Ernaut set as Guinn’s top aide

Tuesday, Dec. 1, 1998 | 11:13 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- Peter Ernaut, a former three-term assemblyman from Reno who was named chief of staff by Gov.-elect Kenny Guinn Monday, says he will put his holdings in a public relations firm into a blind trust and not be involved in any day-to-day operations in order to avoid conflicts of interest.

Ernaut, 34, believed to be among the youngest, if not the youngest, chief of staff, also said the government relations section of the firm of Bayer Brown Forsythe & Ernaut has been disbanded.

Ernaut headed the campaign staff of Guinn and is chief of his transition team. He said he had a "tremendous amount" of offers to do private lobbying in the 1999 Legislature, but "There are more important things in life than money. I haven't gotten public service out of my veins quite yet." His salary will be $91,670.

Ernaut revealed other appointments Monday. Vicky Soberinsky, who managed the Reno office for former Rep. Barbara Vucanovich, will be deputy chief of staff, responsible for constituent services and administration. Denice Miller, a former research staff member for the Nevada Legislature, will handle legislative affairs and policy.

Yvonne Harrigan, who works for Ernaut in his Reno firm, will be his executive assistant. Judy Brusa will be operations manager of the Las Vegas office for the governor. Bud Cranor will be in charge of constituent services. Ernaut said the administration is looking for an office manager.

In a new wrinkle, the Guinn administration will open an office in Elko, the first time a governor has had a rural office. It will be staffed by two people. Ernaut said it would be rotated every few years to a new location to provide service to residents of rural Nevada.

Guinn has 23 staff position and will not be adding any. The two positions for Elko, where Ernaut was born, will come from the Carson City office.

Ernaut said Guinn would deliver his "State of the State" message either Jan. 18 or 19 in the Assembly Chambers. The Nevada Legislature convenes Feb. 1. Guinn must deliver his budget Jan. 18 to the Senate Finance Committee and the Assembly Ways and Means Committee, which start their work two weeks ahead of the regular session.

In the past, the Legislature started on the third Monday of January and the governor submitted his budget and delivered his "State of the State" address two or three days after the session opened. But voters approved a constitutional amendment to limit the Legislature to 120 days and move the start of the session to Feb. 1. The two budget committees will begin meeting two weeks earlier.

Ernaut said Guinn's proposal for a biennial budget will be slim because of a sluggish economy and tax collections. It will include no new programs. "Taking the base budget, rolling in inflation and federal mandates, and there is barely enough money to cover that," Ernaut told reporters Monday.

The budget will reflect Guinn's top priority, stressed in the campaign, of financing kindergarten through the 12th grade. And, said Ernaut, it won't be inherited from Gov. Bob Miller but "a new budget in its entirety."