Deputy DA announces plan to run for County Commission

By Timothy Pratt (contact)

Friday, Dec. 5, 2003 | 11:23 a.m.

Jerry Tao, a deputy district attorney, has announced his candidacy for the Clark County Commission.

In campaign materials released this week, Tao, 35, a Democrat, said he will run in District C, currently represented by Chip Maxfield, a Republican. The primary election will be in September and the general election will take place in November.

Tao's opponent has gained visibility in recent weeks after being named chairman of the commission in the wake of former chairwoman Mary Kincaid-Chauncey's resignation from the post. Kincaid-Chauncey made the move after being charged by federal prosecutors with multiple counts of conspiracy, wire fraud and extortion.

Tao mentions the federal investigation -- which also netted Maxfield's predecessor, former Commissioner Lance Malone -- in his campaign material.

"These indictments are exactly the same reason why so many people have lost faith in government," Tao's campaign material notes.

The candidate also attacks Maxfield, who he said "... is a perfect example of what's wrong with the system.

"As a developer, he and his family make a lot of money from projects that come before him for votes.

"County government can't be trusted unless it's free from his kind of self-interest."

After hearing about Tao's campaign material, Maxfield said, "It sounds like he's pretty negative."

Maxfield said he wouldn't respond directly to statements made in Tao's campaign materials.

"My response is going to be about me -- not about what he says," he said.

Reached at his home, Tao said that Maxfield has "been forced to abstain (from voting) 148 times" since taking office in 2001 due to conflicts of interest with Southwest Engineering, the company he owns.

"When you have a financial interest in that many matters you're voting on, it raises the question of whether your priority is making money or serving the public," Tao said.

When asked about having to abstain as a general practice, Maxfield said that "part of doing the right thing is disclosing business interests and I always have.

"But I don't believe there's enough disclosure and abstention (on my part) to disrupt the government," he said.

Tao wrote in his pitch that he is "not a professional politician.

"I'm running," he said, "because ... I'm tired of seeing our government hijacked by powerful special interests ..."

When Maxfield was elected in November 2000, he told a reporter, "'I'm not a politician ... I look at issues with a different point of view."'

Tao worked for Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., from 1999 to 2001. He graduated from Cornell University and law school at George Washington University.

The commission seat represents the northwest part of the valley.