Editorial: Controller should give in to reality

Friday, Oct. 1, 2004 | 8:54 a.m.

It's a reflection on state Controller Kathy Augustine's character that she has refused to resign from her elected position despite being found guilty of three willful violations of state ethics laws. Last week, after the verdict came in from the state Ethics Commission, Augustine should have salvaged what remained of her integrity and resigned. Instead, the Republican Augustine turned a deaf ear on a chorus of bipartisan state leaders, all calling for her to step down. Among those in the chorus were Sen. John Ensign, Rep. Jim Gibbons and Secretary of State Dean Heller, all Republicans.

On Thursday Gov. Kenny Guinn, also a Republican, joined the chorus. He called for her immediate resignation and said if she refused, he would call a special session of the Legislature a week after the elections to begin impeachment proceedings. Guinn's action was fair and appropriate. He waited for more than a week to publicly speak on the issue, which was plenty of time for Augustine to mull her options and decide on her own that her days as controller were over. Augustine still has not resigned and now seems bent on forcing the state to conduct the first impeachment proceeding in its history.

On Sept. 22 the Ethics Commission, acting on a complaint from the state attorney general's office, found Augustine guilty of putting state employees to work on her 2002 re-election campaign. The employees worked on the campaign, and used state equipment, during their regular working hours for the state government. Because Augustine stipulated to the charges, said she would take "full responsibility" for the violations and agreed to pay a $15,000 fine, we cannot fathom what she is trying to gain by hanging on to her office. Under state law, willful violations of ethics laws are considered malfeasance of office, which automatically triggers an impeachment proceeding if the officeholder does not resign.

Guinn was right in deciding that an impeachment, if necessary, should take place in November rather than during the regular session. The Legislature, which only meets once every two years for 120 days, has no time during a regular session for a proceeding that could last for days, maybe weeks. But even in special session, impeachment is a costly (up to $30,000 a day) and time-consuming proceeding. We could understand Augustine's position if her guilt was in doubt. As it stands, her position seems designed to make the state pay for upholding its ethics laws. Augustine should prove us wrong by resigning.