Editorial: Lot at stake as Augustine nears a trial

Wednesday, Nov. 10, 2004 | 8:46 a.m.

Kathy Augustine became Nevada's first female controller when she was elected in 1998. Today she is in danger of becoming the first state officer in history to be impeached.

The state Assembly began meeting in special session today to determine if there is enough evidence to send her case to the state Senate for an impeachment trial. Conviction in the Senate would almost certainly mean Augustine would be removed from office immediately, midway through her second term. The controller's office maintains the state's accounting records, prepares its annual financial statements and pays the state's bills. Also, the controller serves on many executive-branch boards and committees.

In June Augustine confirmed that she was being investigated by the state attorney general's office regarding ethical violations during her 2002 re-election campaign. "There is nothing criminal and there is no malfeasance," Augustine said at the time. "I'll probably take a hit from the ethics commission."

By September, however, she had worked out an agreement with the State Ethics Commission whose consequences amounted to much more than a "hit." To avoid a full hearing on the charges, and to avoid the maximum fine of $25,000, she stipulated to three "willful" violations of the state ethics law -- using a staff employee on state time for campaign work, using a state computer in creating campaign documents and using other state equipment to facilitate campaign purchases. She was fined $15,000.

Because the violations were "willful," the ethics commission was obligated to send Augustine's stipulation to the Legislature, which in turn was obligated to begin impeachment proceedings if Augustine did not resign. She refused to take that step, despite requests for her to do so by nearly every political leader in the state, including her fellow Republicans.

So today the Assembly began meeting to decide whether to take the first step toward impeachment. Augustine and her attorneys maintain impeachment is too harsh of a punishment for her offenses. The most they believe should happen is a censure from the Senate, so they soldier on, hoping that Augustine will be able to fill out the remaining two years of her second and final term as controller.

A lot is at stake here for the career of Augustine, a former state assemblywoman and state senator. But much more is at stake for the public. The Legislature must provide due process, certainly. But in the end, it should remove a public officer who has admitted to willful ethics violations. If the Legislature fails in that responsibility, what will be at stake is the integrity of our ethics laws.