Editorial: Ethics laws take a hit

Tuesday, Dec. 7, 2004 | 8:50 a.m.

After her four-day impeachment trial in the Nevada Senate regarding three ethics violations, Controller Kathy Augustine spoke of her conviction on just one of the counts. She said she had been "vindicated" and that her penalty of an official reprimand was the equivalent of being "bawled out" by one's parents.

Augustine's blithe remarks quite accurately reflect the state of ethics enforcement in Nevada. There is a consensus that penalties for ethical lapses are rarely imposed, and when they are they will amount to something well short of the maximum. Augustine stipulated before the Nevada Ethics Commission in September to three violations of state ethics laws. The violations, involving the use of state employees and state equipment in running her 2002 re-election campaign, resulted in her impeachment in the Assembly and trial in the Senate. She could have been removed from office.

We do not believe that she was vindicated -- impeachment, the first in Nevada's history, will forever be on her record. But she was right about the Senate's finding and the penalty that was imposed. A conviction on the least serious of the violations, followed by a reprimand, was indeed nothing more than a bawling out. By its action, the Senate ruled that an elected official can violate ethics laws and remain in office.

There is a chance, however, that some good will come of Augustine's impeachment. It came out in the trial that state workers had reported Augustine's behavior to the state Personnel Department, and were told that nothing could be done. Sen. Maggie Carlton, D-Las Vegas, has asked for a bill in the 2005 Legislature that would require the Personnel Department to investigate such complaints. It also came out that while it's against the law for employees to engage in "political activity" on state time, the term is not specifically defined. Sen. Dina Titus, D-Las Vegas, says she will propose legislation to close that loophole.

The lasting impression of the Augustine trial, however, will be of her going back to work, feeling "vindicated."