Fund-raiser to cost taxpayers $61,000

Tuesday, April 4, 2000 | 10:42 a.m.

Southern Nevada taxpayers will be picking up a $61,000 tab for President Clinton's fund-raising stop here Sunday.

Some 75 Las Vegas Metropolitan Police officers logged an estimated $32,000 in overtime pay and Nevada Highway Patrol troopers will collect about $29,000 in overtime.

Clinton raised an estimated $525,000 for the Democratic National Committee during two fund-raisers. He also played a round of golf while in the city.

Last year, the DNC rejected a Police Department request for $25,200 in overtime costs for Clinton's May 1999 fund-raising trip to Las Vegas and a police spokeswoman said she does not intend to ask again.

"Regardless of the purpose of the president's travel ... whether it be for official, political or personal purposes, it is the position of the U.S. government that the president should be provided security at government expense, around the clock," Joseph Sandler, DNC attorney, wrote in a June 1999 letter to police. "The DNC is not responsible for, and does not reimburse any government agency for these security expenses."

A police official disagreed with the DNC assessment, saying it is one thing to provide officers when the president is conducting government business, but another when he is in Las Vegas for party fund-raisers and to play golf.

"It is the obligation of local government to protect the president," Comptroller Lois Willis said. "The only time we bill him is when the sole purpose is fund-raising, and in the past we have not been reimbursed.

"It would seem to me if he (Clinton) is here to raise money for the national Democratic Party, that the national Democratic Party should pay the costs out of pocket," she added.

The Highway Patrol is not seeking reimbursement, following its long-standing policy on providing security for presidential visits.

A spokesman for the Democratic National Committee said the policy against reimbursing local agencies dates back at least to President Reagan. It applies to Democrats and Republicans alike, he said.

"The point is that they are president no matter where they go or what they're doing," Deputy Press Secretary Rick Hess said. "The president has a professional life, a political life, and a personal life."

As required by law, the DNC reimburses the White House for costs relating to Clinton's fund-raising activities, said Dawn Chirwa, associate counsel to the president. Those include air travel and pay for a team of people who plan and coordinate the president's trips, she said.

Clinton appeared at fund-raisers at the home of Las Vegas Sun Editor and former college roommate Brian Greenspun, and former Las Vegas Mayor Jan Jones.