Krutz vs. Sparks
Former Sparks City Manager Neil Krutz has finally filed his long-awaited lawsuit against Mayor Ed Lawson and Councilmembers Vanderwell, Bybee, Abbott, Anderson, and Dahir. After much anticipation, we expected a juicy complaint packed with explosive exhibits and salacious allegations.
What did we get instead? A document so bland it could put an insomniac to sleep.
One almost wonders if Krutz and his legal team deliberately crafted something this tedious. How could anyone with a legitimate grievance produce such a yawn-inducing complaint?
Of course, we understand Krutz's motivation—his compensation package was nothing short of extraordinary. An annual base salary of $223,100.80, longevity pay of $7,500.00, and an annual COLA adjustment, among other perks. It's a golden parachute he'll likely never see again. Which begs the question: was Krutz ever truly the best choice for Sparks City Manager in the first place?
The complaint itself seems almost childish in its attempts to establish bias. Krutz complains about council members Abbott, Dahir, and Bybee using too much staff time—really? He devotes significant space to a travel dispute with Dahir and Bybee. Is this truly the foundation of a serious legal action?
Perhaps most telling is Krutz's apparent attempt to shift blame onto City Attorney Wes Duncan regarding Fire Chief Mark Lawson's departure. According to Krutz, it was Duncan who wanted Lawson gone because the Attorney General's Office was preparing to file felony criminal complaints. Conveniently, Krutz sidesteps whether his office even conducted a proper background check before Lawson was hired as Sparks Fire Chief.
For a brief, tantalizing moment, the complaint hints at a "close personal relationship" between Councilmember Vanderwell and Mark Lawson. Yet it offers... nothing. No exhibit. No evidence. Just an allegation hanging in the air like smoke without fire. Is it relevant that both Mark Lawson and Dian Vanderwell grew up in Sparks? The complaint doesn't connect any dots.
Then there's the curious allegation that Vanderwell suggested Krutz was "too old" to perform his duties when she recommended he "retire or resign" due to poor job performance. This raises more questions than it answers. Was Mayor Lawson setting up Vanderwell? Was the meeting with Krutz preplanned by the Mayor to trap the councilmember who had been Krutz's most vocal critic?
Perhaps most perplexing is the claim that Dahir was asking city employees if Krutz was a "tyrant"—yet Dahir was one of Krutz's strongest advocates on May 8, 2023. What changed?
We've made the full complaint available for you to draw your own conclusions, as we must prepare to head to the legislature tomorrow. But one thing seems clear: if this is the best legal case Krutz can build, perhaps there's more to his dismissal than meets the eye.
Neil Krutz Lawsuit by documents on Scribd