Political notebook: Libertarians say goodbye to Russo

Erin Neff

Friday, March 1, 2002 | 11:02 a.m.

It seemed obvious that Aaron Russo would draw the ire of Gov. Kenny Guinn's campaign chairman, but now he's even insulted the Libertarian Party.

The executive committee of the Libertarian Party of Nevada met Tuesday to discuss the party's upcoming nominating convention -- during which they plan to support Dick Geyer for governor -- and decided to write Russo a "Dear John" letter.

Russo, a Libertarian, has been considering running for governor as an Independent candidate. That hasn't pleased the party brass, and neither has word that Russo's onetime campaign manager, David Owens, has left Russo.

Still, Brendan Trainor, chairman of the party, and Kat Schlessinger, party executive director, told Russo they still supported him enough to give his polling company access to 10,000 names from their voter lists.

Now the party's over.

"In light of your lack of communication with the people of Nevada you say you wish to govern, and inability to commit to run as a Libertarian Party candidate, the executive committee of the Nevada Libertarian Party has accepted the offer of another member to begin gathering signatures for the LP nomination for governor of Nevada," they wrote to Russo.

Geyer, a Princeton University graduate who serves on the Citizen Police Review Board and a downtown Las Vegas redevelopment committee, will get the party's blessing.

"I am sorry that it has come to this," the letter to Russo concludes.

Russo said Thursday that if he does run, it will more than likely be as a non-partisan candidate.

Reid alone for now

With a powerful dad, a growing war chest, new endorsements and signs all over town, many believe Rory Reid has already sewn up a seat on the Clark County Commission.

But Republicans are beginning to float some names as potential opponents. Former Clark County Republican Chairman Lonnie Hammargren and former GOP congressional candidate Jim Blockey are both considering running.

"Nobody's giving up on finding a good candidate for that seat," said Clark County GOP Chairman Steve Wark.

Reid, son of U.S. Sen. Harry Reid, the assistant Senate majority leader, recently picked up the Las Vegas Police Protective Association's endorsement.

Congressional bout

Lynette Boggs McDonald recently told supporters that she would help fill the void of the once-planned Mike Tyson-Lennox Lewis heavyweight fight by going womano a womano with Rep. Shelley Berkley.

Well, the pre-fight hype has already begun with the two ladies touting endorsements from black politicians as a way to swing black voters to their camps.

The Republican Boggs McDonald, who is black, struck first when she announced her candidacy for Nevada's 1st Congressional District with key black Democrats such as state Sen. Joe Neal and former Las Vegas City Councilman Frank Hawkins supporting her.

Berkley, D-Nev., wasted little time, bringing in Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga., to campaign for her in the predominantly-black West Las Vegas. This week she announced she was being endorsed by three notable black politicians -- Clark County Commissioner Yvonne Atkinson Gates, Assemblyman Morse Arberry, D-Las Vegas, and Clark County School Board member Shirley Barber.

The congresswoman also touted her 100 percent voting record with the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and her support of programs to reduce dropout rates, prosecute hate crimes, protect voting rights and require DNA testing in death penalty cases.

Boggs McDonald waited just one day to go negative, calling the Democrat-to-Democrat endorsements a no-brainer, but also saying they were "sealed with a daiquiri" -- a reference to a 1996 Berkley suggestion that her employer at the time give Atkinson Gates a daiquiri business.

The press release then suggests Berkley promised something to Atkinson Gates in exchange for the current endorsement. Boggs McDonald campaign spokeswoman Lucie Moya Melchert -- late of a questionable Las Vegas Housing Authority PR contract -- referred to it as an "unethical quid pro quo."

Berkley's campaign manager, Peggy Egan, said Berkley plans no response to Boggs McDonald's press release, saying the congresswoman wants to focus instead on issues.

Tim Mooney, Boggs McDonald's campaign manager, said he considered the press release to be "tongue in cheek" and not negative.

"We're poking a little fun at Shelley using her own words," Mooney said. "If Shelley gets upset with that, it ought to tell you something."

All Yucca, all the time

Politicians of every stripe continue to use their positions to oppose Yucca Mountain.

Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman penned a piece for the Conference of Mayors newspaper, which is distributed to every mayor of a U.S. city with more than 30,000 residents.

Goodman admits he has been accused of "Chicken Little fear mongering," but warns in the piece that if a train transporting nuclear waste had been stuck in the Baltimore rail tunnel fire last summer, more than 300,000 people would have been exposed to radiation.

Reno Mayor Jeff Griffin is asking President Bush to demand a transportation study, and is asking fellow mayors to sign another letter demanding a study into the Department of Energy's final Yucca Mountain report.

"As mayors, it is our duty to ensure the safety of our communities, and with no clear plans to administer 38 years of unabated nuclear traffic through our neighborhoods, the Department of Energy is not letting us do our job," Griffin said.

For the record