Where I Stand — Brian Greenspun: Good scout and leader

Tuesday, May 14, 2002 | 8:54 a.m.

JAMES B. GIBSON is a very good scout.

That's what the Boulder Dam Area Council of the Boys Scouts of America said Monday when they awarded the Henderson mayor their 2002 Good Scout Award. And that is what the hundreds of Southern Nevadans said who arose from their chairs to applaud Gov. Kenny Guinn's tribute to the affable and very talented community leader.

And that is what, I thought to myself while watching the events unfold at the Green Valley Ranch, Jim's dad was thinking about his boy from his perch on high where all very good scouts go. For as Mayor Gibson said in accepting one of Scouting's highest honors, he didn't get there on his own. And in Jim's case, he had a great role model leading the way.

Since I am a good bit older than Jim, I have had the advantage of watching him follow me, or so it seems, for the past number of decades. I studied through high school in this community, so did he. I went to law school, so did he. I worked for the Public Defender, so did he. I moved to Henderson to be part of its meteoric rise as the fastest growing city in the country and the second largest city in Nevada; he never left the city and became its mayor just in time to help manage it through some very difficult growth spurts.

OK, the similarities stop abruptly when it comes to actually accomplishing something, but, at least while I was daydreaming by myself, I shared just a bit in some of the good things Jim has done for our community and our state.

One of the places where our careers diverge is on the road of public service upon which Jim has embarked and the successful path he has chosen for which the Boys Scouts have appropriately recognized him. That's the road I saw him taking while Gov. Guinn was saying so many nice things about him.

It was in the exchange -- from governor to mayor, from a good guy to a good scout, from one leader to another -- that I saw a glimpse of the future.

Politics being what it is today, I am not sure Gov. Guinn's advisers -- despite Kenny's desire to do otherwise -- would have let him show up at the 2002 Good Scout Award luncheon to honor Jim if Henderson's mayor had decided to take the statewide plunge toward the governor's mansion. After all, there was talk a few months ago of Jim doing just that, but, I suppose, cooler heads and keener political logic prevailed enough to convince Jim that Henderson was the place to be during this election cycle.

I am sure the picture was not lost, however, on the few hundred scout supporters who broke bread together in Jim's honor, when they saw our governor exert large amounts of affability and heap huge doses of kindness upon the man who did not run. This time.

If, however, this luncheon were to have been held at another time -- say two years from now -- and in another place -- say in the middle of a gubernatorial election luncheon -- the picture would have been crystal clear.

Forget the political differences that may or may not exist between the two men because once Kenny Guinn is headed toward the barn, all the "political" advice will be for naught because he will be free to do what he thinks and knows is right and that just may include telling Nevadans that Jim Gibson is not only a good scout but also one of the real bright lights in Nevada politics.

That's the picture I saw Monday -- one of Gov. Guinn handing off the reigns of state government to another person qualified for the job. I know I have made a quantum leap because, after all, it was only a Boy Scout lunch, but something tells me there will be more to this story.

Lest anyone get confused by all this, though, our good governor made very clear that with re-election so close to a certainty but not over and, then, four hard years of trying to fix all that is broken in this state, he was not ready to hand over the mantle of power just yet.

He did it through the mouth of one of the cutest little scouts I have seen in a long time. The young man was supposed to give over a plaque following the mayor's acceptance speech. He was overheard asking Gov. Guinn, "What do I say?" To which the governor whispered the appropriate instructions.

The boy did what he was told: "Gov. Guinn," he said, "I would like to present this plaque to you." The governor accepted the recognition as would any head of state, with humility and the certainty of purpose that comes with being the man in charge.

That's when Phil Peckman, the event co-chairman, actually read the inscription and notified the onlookers and a startled governor that the plaque was for Jim Gibson, not Kenny Guinn.

Somewhere in that story was the message: I am still in charge but you may get your turn soon enough.

That's what I saw at the Good Scout lunch on Monday. It was a good lunch, indeed.