Editorial: Candidates’ reprieve is too lenient

Tuesday, Feb. 22, 2000 | 9:28 a.m.

When individuals run for elected office they must accept the fact they no longer are mere private citizens. It is in the best interests of the electorate that portions of their life be made public. Candidates usually volunteer some of this information, such as their resume, through brochures and media advertisements. They also are required to disclose certain amounts of personal financial information. Everyone who runs for public office should know this.

That is why we are baffled by the amount of confusion over financial disclosure laws in Nevada for political candidates and public officials. As the Sun's Cy Ryan reported, individuals who were fined a total of $250,000 for failing to file their financial disclosure statements on time last year will receive some clemency.

We support the fact that some fines were waived due to clerical errors or because certain individuals who were penalized technically were not public officials, such as members of a swimming pool board or soil conservation district. But there also were 28 candidates who had $76,475 in fines waived by the state Ethics Commission presumably because there was no evidence those individuals were given financial disclosure forms or notified that they had to file them.

Sorry, but we cannot allow these 28 individuals to escape blame. They should have known when they filed for office that they would have to make certain financial disclosures. Whose fault was it that they did not get financial disclosure forms? It was theirs because they should have asked for the forms when they filed. If the forms were not immediately available, the candidates should have made arrangements to receive the documents when they were ready.

Though we applaud Election Department officials for notifying candidates about the financial disclosure requirement, we believe office seekers should have the common sense to know ahead of time that they will have to report such information as their real estate holdings and sources of income. The commission was too generous when it decided to give these tardy candidates until March 31 to file their disclosure statements or risk having to pay the fines.

If our laws are not clear enough on the requirement to complete financial disclosure forms, we suggest the Nevada Legislature take action in the 2001 session to correct those flaws. Candidates also must realize that the public will expect them to disclose certain aspects of their lives so that we know they are acting honorably and not in self-interest once they take office.