Rogers: Gibbons trying to quiet him

Tuesday, July 26, 2005 | 11:07 a.m.

State university system Chancellor Jim Rogers says he knows of no other reason an aide for Rep. Jim Gibbons would call members of the Board of Regents other than to "muzzle me" for questioning the congressman's intelligence.

Robert Uithoven, an aide for Gibbons, R-Nev., says his phone calls this week to regents were not an attempt to pressure them to call Rogers on the carpet but rather to make sure the regents did not share the chancellor's opinion.

Gibbons is planning a run for governor and Rogers' name has been floated as a potential Republican challenger. Earlier this month, Rogers told Las Vegas ONE, Cox Cable channel 19 that he didn't think Gibbons was "very bright" and didn't think Gibbons could handle the governor's job.

"I do not know why he'd call the regents other than to try to get them to muzzle me," Rogers said. "I have no direct evidence, but that would be my perception. Maybe the calls were made for a different legitimate reason."

Uithoven said today he made the calls to offer to have Gibbons meet individually with the regents to quell any concerns they might have about Gibbons' stand on educational issues. He said he couldn't remember how many regents he called.

"I made some calls to see if they shared concerns that were publicly aired by the chancellor," Uithoven said. "We could have the congressman come sit down privately and discuss higher education."

Asked if he tried to pressure regents into disciplining Rogers for making the comments, Uithoven said, "That's absolutely not true. I do not think there is that perception."

"I think it is important for the chancellor and the regents to have good open discussion with people who can help them," he said. "The senior house member of Nevada's congressional delegation (Gibbons) can and has done what he can to help education in this state."

Two of the Regents contacted by Uithoven say they have no interest in putting themselves in the middle of this political "tiff."

"I've lived in Southern Nevada since 1962. I know both men. They are both very moral, and very good people," Regent Mark Alden said. "But this is just a blip on the screen to me. There are so many huge issues and problems that we as regents have to address including planning, funding and technology problems. The two of them having a tiff is just chump change."

Regent Steve Sisolak said the whole thing is just politics.

"I said, 'Look this is nothing compared to how it could get -- the best thing is to communicate with each other,' " Sisolak said of his conversation with Uithoven. "When he said he felt as though the chancellor was not returning his calls, I took exception to that. I said I know Jim Rogers and he will meet and talk to anybody."

Rogers said in the last month or so, Gibbons called him and left a message and Rogers returned the call but Gibbons was unavailable. They then continued to swap messages.

"We played phone tag for two days," Rogers said. "But that is the last time there was any communication between the two of us. I always return phone calls."

Alden and Sisolak said neither of them got the feeling that Uithoven was trying to influence them to take action against Rogers for his derogatory comments.

Uithoven also said he is has no regrets about calling the regents.

"It's surprising to me this is a concern," Uithoven said.

Uithoven said the meetings he was offering with Gibbons was not necessarily to allow Gibbons to lay out his plans for higher education. He said that should Gibbons announce he is a candidate for governor he would make such a presentation to the entire state.

"Basically we wanted them to know the congressman is a just a phone call away," Uithoven said. "If Jim Gibbons runs for governor we will have plenty of discussions with the regents and the chancellor too."

Rogers said he will be writing letters to all the potential gubernatorial candidates, asking a number of questions regarding their stand on higher education.

Rogers met Tuesday morning with state Sen. Dina Titus, D-Las Vegas. He was scheduled to meet with state Sen. Bob Beers, R-Las Vegas, today. Both Titus and Beers are declared gubernatorial candidates.