Clark County's Longtime Public Works Director Is Retiring After an Internal Investigation

by Ryan Rose

What Happened

According to the Review-Journal, Cederburg sent a short, two-sentence resignation letter to County Manager Kevin Schiller. The letter is dated Sept. 14. In it, he says he plans to retire on Jan. 4 of next year. County spokesperson Jennifer Cooper told the paper the resignation was voluntary.

The letter followed an internal investigation this summer. Cederburg was on paid administrative leave from July 22 through Aug. 24 while it was going on. Cooper said that leave was required under state law. The Review-Journal got a copy of the investigation report through a public records request. Cederburg did not respond to the paper's request for comment.

Here is what the report looked at. A department employee was involved in overseeing a county project. A company tied to that employee's family was a subcontractor on the same project. According to the report, the company is owned by the employee's father and run by the employee's brother. The employee had helped the company get its contractor license but reported not being paid by it. The company did work on a security gate for what the report calls the county's James Regional Sports Park project. The names of the employee and the company were blacked out in the report.

The report says Cederburg had known about the family connection, and the chance of a conflict of interest, since late 2025. In January 2026, the employee filed a notice of additional employment about the family company. Cederburg and the employee talked about the form, but the report says he did not write down specific directions for how to handle a possible conflict. In May, there were conversations about the company working as a subcontractor on the county job. The report includes comments that Cederburg said it would be OK, because the employee had no money in the company. Cederburg told investigators he did not know about the work until it was done, and he denied saying he was OK with it.

After an ethics training class, concerns about the family ties were raised again. Cederburg then said he would take the concerns to the district attorney. The district attorney's office got the January form on June 10. County human resources got the form on July 16, one day after Cederburg marked it "disapproved." The investigator, a principal human resources analyst named Ed Capiral, found the concern about Cederburg's handling of the matter was substantiated. The report says any corrective or disciplinary action was up to the county manager.

Why It Matters to Las Vegas Residents

Most people never think about who runs Public Works. But this department has its hands on a huge share of what you see when you step outside. On its own website, Clark County says Public Works handles the design, construction, inspection and maintenance of roadways, bridges, traffic control devices, flood control facilities and trails. It also oversees the Bruce Woodbury Beltway, curbs, medians and sidewalks in the public right of way, the "Welcome to Las Vegas" sign, and Las Vegas Boulevard south of Sahara Avenue.

The department is split into divisions that each touch daily life. The Road Division maintains streets and sidewalks and handles things like pothole repair, graffiti removal and street sweeping. Traffic Management runs signals and streetlights and manages school crossing guards. Construction Management oversees capital projects and inspections. Development Review checks plans and issues permits for new roads and drainage that builders put in. That last one matters a lot in a valley that keeps adding new neighborhoods.

So when the person at the top changes, it is not just an office story. The director helps set priorities for which roads get fixed first, how big projects are managed, and how the county works with contractors. A long-serving director also carries a lot of history in his head. Cederburg has been with the department for about 46 years and has run it for about 21. Replacing that kind of experience takes time.

There is also the trust side of this. Public Works spends public money on public projects. When questions come up about how a conflict of interest was handled, residents have a fair reason to want clear rules and clear follow-through. That does not mean anything is broken with your street or your commute tomorrow. It means the way the department checks for conflicts is getting a close look, and that is a good thing for taxpayers. Most of the work this department does goes on quietly and correctly every day.

It also matters where you live. Clark County Public Works covers unincorporated Clark County, which includes large areas like Spring Valley, Enterprise, Paradise and Summerlin South. If you live inside the city limits of Las Vegas, Henderson or North Las Vegas, your neighborhood streets are handled by your city. But the county still runs regional pieces that everyone drives on, like the Beltway. So even city residents feel the county's work on their commute.

For homeowners, good infrastructure is part of what holds up home values over time. Smooth roads, working signals, drainage that handles a monsoon storm, and new interchanges that cut commute times all make neighborhoods more attractive. Buyers notice those things, even if they never know which county office made them happen.

Background and History

This is the second time Cederburg's oversight has come up in an internal review. In a separate matter, the county fired public works manager Jimmy Floyd last year. Investigators found Floyd had shown preferential treatment to his wife's firm, Rock Solid Project Solutions, which was the main subcontractor on a $10 million public works contract Floyd oversaw. We covered that earlier story in Clark County Public Works Scandal Grows, so I will not repeat it here.

What is new is what the Review-Journal learned about Cederburg's role in that first case. According to the paper, records it obtained this year after suing the county show Cederburg was also investigated for how he handled the Floyd matter. Investigators found he had shown a "lack of oversight" over Floyd. The county said he was not disciplined for it.

After the Floyd investigations, the county said last year that it was putting new measures in place to prevent conflicts of interest involving subcontractors. The summer 2026 investigation looked at a different employee and a different project. It focused on whether the department head moved fast enough to document and resolve a possible conflict once he knew about it.

It helps to understand how county projects are built. The county often hires a main contractor, and that contractor hires smaller subcontractors to do pieces of the job. That is normal and legal. The concern comes in when someone who oversees a project has a personal or family tie to a company working on it. County rules ask employees to report outside jobs and ask department heads to make sure those reports are reviewed and resolved. The report found that did not happen in a timely way here.

It is also worth putting the timeline side by side. The report says Cederburg knew about the family link in late 2025. The outside job form was filed in January 2026. The subcontractor question came up in May. The form reached the district attorney's office in June and county human resources in July. Then came the paid leave from July 22 to Aug. 24, and the resignation letter on Sept. 14. Seen that way, the investigation's main point is about time: several months passed between when the possible conflict was known and when the paperwork was fully acted on.

Finally, remember how long Cederburg has been part of this department. He started there in 1980, when the Las Vegas Valley was a much smaller place. He became director in 2005, in the middle of one of the fastest growth periods the valley has ever seen. Over his career, the county built out huge stretches of the roads and flood control that newer residents take for granted today.

Construction crew in hard hats on a job site, the kind of contract work county public works departments oversee

What Happens Next

Cederburg is not leaving right away. His retirement date is Jan. 4, 2027. According to the Review-Journal, County Manager Kevin Schiller sent Cederburg a letter on Sept. 14 confirming that date and laying out a transition plan. Under the plan, Cederburg will step back from running day-to-day operations. He will support Deputy County Manager Lisa Kremer and the managers who are taking on more of the operations work.

The letter also asks Cederburg to help, under Kremer's direction, with changes in the department focused on following county policy. That specifically includes the county's ethics directive and the rules for reporting additional employment. In other words, the same kind of paperwork at the center of the investigation is now part of the transition work.

A replacement has not been picked. Cooper told the Review-Journal the county "is working through the next steps associated with the transition and recruitment." That means there is no name yet, and no public timeline for hiring. It is worth watching whether the county looks inside the department or searches outside for its next director. Either way, the new leader will step into a department with a lot of work already underway.

Inside the department, the tone has been one of thanks. In a Sept. 17 email to public works employees reported by the Review-Journal, Kremer praised Cederburg's service and called him a mentor to her and to many others in the community.

The next three months are a handoff period. Between now and early January, Kremer and the department's managers take on more of the daily decisions while Cederburg is still around to answer questions and share what he knows. That kind of overlap can help a big department avoid losing track of long projects when a longtime leader leaves.

For residents, the important thing is that road projects do not stop because of a leadership change. Crews, engineers and inspectors keep working. Big jobs like the 215 and Summerlin Parkway interchange keep moving on their own schedules. What can shift over time is priorities and process, which is why the pick for the next director is worth following.

Ryan's Take

I drive this valley every day for work, from Summerlin to Henderson to the southwest. The roads, the signals and the new interchanges are a big part of why people want to live here. So I pay attention when the department behind them goes through a leadership change.

I am not going to judge anyone here. Cederburg spent more than four decades with the county, and the people who worked with him clearly respect him. The investigation was about how a potential conflict was handled and documented, not a criminal finding. At the same time, it is healthy for a county to take ethics rules seriously and to follow through when a report finds a gap. Clear rules protect honest contractors, protect employees, and protect taxpayers.

For homeowners and buyers, I do not see this changing anything about your home value in the short run. What I would watch is who takes over and how they set priorities for road maintenance, new growth areas and big projects. In fast-growing parts of the valley, like the southwest and the far northwest, road work often has to keep up with new homes. A strong, steady Public Works department is one of the quiet reasons a neighborhood holds its appeal over the years.

What You Can Do

You do not have to be a policy expert to stay on top of this. Here are a few simple steps.

Follow the hiring. Clark County posts news and Board of County Commissioners agendas on its website. When the county names a new Public Works director, that is worth a read. You can also follow trusted local news, like the Review-Journal, for updates as the transition plays out.

Use the department's tools. Clark County Public Works has a Report Issues page on its website for things like potholes, broken streetlights and other road problems in unincorporated Clark County. The department also posts notices of road construction, so you can check what is coming to your area. You can reach the department at (702) 455-6000 or InTheWorks@ClarkCountyNV.gov. Its office is at 500 S. Grand Central Parkway in Las Vegas.

Speak up if you care. County Commission meetings include time for public comment, and you can contact your county commissioner directly. If you have thoughts on how the county should handle ethics rules, contractor oversight or road priorities in your part of town, let them know. Keep it respectful and stick to the facts.

And if you are buying or selling a home, ask about the roads and projects around the neighborhood. Planned road work, new interchanges and drainage projects can shape traffic, noise and convenience for years. That is part of the local knowledge I try to bring to every client.

Have questions about how this affects your home or neighborhood? Reach out to Ryan Rose or text/call 702-747-5921 anytime. Ryan Rose | Real Broker, LLC | ryan@rosehomeslv.com | rosehomeslv.com