Washington Business and Technology Institute - Election and Public Service

Post through the courtesy of Las Vegas Review-Journal:
Jul. 03, 2006
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal
Insiders finally embrace outsider
Gibbons is leader in race for governor
By MOLLY BALL
REVIEW-JOURNAL
[[[Jim Gibbons]]]
[[[Jim Gibbons works the crowd after announcing his candidacy for governor at the East Las Vegas Community Center on Aug. 31.
Review-Journal file photo.]]]
Editor's note: The following is the last in a series of profiles of Nevada's major gubernatorial candidates. More profiles.
In 2003, Jim Gibbons took to the floor of the state Legislature and, in front of a startled Gov. Kenny Guinn, denounced Guinn's planned budget.
Guinn never has forgiven him for the incident, which the governor took as a sucker-punch. The rift between the two men illustrates much about the differences between Nevada's governor for the past eight years and the candidate currently considered his most likely replacement.
Gibbons faces state Sen. Bob Beers and Lt. Gov. Lorraine Hunt in the Republican primary for the gubernatorial nomination.
As the front-runner in the race for governor, Gibbons is attracting the bulk of the money and support from the political establishment, from gaming bigwigs like MGM Mirage CEO Terry Lanni to the Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce.
Although the election of Guinn, who never had held an elected office before, was famously engineered by those powerful interests, that's where the similarity ends.
For most of his career, Gibbons was an outsider to the state's power structure, intent on going his own way, often frustrating the political establishment with his successes. It's only now that Gibbons' election seems likely that the powers that be are lining up behind him, and even so, their embrace of him is not unanimous.
Gibbons' coronation "hasn't been anything near what you had with Kenny Guinn or (former Gov.) Bob Miller," said Republican political consultant Pete Ernaut, who does not have a candidate in the governor's race. "There hasn't been the total breadth of support financially across different industries."
Ernaut, who has had a rocky relationship with Gibbons over the years, says he has seen Gibbons mellow from an isolated, impetuous populist to a more conventional politician capable of listening to a variety of interests and building consensus.
"I don't think it's any secret that he had a style that didn't sit well with people" at the beginning of his career, Ernaut said. "He's realized that, if you want to be governor, it's a game of addition, not subtraction."
That is, to win the state's top office, Gibbons has had to work on making allies rather than enemies.
HUMBLE BEGINNINGS
Born in Sparks to a father who was a ditch-digger for the Southern Pacific Railroad, Gibbons' life reads as a traditional Republican up-by-his-bootstraps tale, one in which education plays a central role.
"My father taught me a lot about the value of getting an education because his opportunities were so limited by the lack of it," Gibbons said.
Gibbons' father died the day he graduated from high school. His last words to his son were another admonishment to get an education.
Gibbons' mother was also an inspiration: a strong-willed woman who raised six boys, ran a business in the days when women seldom did so, and ran unsuccessfully for mayor of Sparks. Gibbons credits her with planting the seed in his mind of serving the community through elected office.
After earning his undergraduate degree in geology from the University of Nevada, Gibbons signed up for the Air Force rather than be drafted. Since he was a child he had been fascinated with airplanes. Gibbons became a fighter pilot, flying missions in Vietnam that remain classified.
Returning home, Gibbons aimed to become an airline pilot, but the airlines weren't hiring. He enrolled in graduate school, earning a master's degree and getting most of the way toward a doctorate while also working for Union Carbide's tungsten prospecting operation.
Deciding that he "didn't want to be packing rocks up and down a hill when I was 55," Gibbons left without completing his doctorate and enrolled in law school instead. But no sooner did he graduate than Western Airlines called. There had been 3,000 applicants for 38 pilot positions, Gibbons recalls, and he was one of the chosen.
Gibbons flew for Western from 1978 to 1980, when he was furloughed. He worked as a lawyer for the Homestake Mining Co. and then in private practice until 1984, when he was called back by the airline. He gave up the law for flying, always his first love.
Air Force Maj. Gen. Ron J. Bath, a friend of Gibbons since college who served with him in the 1991 Gulf War, said Gibbons was a "natural aviator" who inspired admiration in his military colleagues.
"He had what we call 'air savvy' -- he could see that jet in three dimensions," Bath said. "He really stood out in the Gulf War. He always took the hardest missions, and he never turned down a mission."
POLITICAL CAREER
Gibbons credits his wife Dawn -- now a politician herself, running for the congressional seat he is leaving -- with his entry into politics.
It was 1988, and Gibbons was a pilot for Delta Airlines, which had purchased Western a couple of years before.
"My wife calls me up and says that the guy representing our Assembly district isn't running for re-election," Gibbons recalled.
"I said, 'Let's talk about it when I get home.' I walk in the door and she has the paperwork all filled out for me to sign."
A popular former county commissioner, Jim King, was the favorite in the race, but Gibbons defeated him in the primary and went on to win.
Gibbons tells a curious story about his first term in the Assembly. Perhaps intended to illustrate his ability to stand his ground, it also reads as a tale of political payback.
The newly elected legislator told Delta, his employer, that he would need a six-month unpaid leave to serve in the Assembly. But unlike his previous airline, Delta didn't have a public-service leave policy, and Gibbons was told he would have to choose between his job as a pilot and serving in the Legislature.
Sure enough, when Gibbons went to Carson City he was fired for failing to show up to work. But he soon had a chance to get back at the airline.
"The Legislature was increasing the tax on jet fuel, and they put me in charge of the bill," Gibbons said. "Delta sent a representative to lobby, and guess who they had to come talk to? Me."
Because of the way the airline had treated Gibbons, its lobbyist got nowhere with him. Within days, Gibbons got a call from Delta saying he'd been rehired. When he returned to work after the legislative session, the airline had a public-service leave policy.
"I couldn't believe Delta would be so stubborn when it's so important to have a good relationship with the government," Gibbons said. "I think it was that lobbyist who went back and said, 'This (leave policy) is silly, it could jeopardize our ability to survive.'"
Gibbons was re-elected in 1990. Five days after the election, his National Guard unit was called up for Operation Desert Shield. Gibbons was sure he'd be back soon, but he gave Dawn a letter of resignation just in case.
"We were transferred to a base in Bahrain," Gibbons said. "The wing commander says, 'We're going to war in January.' I couldn't tell anybody.
"On January 16, I called my wife and said, 'I cannot tell you why, but you have to take that letter to the governor tomorrow morning.'"
The war started as Dawn Gibbons was on her way home from giving her husband's resignation to Gov. Bob Miller.
In Gibbons' absence, the Washoe County Commission appointed his wife to serve in the Legislature, then reappointed Gibbons when he returned.
OUTSIDER CANDIDATE
After three terms in the Legislature, Gibbons, despite his relative political inexperience, decided to run for governor in 1994. He looked like the underdog in a crowded Republican primary. The establishment's candidate was then-Secretary of State Cheryl Lau.
But Gibbons campaigned tirelessly and won the primary. He says he ran for the simple reason that he wanted the job.
"I've always wanted to be governor," he said. "That was my goal then, and I hold it today: to lead the state of Nevada."
At the same time, Gibbons was backing an initiative petition, the Gibbons Tax Restraint Initiative, that would amend the state Constitution to require a two-thirds vote of the state Legislature to raise taxes.
Gibbons lost the governor's race to incumbent Democrat Bob Miller by 11 percentage points. But his initiative passed with nearly 80 percent of the vote.
In 1996, with the tax initiative again on the ballot -- Nevada voters must approve proposed constitutional amendments in two successive elections -- Gibbons ran for the open Congressional District 2 seat vacated by former Rep. Barbara Vucanovich.
That is the seat he has held for the past 10 years, representing all of Nevada except parts of Clark County. In 2000, a third Nevada congressional district was carved out of Gibbons' territory, but his district still includes all of 16 counties and part of the 17th, Clark.
Gibbons currently serves on the House Resources Committee, the Armed Services Committee and the Homeland Security Committee. For eight years, Gibbons served on the House Intelligence Committee and was poised to become chairman when then-chair Porter Goss was appointed to head the CIA in 2004.
Gibbons lobbied hard for the post, saying he would not run for governor if he got it. But Gibbons was passed over for the chairmanship, an event his critics paint as a telling failure. Gibbons doesn't deny he was disappointed.
"Porter Goss said if I wanted to become the next chair, he would support me," Gibbons said. "I put my name in, and at the end of the day the speaker (House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill.) chose someone else."
Gibbons' allies suspect his vocal opposition to the proposed nuclear repository at Yucca Mountain, which Hastert favors, may have played a role. His critics say it's just another example of what they call Gibbons' failed tenure as a congressman.
RECORD IN CONGRESS
Democrats portray Gibbons' decade as a congressman as a case study in mediocrity.
"We hear the term back-bencher used for Gibbons a lot, and it really fits him," Democratic Party spokeswoman Kirsten Searer said. "He has not sponsored one substantial policy bill and gotten it through Congress. That's indicative of his career in Washington -- just kind of floating along."
Gibbons has introduced 16 bills that succeeded in becoming law. Most are related to public lands. Three served to rename post offices, and one conferred honors on Ronald and Nancy Reagan.
"He hasn't provided leadership to the state of Nevada," Searer said.
Gibbons' record also draws fire for some notable incidents.
In December 2003, he was named "Porker of the Month" by Citizens Against Government Waste for obtaining $225,000 in federal funds to repair a swimming pool down the road from his childhood home in Sparks; he said he wanted to atone for clogging the pool's drain with tadpoles as a teenager.
In November 2005, he co-authored a last-minute amendment to a federal budget bill that would have loosened restrictions on the sale of public lands for mining. The amendment drew heavy criticism from environmentalists, Democrats and some Republicans.
Environmentalists also decry Gibbons' co-authorship last year of a report that attempted to frame mercury in a more positive light. Opponents accuse Gibbons of attempting to whitewash a dangerous substance on behalf of industry.
Gibbons' stance on abortion also has been questioned. He always has claimed to be pro-choice, a position he says comes from his belief that government should stay out of people's bedrooms.
Yet abortion-rights advocates do not consider him a friend because of his votes in favor of restrictions on abortion. Earlier this year, Gibbons told the Review-Journal, "I do not support government funding of abortions, and I do not support late-term abortions," but he still considers himself pro-choice.
Meanwhile, back home, Gibbons has championed the Education First ballot initiative, which would amend the state Constitution to require the Legislature to fund education before the rest of the budget. The measure passed with 57 percent of the vote in 2004 and must pass again in November to take effect.
Gibbons says the initiative shows the priority he places on education, but his critics on both sides say the proposal doesn't really address the state's education problems. Hunt, for instance, called the initiative "a feel-good solution" that "doesn't offer any real answer to Nevada's educational issues."
Gibbons supporters say he hardly has been a do-nothing congressman. "You don't work your way into those committee assignments if you're a back-bencher," said Hal Furman, a former Republican U.S. Senate candidate from Nevada who is now a Washington lobbyist.
Furman said Gibbons is well-respected in the capital as hardworking and straightforward.
In addition to his lands bills, Gibbons, backed by his scientific credentials, has been an aggressive opponent of Yucca Mountain, a stance that has put him at odds with President Bush and many Republicans. Gibbons was also an early supporter of the creation of the Homeland Security Department. He has said that is his proudest accomplishment in Congress.
THE RACE
The guy in front always has the most arrows in his back. Gibbons has been the target of everyone's attacks in the campaign thus far, but it's hard to see how he could lose in November, much less in August, when the primary is held.
Most polls show Gibbons more than 30 points ahead of both Beers and Hunt in the Republican primary. To the other Republicans' great frustration, he has refused to debate them until August, when early voting for the primary already will have started, meaning even a giant gaffe in such a forum would be unlikely to turn the election.
In the general election, most polls show Gibbons beating either Henderson Mayor Jim Gibson or state Sen. Dina Titus by more than 10 points.
University of Nevada, Reno political scientist Eric Herzik said Gibson might give Gibbons a tougher race than Titus, but Gibson still would have an uphill climb against Gibbons' statewide support and financial resources.
Gibbons is supported by Republican political heavyweight Sig Rogich, the power broker whose backing of Guinn was decisive eight years ago. "He's done a terrific job in Congress," Rogich said. "He's been innovative as a legislator here in Nevada. He's not afraid to stand up for what he believes in. ... (Through the initiative process) he's shown that he has the ability to be creative in government."
With Rogich's help, Gibbons has managed to reel in powerful players who didn't take kindly to him at first. University Chancellor Jim Rogers once said Gibbons was "not very bright," but in April, having junked his own gubernatorial ambitions, Rogers got onboard with Gibbons, giving him a $5,000 donation.
Others, notably Guinn, have not come around. Guinn has said he will not endorse a successor, but he recently issued a statement praising Hunt and saying, "Nevada would certainly benefit from her continued leadership."
Guinn is nursing a grudge against Gibbons, Herzik said.
"Kenny Guinn headed Republicans for Miller," against Gibbons' 1994 gubernatorial candidacy. "But Jim Gibbons doesn't hold that against him. The grudge only goes one way."
Gibbons can act rashly, as when last year he made two widely publicized gaffes in quick succession. In January 2005, he said anyone who objected to President Bush's lavish re-inauguration "must be a communist." The following month, he gave a speech in Elko that was shocking enough for its content, suggesting that Hollywood liberals be sent to Iraq as human shields. Even worse, the speech turned out to be plagiarized.
Those types of missteps are the flip side of Gibbons' instinctive, decisive style as a politician. But it would be a mistake to see him as unintelligent or his probable coronation as governor as accidental, Herzik said.
"Gibbons has been consistently underestimated by Democrats and many Republicans," Herzik said. "He's always been something of an outsider, but he's succeeded by going directly to the people," as with his tax restraint measure.
"Many of the state's mainstream interests have always had an arm's length relationship with Jim Gibbons," Herzik added. "They're warming up to him real quick now. They're going to have to work with him."

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Post through the courtesy of Las Vegas Review-Journal:
Jun. 13, 2006
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal
WOUNDED AT THE COURTHOUSE: Judge shot in Reno
Pawn shop owner sought in sniper incident, separate slaying
By ED VOGEL and SEAN WHALEY
REVIEW-JOURNAL CAPITAL BUREAU
[[[Investigators remove the remains of a window shattered Monday by a bullet that struck District Judge Chuck Weller at the Mills B. Lane Justice Center in Reno. Police were looking for a man suspected in a slaying across town who had appeared before the judge in a divorce case.
Photo by The Associated Press.]]]
[[[Chuck Weller
Washoe County Family Court judge in serious to critical condition
Darren Mack
Reno pawn shop owner had criticized judge in his divorce case as corrupt]]]
[[[Darren Roy Mack, 45, is shown with his family on his page on eBay, where he sells diamonds and other gems and valuables.]]]
RENO -- A family court judge was shot Monday as he stood by a third-floor courthouse window, and police were looking for a man suspected in a slaying across town who had appeared before the judge in a divorce case.
Judge Chuck Weller, 53, was reported in serious to critical condition at the Washoe Medical Center after being shot at least once in the chest at 11:06 a.m. He had been on the bench for only 18 months, but he is a well-known lawyer who hosted a call-in radio talk show about legal matters for 13 years and also wrote a Reno Gazette-Journal newspaper column.
Police said Weller was shot through a glass window in his chambers overlooking the Truckee River by a sniper armed with a high-powered rifle. The gunman might have fired from a parking garage 1 1/2 blocks north of the Mills B. Lane Justice Center, authorities said. The hole in the courthouse window was visible from a walkway along the river.
Police Deputy Chief Jim Johns said Darren Roy Mack, 45, a longtime Reno businessman, has been identified as a "person of interest" sought for questioning in the shooting.
"He is known to have access to firearms," Johns said of the pawn shop owner.
Mack also is a suspect in a homicide that Reno police discovered at 3 p.m. Monday at an apartment at 9900 Wilbur May Parkway in south Reno.
The apartment building was home to Mack's estranged wife, Charla Mack, 39, according to a background check by the Internet search engine Intelius. A call to Charla Mack's apartment was not returned Monday.
Police said the name of the homicide victim was being withheld pending notification of next of kin.
The slaying might have occurred before the Weller shooting but was not discovered until afterward, Johns said.
Mack had recently been involved in divorce proceedings in Weller's court, Johns said. Washoe County District Court records show that Mack and his wife appeared before the judge three times in relation to the divorce last year and that Weller was scheduled to preside over the couple's divorce proceedings on Sept. 8.
"We don't have enough to say he (Mack) is a suspect in the (Weller) shooting at this time, but it is an obvious connection," Johns said.
Mack operates Palace Jewelry and Loan, a pawnshop, in downtown Reno. He is believed to be driving a silver Ford Explorer. His 2003 Hummer was found abandoned Monday evening a few miles away from the courthouse.
A call to a number listed for Mack on a Web site generated only a "no comment" from the person who answered.
A Web site for his business states that Mack's wife is named Charla and that they have three children.
Police cordoned off a three-by-five block area in downtown Reno for more than six hours after the courthouse shooting. Swarms of SWAT team members from the Reno and Sparks police departments and Washoe County Sheriff's Department searched the parking structure and other buildings in the area.
A bomb squad checked Weller's car, parked in a structure next to the courthouse, after a bomb-detecting dog alerted experts to the vehicle, but no bomb was found, police said.
One man, Charles Albertson, said he made his daily trip to the post office and then discovered police would not let him return to his home in the Comstock Hotel until they completed their search.
"This is a shock," he said. "I moved away from Los Angeles to get away from crime, and now it happens here."
Darin Conforti, administrator of family court, said the shooting stunned employees in the courthouse.
"This is the inherent risk of trying to resolve conflicts," he said. "Sometimes you don't resolve them peacefully. People take the law in their own hands."
The courthouse windows are not bulletproof, and court officials will be looking in coming weeks for ways to better protect employees, Conforti said.
A clerk for Weller, Annie Allison, also suffered minor injuries from shrapnel or glass fragments, but her wounds were superficial and she was treated for them and released, officials said.
Johns said police were able to respond almost immediately to a report of a shot or shots fired because they were in the area on court business. Three SWAT teams responded to search for a suspect.
Mack told a Reno television station several weeks ago he believed Weller was corrupt, KRNV-TV reported Monday.
KRNV-TV anchor Shelby Sheehan said Mack and a friend brought documents to the Reno news station several weeks ago in an attempt to substantiate their claims that Weller was not impartial in his rulings.
"The pair alleged improprieties in the way Weller handed down verdicts and claimed Weller based some or all of his decisions on donations to his campaign," Sheehan said during a newscast Monday night.
The shooting rocked the legal and judicial community in downtown.
District Judge Jerome Polaha had left a meeting with Weller at about 9:30 a.m.
"I talked to one police officer who did not confirm the shot came from the outside, but everyone else seemed to think it came from outside," he said. "One of the officers was talking to him and he said, 'I think I've been hit' as he was crawling out of his chambers."
Polaha said the entire court staff was in disbelief.
"We try our best to do a good job, we think we're helping people, and then somebody starts shooting," he said.
Polaha acknowledged, however, that emotions run high in family court, where cases frequently involve child custody, money and home ownership.
Weller has generated some controversy on the bench.
In a letter to the editor in the Nevada Appeal on May 6, Lisa Smith of Carson City criticized the jurist.
"It is my opinion his cowboy law, personal bias, and lack of regard for what is in the best interest of children is demonstrated through each and every open, closed, and emergency hearing he holds," Smith said in the letter.
Family court attorney Marilyn York, who practices frequently in front of Weller and who supported his candidacy for the office, said the judge is fair but tough.
There are criticisms on the Internet of Weller, but they can all be traced back to a single Web site, she said.
"The rumor mill is that Weller is pro-male and too hard on women," York said. "We represent men only and we have 200 clients at any one time. We're one of the few firms who won't seek to pre-empt him.
"I have heard women complain he is too hard," she said. "But he is equal. Women are used to getting a softer voice in court. We believe Weller is an equal opportunity judge."
York said she does not believe the shooting was random.
"Divorce attorneys and family court judges are more likely to get hurt, killed and threatened," she said.
Negative comments about Weller can be found on the Web site of a group called Nevadans for Equal Parenting. Paul Mozen, who called himself the "de facto" spokesman for the group, said Weller has the most pre-emptions of any judge on the Washoe court. A pre-emption is when an attorney seeks another judge to hear a case.
Mozen, who said he has had no personal dealings with Weller, said the judge has appeared to generate a lot of animosity with both men and women.
"We basically believe a judge should defuse the anger and bad feelings," he said. "Having an adversarial system in criminal court is one thing. But it just further fuels the flames in family court.
"This is indeed a tragedy," Mozen said. "I hope they catch the guy who did it soon."
Family law attorney Ken McKenna said he had a case scheduled to be heard by Weller on Tuesday.
"I've known Chuck Weller for over 20 years," he said. "We had cases opposite each other as lawyers.
"He does have a reputation as being no nonsense," McKenna said. "Certainly in a family court environment that can be mistaken for being abusive."
Although emotions often run high, McKenna said he saw Weller at an adoption hearing a couple of months ago where the opposite was true.
"His sentiments, compassion and humanity to the adoptive family was so beautiful, it brought tears to your eyes," he said. "I have great respect for Chuck Weller. I pray and hope that he is OK."
Nevada Supreme Court Chief Justice Bob Rose, in a prepared statement, called the shooting an outrage.
"It is a slap against lawful authority and an attack not just against a judge, but against everyone," he said. "The shooting of a judge, who was dedicated to helping citizens resolve their disputes, is one of the most despicable and cowardly acts imaginable."
The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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