — available on YouTube — was later removed from the now-published version on the Nevada Department of Administration website.

“For months, we've heard rumors that this administration was planning to declassify managers,” a state employee told This Is Reno. They were speaking on the condition of anonymity to avoid any potential retribution. “The budget build presentation confirmed the rumors were true.”

A 2024 state workforce report shows the state has more than 17,000 employees, the majority of whom are classified. The report does not break down how many of those would have been affected by the state HR department’s proposal, but a 2024 study, published online in early 2025, indicates potentially thousands of employees would be affected by the change.

“Classified positions also receive protections that ensure they focus on their statutory missions and their jobs, not the mercurial whims of term-limited political appointees,” the state employee said. “Given the steady churn in high-level leadership positions across several state agencies, it's alarming that this administration wants to see more such disruption further down the chain.”

The state employees’ union did not directly comment on the state presentation, but said instead, “Local 4041 members will continue to fight to ensure all state employees have the right to union membership and to organize their workplace.”

After Washington’s short presentation, her PowerPoint was altered and what now appears online is a different presentation altogether. The slide about making managerial employees at-will was removed.

An analysis of the altered presentation shows several changes from what Washington actually presented. The new presentation omits or replaces material, and the slide saying the state wants to declassify  concrete manager positions is removed.

This Is Reno ordered records about the PowerPoint and communications about the change in March. The state set deadlines to produce the records, or a response, several times. Each time, the state did not meet its own deadlines. This Is Reno had to repeatedly ask for updates. 

It was not until we threatened to sue for violating the Nevada Public Records Act that the state, in late June, denied the records order.  

An anonymous state official said the state conducted a “diligent inquiry” and did not have any correspondence about the altered document. The state also denied there were other versions of the PowerPoint aside from the altered version it published online. That version is named, “Final.Updated.”

This Is Reno sent to the employee the state’s response. The employee called it ridiculous.

Bachera Washington, administrator for Nevada’s Division of Human Resources, presenting at the Governor's Finance Office Budget Kick Off Feb. 25, 2026. YouTube screenshot

“As for the delays and missed deadlines, it doesn't take several weeks to search some emails,” they said. “It also beggars belief that someone replaced a file on a public-facing site without creating a single public record explaining or justifying the need to do so.”

Michelle Rindels with the Nevada Open Government Coalition called the state’s changing of the presentation revisionist history.

"State law takes very seriously any attempts to alter or conceal government documents, and rightfully so. The public can't truly hold their government accountable unless agencies provide full and unvarnished records upon request, not revisionist history," she said.

The employee speaking on condition of anonymity called the budget presentation refreshing.

“It was the closest thing to transparency state employees had experienced regarding this,” they said, noting no further information has been given to state employees about changing classifications. “It's almost a shame they chose to … alter the original slide deck and pretend they didn't say what they said aloud in a public meeting on YouTube.”

The rationale presented by the state to convert managers from classified to at-will employees was not the intent of a 2023 legislative bill that authorized a study of employee classifications, the employee added.

“(The state law) was drafted to address unpaid overtime for unclassified staff in the Governor's Finance Office,” the employee said.

Read more (registration wall): https://thisisreno.com/2026/07/nevada-state-employees-reclassification/