Attempt to reduce regents causing a flap

Jennifer Knight

Monday, May 12, 2003 | 11:20 a.m.

It's difficult not to take Assembly Bill 353 personally, some members of the state Board of Regents say.

The bill has already cleared the Assembly with little trouble. As it nears approval from a Senate committee, so does the realization that by 2005 all 13 members of the board could have to run for nine seats in nine districts that have not even been drawn yet.

"They've made it clear that they don't like us," said Regent Jack Lund Schofield, one of the newly elected members of the board.

"I think they want to get rid of some of the regents," Regent Tom Kirkpatrick said. "You're looking at one of them right now."

Under the current version of the bill, now in the Senate Finance Committee, all terms on the Board of Regents would end simultaneously on Jan. 3, 2005. Nine new seats would be created with four selected to serve until 2007 and the remaining five serving until 2009. Any subsequent terms would be for a full six years.

While legislators are poised to start mapping out the fate of the board, the bill has created angst in some quarters. In this new state lottery of sorts, one regent could be lucky enough to be drawn into a district where he or she is the only incumbent in the race, while others may have more competition or a shorter term in office. Only one thing is certain: All regents running again would need to raise money they hadn't planned on raising.

"These campaigns can get expensive," Regent Steve Sisolak said. "Mine cost 10 times (what others paid)."

In 2002, Regent Thalia Dondero said she spent about $40,000 on her campaign. Schofield said he spent $15,000. Both would run again, they said.

The bill would provide for six regents in the southern part of the state and three in the north.

Assemblywoman Chris Giunchigliani, D-Las Vegas, said she drafted the bill because she wanted the board to have a more manageable size. The fact that there was infighting on the board last year didn't help.

"My testimony as well as the chancellor's is that this is not about any one person," Giunchigliani said. "I'm glad they are getting along. But everybody will be treated equitably."

Knowing that political careers are on the line, legislative aides are keeping a tight lid on a preliminary map that shows where the new district lines will be.

What legislators will consider first and foremost is that all nine districts will have similar population sizes, within a 10 percent margin, said Bob Erickson, director of research for the Legislative Counsel Bureau, who is helping to draft the map.

Second, they must make the districts compact and take into account racial and ethnic boundaries, he said.

Regent Linda Howard has concerns about the bill because she now represents one of the largest concentrations of minorities.

"People of color have a stronger voice when they have a minority representing them in the community," Howard said.

Finally, legislators will consider where each regent lives and who will run against whom.

"I would hate to see regents pitted against one another," Sisolak said.