Shalmy angers commission

Jeff Schweers

Thursday, March 21, 1996 | 11:59 a.m.

County Manager Pat Shalmy has apologized to commissioners for keeping them in the dark on a meeting he had with Gov. Bob Miller's chief of staff and elected city officials.

Shalmy said he did not expect to find Las Vegas Mayor Jan Laverty Jones and Councilman Matthew Callister present along with city lobbyist Marvin Leavitt.

"It was my fault," Shalmy said. "I thought when he invited me he was inviting staff. I came back and alerted all my commissioners I had miscommunicated with them on this."

But sources close to the county manager and Miller's chief of staff, Jim Mulhall, said Shalmy was told that Jones and Callister would be there.

Shalmy said the wide-ranging discussion touched on the continuing rancor over city and county taxes, combining regional agencies and consolidation.

Commissioners were upset they were not included in the discussions, and only heard about the meeting after it had occurred.

"I was surprised and not too thrilled, but to be fair I can see where that kind of misinterpretation could happen," Commissioner Myrna Williams said.

"When you're talking about issues like that, those are issues the policy makers should be making decisions on," Commission Chairwoman Yvonne Atkinson Gates said.

Gates said she called Mulhall herself to "make sure that in the future all seven commissioners are notified."

The meeting was set up at Mulhall's request after several conversations he had with political consultant Billy Vassiliadis, head of influential R&R Advertising.

"We've talked about bringing people together several times about meeting," Mulhall said.

The meeting was a follow-up to a peace-making session during a rancorous 1995 Legislature when city officials were smarting over a county proposal to shift Spring Valley tax revenue from the city back to the county. Vassiliadis was a participant in the earlier meeting.

The bill was approved, and the city has accused the county of stealing taxes.

Mulhall said the time seemed right to have another meeting, and called Shalmy to invite him to a meeting that included state Taxation Director Michael Pitlock and Budget Director Perry Comeaux.

"I didn't set any guidelines as to who should come from the county and the city," Mulhall said.

Mulhall said he hoped the governor's office could provide a neutral ground for city and county officials to work out their differences.

"If our conference room becomes the Geneva to work out the peace talks, that would be fine," Mulhall said.

He said the meeting lasted about an hour and covered a wide range of topics concerning city and county politics, and that everyone agreed to meet again and "keep the doors open."

But one observer to the discussions said it was clear the city and county have a long, bumpy road before the tensions can be worked out.

Said Shalmy: "The important thing is people are talking."