Ethics panel boss relies on thick skin and dedication

Kirsten Searer

Tuesday, May 11, 2004 | 9:34 a.m.

Members of the state Ethics Commission:

William Flangas

Las Vegas, retired engineer, appointed by Gov. Kenny Guinn. He sat on two-member panel that sent the Goodman case to the full commission and will not hear the evidence again.

Chairman Rich R. Hsu

Reno, attorney with the firm Walther, Key, Maupin, Oats, Cox, Klaich & LeGoy, appointed by Guinn. He will lead questioning of witnesses during the two-day Goodman hearing.

Mark A. Hutchison

Las Vegas, attorney with the firm Hutchison & Steffen, appointed by Guinn. He will sit on panel hearing Goodman case

Caren Jenkins

Carson City, attorney, appointed by the Legislative Commission. She will sit on panel hearing Goodman case.

George Keele

Minden, attorney with firm George M. Keele, A.P.C., appointed by the Legislative Commission. He sat on two-member panel that sent the Goodman case to the full commission and will not hear the evidence again.

James Kosinski

Reno, attorney, appointed by Legislative Commission. He will sit on panel hearing Goodman case.

Merle Berman

Las Vegas, former assemblywoman, appointed by Legislative Commission. She declared a conflict of interest and will not sit in on the Goodman hearings.

Stacy Jennings has gone from regulating the state's dairy cows to regulating state officials.

As the executive director of the state Ethics Commission, Jennings is charged with investigating politicians accused of using their power for personal or financial gain.

Sometimes the spotlight on Jennings, a former director of the state Dairy Commission, has been intense as she carries out her work.

In 2002, her position put her at odds with an attorney representing Gov. Kenny Guinn when he argued she overstepped her bounds in investigating the governor.

And in past weeks Jennings has been the target of Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman, who accused her of having a personal "agenda" against him.

Goodman said the truth will come out in the Ethics Commission hearing scheduled to begin on Wednesday, when he will defend himself on several ethics charges.

He warned: "People better not sleep."

Jennings downplays the controversies she has encountered, saying she tries to stick to her job, not to play politics.

Still, the 36-year-old mother of a son in kindergarten estimated she works between 60 and 80 hours a week and said her job can get "pretty stressful" at times.

"I just try to do my job the best that I can," she said. "Some people get defensive when you start asking questions about their conduct. I don't want to be defensive about my conduct because I'm just doing my job."

Nevada has had an ethics commission since the Watergate era. But many agreed that for decades the state's commission had no teeth. In 1999 Guinn championed a reform of the state's commission.

One of the changes was the addition of an executive director who would investigate complaints lodged against officials.

In Nevada, there are several ways officials can get in trouble.

Complaints about open meetings violations go to the attorney general's office. Campaign violations are reported to the secretary of state.

And, as outlined in Nevada's lawbooks, Nevada Revised Statutes 281.411 through 281.581, politicians accused of using their power to help themselves, their business, or their family members can be called before the Ethics Commission.

"It's very specific," Jennings said of the ethics law.

If the commission finds an official has willfully violated state law, an official can be fined $5,000 for a first violation, up to $10,000 for a second violation, and up to $25,000 for a third.

After three violations, the commission files paperwork with the District Court asking for the officer to be removed from his or her position.

But even after Guinn's reform measures were implemented, some complained that the commission has little authority.

Since Jennings took the job in 2002, just four complaints have gone before the full Ethics Commission, and nobody has been found guilty of willfully violating state ethics laws.

Erik Herzik, a political science professor at the University of Nevada, Reno, said the commission provides the only forum for citizens to complain when they think their officials are abusing their power.

Still, he said, the commission isn't "very effective."

"If they disappeared tomorrow, Nevada politics would be essentially unchanged," he said.

Not only does the commission deal with dozens of "frivolous" complaints by government gadflies, but it's also difficult to draw a distinct line as to when a politician is using his or her office for personal gain, Herzik said.

Jennings, who holds a master's degree in public administration, said she applied for the ethics job in 2002 because it was a "worthy endeavor."

"People have to commit themselves when they go into public office to a higher standard," she said. "That means you segregate your private interests from your public duties. That's what it's all about."

Indeed, Jennings and members of the Ethics Commission must recuse themselves of any political involvement, including running for office or working on a campaign, she said.

Her job is all encompassing: Not only does she investigate every charge of ethics violations levied against elected officials -- usually at least 100 a year -- but she also does workshops around the state to educate officials about what is not allowed under the state's ethics laws.

Jennings drew wrath of attorneys representing Guinn in 2002 when she investigated complaints that Guinn hired an unqualified person to head the state's Department of Cultural Affairs.

Jennings eventually recommended to a panel of the Ethics Commission that they drop the investigation into Guinn. But she said the governor's attorneys tried to block her from getting information during the investigation.

"At the time, I guess they didn't like the questions I was going around asking people," she said.

While rumors swirled that Guinn wanted Jennings to be fired, Guinn spokesman Greg Bortolin said Jennings' job was never "in jeopardy or threatened."

"I think there needs to be a process followed," Bortolin said. "And I think, at the time, our attorney questioned whether the process was followed."

Guinn, who appoints half of the commissioners on the eight-member commission, wants the commissioners and Jennings to feel they can do their job without having pressure "put upon them," Bortolin said.

"The governor really wanted the ethics process to be an open and above-board process, and I think generally the governor has been satisfied with how it has evolved since the changes have been made," he said.

Ethics Commission Chairman Jennings said she isn't surprised that she has received some public exposure.

"My job is not supposed to be about politics," she said. "It's just the people we investigate are in politics."