Friday, Nov. 29, 2002 | 8:54 a.m.
The forms they are a-changin'.
Many people who have tried to follow a candidate's fund-raising during an election year have been stymied by the lack of information required on the state's official contributions and expenses forms.
Keenly aware of complaints from political reporters and confused politicians, Secretary of State Dean Heller is revamping the forms to provide a more accurate glimpse of how a candidate is doing in the all-important money game.
A draft form under consideration would include a line to list all cash on hand at the beginning of the reporting period. The current form asks candidates only to list the balance from the last report.
The draft form also asks candidates to include the cash on hand with the current contributions to provide a running total and includes a final line to show the cash on hand at the close of the reporting period.
The draft form also has two subtler changes that would help anyone trying to follow the money. The expenses summary includes lines for the total expenses contracted for, but not yet paid, during the period.
Currently a candidate can purchase hundreds of thousands of dollars in television advertising, for example, before the end of a reporting period without listing such a purchase because the bill has not yet been settled.
The draft form is a great start to reforming campaign finance in Nevada. Now Heller should work on giving the public a bit more time before each election to look at the data.
This year candidates filed on Aug. 27 before the Sept. 3 primary, and on Oct. 29 before the general. The final report is due Jan. 15.
No fines for the signs
The threats of $999-a-day fines haven't proven scary enough for Bret Whipple, Phil Beuth and Adrian Mendoza -- to name just a few of the candidates who still have plenty of campaign signs hanging around town.
Clark County's public response unit has received 300 complaints from residents, detailing signs and their specific locations, after last week's deadline for removal of political signs.
Jim Foreman, manager of the unit, said it doesn't make sense for his department to actually levy the per-sign fine because it would add months to the resolution.
"I haven't written a ticket in my 24 years," Foreman said. "It's really unproductive. It's three months before we get to see a judge. If I was to use that avenue, it would take even longer."
Foreman's staff has picked up about 250 signs that are in public rights of way, and has called candidates to encourage them to remove the now-illegal placards.
Even when the last "John Hunt Fighting for You" sign leaves the landscape, officials worry about the potentially dangerous rebar left behind -- you know, the hunk of metal sticking out of the ground with the point on top.
It typically takes several additional months for scavengers to pick up all that fence-able metal.
Senator Howard?
University Regent Linda Howard knows that even bad press gets you the kind of name recognition that can help in future elections.
That's why Howard's name-calling, memo-writing and nose-poking into student and personnel records isn't stopping the political winds from floating her name for even higher office.
Howard doesn't live in fellow Democrat Joe Neal's state senate district ... yet. Her potential move into District 4 is fueling talk that she could run for Neal's seat two years from now.
"Right now I'm a staunch supporter of Sen. Neal and right now I just want to continue to support him," Howard said, before adding the standard: "But, I'm not going to rule anything out politically."
Howard and Neal worked together to help form the Metro Police Civilian Review Board, and Neal went to bat for Howard during the 2001 Legislature's redistricting of regent seats, helping to prevent Howard from being drawn out of her district.
If the 67-year-old Neal bows out after the 2003 session and his 30th year in office, Howard said she will sit down and talk with the longest-serving legislator in Nevada history about running for his seat.
She also says that moving into Neal's Senate district will put her in closer contact to a majority of her regent district constituents.
The Nevada Supreme Court and Secretary of State Dean Heller officially signed off on the Nov. 5 elections Thursday as they munched doughnuts and chewed on ballot results from 17 counties.
Amid the sprinkles and powdered sugar there was the Esmeralda County Commission race decided by a card draw and a Reno Assembly recount that gave 31-vote victor Don Gustavson, a Republican, a 35-point win over Democrat Debbie Smith.
The only race still not completely resolved (although Thursday's canvass of it was official) is Assembly District 37, in which voter fraud has been alleged. In that Clark County race, Democrat Marcus Conklin beat Republican Francis Allen by 134 votes.
Roughly 160 voters in the district were registered listing addresses at a bar owned by Republican primary candidate Gary Horrocks.
The Assembly will have to decide how to resolve the contest when the Legislature convenes in February.
Political futures?
Three of the Democrats' bigger losers from Election Day are still trying to make waves.
Dario Herrera, the new poster boy for how not to run a campaign, sent a letter this week to supporters vowing: "I promise you that I will keep working hard to put people first."
Herrera, the soon-to-be ex-Clark County Commission Chairman, told the Sun he has no plans to leave Nevada, and does plan to stay in the public light as he bides time (perhaps a lot of time) until he might be able to lose some of the ethics baggage he accumulated during his run for Nevada's 3rd Congressional District.
Herrera tells supporters that he worked hard to make the election about the hopes and dreams and needs of residents.
He writes: "I offered real plans and solutions to problems that we are facing in Nevada, and those are plans and solutions I will continue to fight for but from a different vantage point."
Perhaps the unemployment line for ex-officeholders? If so, there could be a few folks there that he knows, like Erin Kenny, a fellow soon-to-be ex-county commissioner who lost by 11 points in her bid to unseat Lt. Gov. Lorraine Hunt.
Kenny is wooing potential employers by making her last public acts attempts to win favors for friends who might hire her as a consultant. County officials are refusing to put her items on the agenda.
Thus, Tuesday's meeting might be the last the reportedly angry Kenny attends.
Rounding out the tragic trio is John Lee, a soon to be ex-assemblyman who was once hyped as the Democrats' best hope for statewide office. But Lee shot blanks against incumbent Republican Controller Kathy Augustine and might want to holster his press machine.
This week his political consultant fired off a press release hyping Lee's work to help secure a shooting range for Clark County. However, it's really Nevada's congressional delegation that's responsible for the 2,800-acre federal land one mile northeast of Floyd Lamb State Park.
One politician who suffered no harm from her loss in this month's elections was Las Vegas Councilwoman Lynette Boggs McDonald.
Last Friday Boggs McDonald rose up the chain of command in the Nevada League of Cities and Municipalities hierarchy, becoming president as expected.
Boggs McDonald, who lost by 11 points to Democratic U.S. Rep. Shelley Berkley in Nevada's 1st District, was the organization's past first vice president.
The group's former president, Elko Mayor Mike Franzoia, remains on the executive board.
Boulder City Councilman Mike Pacini moved up to first vice president and will serve as the league's next president.
North Las Vegas Councilwoman Stephanie Smith was elected secretary/treasurer during a special election of the league last Friday to replace outgoing Reno Mayor Jeff Griffin.
Smith is a former assemblywoman who was elected to the city council in 1997.
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