Harry Reid’s son gets presidential appointment, then skips most of the meetings

Friday, Dec. 16, 2011 | 3:34 p.m.

I would guess the city of Henderson folks hope Josh Reid, the senator’s son recently named city attorney, shows up for work more frequently than he did for his last political appointment.

Records show that Reid the Younger, appointed in mid-2009 to the critical Tahoe Regional Planning Agency, has not been at a meeting since January 2010. And since that appointment – I wonder how President Obama found him? – Josh Reid, according to TRPA minutes, attended five of a possible 26 meetings.

Reid, who will be paid $190,000 a year by Henderson, says he resigned earlier this year from the TRPA. But I wonder if anyone will notice. He attended half of the meetings in 2009, one in 2010 and none this year.

Reid emphasized that the presidential appointee “is a non-voting member of the board, and does not count towards a quorum.” But didn’t he know that when he applied? Yes, he said, but he added he found it “terribly frustrating in that I would sit through hours of public hearings and would not have any say in the outcome of the decisions being made….I admit to missing a bunch of meetings. I didn’t think I would end up being as ineffective as I ended up being.”

His law firm sure was excited when the appointment was made, though, with the managing partner saying it was a “great honor for Josh and the firm” and adding “we look forward to lending a helping hand in the preservation of this national treasure and the continued development of the region.”

Not much of a helping hand, as it turned out.

Just because he didn’t have a vote, Reid the Younger could have participated and, perhaps, influenced the discussion and decisions. But he clearly either became frustrated, as he says, or he just wanted the line on his resume, as some will clearly believe. And he surely should have resigned much earlier.

Some also will conclude that he secured that job the same way he obtained his present political appointment – through his father’s influence. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid called Henderson officials on his son’s behalf, and he no doubt paved the way for the TRPA appointment.

“While there is no salary or per diem for Board members, I felt flying me up for each meeting to just sit and listen was not a good use of TRPA's limited financial resources,” Reid told me.

Let’s hope his use of Henderson’s financial resources is more productive.