Tuesday, July 15, 2008 | 4:19 p.m.
It's one of the basic rules of journalism: there are no stupid questions. So this morning when Jon suggested he begin the interview with Elko Assessor Joe Aguirre by asking if the governor ever personally lobbied him for a property tax break, it was stupid of me to suggest it was a stupid question. How could a governor personally ask an official for a tax break?
Thankfully, Jon has learned not to underestimate Governor Jim Gibbons and posed the stupid question to Elko Assessor Joe Aguirre, who revealed the governor approached him last September during the Elko County Fair. Aguirre says he told the governor the land did not qualify for the agricultural designation. But that did not deter the governor, who hired as his attorney a member of the Nevada Tax Commission, which has authority over county assessors.
What's worse - the thought of Gibbons' using his clout to obtain what you and I could not? Or the idea of the governor, who is slashing state budgets right and left, attempting to avoid paying his fair share to already cash-strapped local government? Or the contention from experts who know land and livestock that Gibbons' lease deal doesn't add up?
We'd love to ask the governor all of the above. Do you think he'll come on the program? Now, there's a stupid question.
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