Letter: Governor should reinstate Sias at veterans home

Monday, Sept. 30, 2002 | 9:02 a.m.

There is no question that every Nevada resident wishes Gov. Kenny Guinn a speedy recovery from his recent cancer surgery. There is much for the governor to do -- from addressing the need for more revenues to getting to the bottom of the scandal around the forced resignation of the new veterans home director.

For more than three weeks Jon Sias has waited for someone to have the necessary courage to reverse the egregious decision that forced Sias out. Gov. Guinn should replace that decision with one that will reinstate Sias to the directorship of the new Nevada Veterans Nursing Home.

Mr. Sias has worked tirelessly for three years to push this project to completion, often with little or no support from the very people in Reno and Carson City who should have been his greatest allies. As former Gov. Mike O'Callaghan wrote in a recent column, this is not the way business used to be done in Nevada and it is a real shame that is how it is being conducted now.

Cancer is a terrible thing for anyone to experience. All Nevadans should pray for the governor's speedy recovery. It is what he and his family deserves. Hundreds of veterans have called and written the governor urging him to reinstate Sias. It is what he and his family -- and Nevada veterans -- deserve. It should be one of the first acts Gov. Guinn commits upon returning to Carson City.

JAMES DANIEL