Ballot panel on tax issue changed

Wednesday, Aug. 7, 2002 | 8:52 a.m.

The Clark County Commission on Tuesday approved two new appointments to a committee charged with writing arguments opposing this November's ballot question on a proposed $2.7 billion tax initiative for roads and transit.

Clark County Registrar Larry Lomax recommended, and the commission approved, John Stanhagen and Kenneth Williams to join Joe Hogan on the committee.

Lomax and the commission were responding to criticism of their original committee appointments, which included two representatives who said they were not necessarily opposed to the tax package.

Gary Peck, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Nevada, had argued that the law creating the committees specifies that the committee members should hold the opinions they are drafting. The arguments ultimately end up on sample ballots sent to nearly 500,000 voters.

The issue revolves around the Regional Transportation Commission's proposal to generate $2.7 billion, mostly through a quarter-cent sales tax increase, to fund road construction, mass transit and air pollution-control efforts.

John Olive, a former RTC counsel, and Carole Vilardo, president of the Nevada Taxpayers Association, were dropped from the committee. Lomax said he originally put the two on the committee because he did not have enough applicants who opposed the RTC tax initiative.

Lomax said he does not believe there were legal problems with putting Vilardo and Olive on the committee, but because of the media coverage of the issue, more volunteers came forward.

"I wish they'd done it the first time," Lomax said. "We now have plenty of people willing to serve on the committee."

Peck said he is happier with the new committee.

"Assuming they have found people who subscribe to the appropriate pro and con positions, I commend them for making the changes," he said. "It is unfortunate, however, that they couldn't get it right the first time and that they seem to continue to insist that they didn't make a mistake, legally."

Hogan, a former federal Labor Department official, said he believes the commission and registrar had no choice but to appoint new committee members. He called the initial appointments "a scheme to pack the committee."

"They (county officials) were made aware before and after that their appointments were illegal," he said.

Lomax said he never had any intention to influence the writing of the argument, but simply had a difficult decision to make without enough applicants. The law allows him to recommend people to the committee who can represent either side of an issue, he said.

The appointments to the committee writing the argument in support of the tax initiative have not changed. They are Las Vegas resident Vicki Gonzales, Henderson resident and planning engineer Michael Lasko and Clark County resident Teresa Murphy, who has been involved in local planning issues as a government employee and private citizen.

All three have echoed the RTC's argument for the tax initiative, which is that without significant public investment in new roads and mass transit, the region's traffic will become gridlocked within a decade.

The three opposing the tax initiative come from different perspectives. Hogan said he is concerned that the $2.7 billion would be awarded in contracts that discriminate against minorities and women.

Stanhagen, a retired Air Force officer who declined to be quoted Tuesday, said in his application that he opposes the use of sales taxes, which would impact everybody, to fund air pollution control in Clark County.

Williams, a retired Los Angeles city attorney, said he believes tax increases need to be targeted to specific projects so that the voters know what they are paying for.

"They are going for too much money for too many things," Williams said.