Election foretold Shalmy resignation

Friday, Feb. 7, 1997 | 11:59 a.m.

To many, Pat Shalmy's departure as county manager was foreseen last November after longtime Commissioner Paul Christensen lost his bid for re-election.

Christensen was regarded as the glue that held together a coalition of four commissioners who gave Shalmy majority support on the seven-member board.

Shalmy, 56, has kept his job the past 12 years by striking alliances with commissioners he knew were influential in government circles.

"He didn't get involved in forging coalitions," said one county government watcher who has followed Shalmy's career. "He just played with the coalitions that were going to win."

Even Shalmy's staunchest critics, such as former County Commissioner Don Schlesinger, marveled at Shalmy's political astuteness.

"He knew how to survive," said Schlesinger, who led a move to dump Shalmy in 1993. "He knew how to line up behind four or more commissioners."

Schlesinger was voted out of office in 1994, long before Shalmy called it quits Thursday after seeing he no longer had a majority of commissioners on his side.

There was talk at the Clark County Government Center that Shalmy decided to retire after being told he had lost the confidence of newly elected Commissioners Lance Malone and Mary Kincaid.

Malone reportedly got word of an attempt to embarrass him in the media, and he confronted Shalmy about it.

A veteran Metro Police officer, Malone had defeated Christensen in a hard-fought battle in which Shalmy never hid his allegiance to Christensen.

The two newcomers on the County Commission have aligned themselves with Chairwoman Yvonne Atkinson Gates and Commissioner Myrna Williams, who like Schlesinger, never have had a good working relationship with Shalmy.

Schlesinger still believes Shalmy played a role behind the scenes in his defeat 27 months ago.

"Top government-appointed officials should be subject to term limits, and this change in county management is long overdue," Schlesinger said. "Hopefully, the new management team will be less manipulative and serve all seven commissioners equally and fairly."

When he was picked to succeed the outgoing Bruce Spaulding in 1984, many in county government circles thought Shalmy wasn't a strong enough personality to survive in the job more than a couple of years.

But he proved his critics wrong, developing his own strong-willed style that kept him in office much longer than anyone expected.

"He knew when to take heat," said veteran political consultant Don Williams. "But he never took enough of it that it ever caught up with him.

"He was able to walk that wire the best out of anybody we've seen here in local government in recent memory."

Shalmy's supporters said his biggest flaw was surrounding himself with weak subordinates, several of whom are likely to leave with him.

But his own knowledge of government and steady hand in times of crisis more than made up for that shortcoming.

Shalmy understood the power of the press and kept his distance.

He also understood the power of his own office. He was able to move among the influential and get things done without giving up any of his own authority.

His tenure was marked by the biggest period of growth ever in the county.

"Whether you had a problem with Shalmy or not, he was the county manager during probably the most difficult period in the history of development in Southern Nevada," Williams said. "And even though we have our problems, we didn't fall apart."

Schlesinger, however, said the county did not do enough intelligent planning to keep up with the explosive growth during Shalmy's reign.

But the former commissioner was reluctant to blame Shalmy, a government planner by trade, exclusively for that failing.

"Ultimately, it is the elected officials who must take the lead in that endeavor," Schlesinger said.

Some suggested Shalmy is getting out at the right time, as the public's frustration mounts over the county's massive growth-related problems.

Shalmy, meanwhile, is not likely to be hurting for employment opportunities, as he weighs offers from the private sector in the coming weeks.

He should be able to write his own ticket.

Said Williams:

"He knows enough about county government and how to make things work that any of the big casinos or developers would be crazy not to grab him."