Friday, April 21, 2006 | 7:18 a.m.
Items 38 and 40 on the Clark County Commission agenda Tuesday were among more than 70 that commissioners were expected to knock out with one swift unanimous vote of "aye."
But that was before the conflict of interest disclosures began.
First, Commissioner Lynette Boggs McDonald explained that because of her position as president of Keep Memory Alive, the foundation for the Lou Ruvo Alzheimer's Center, she would have to abstain from voting on the two items, which would have awarded county contracts totaling $724,000 to G.C. Wallace Inc., a Las Vegas-based engineering firm. Keep Memory Alive recently hired the firm.
Then, Commission Chairman Rory Reid chimed in. He, too, had to abstain on the items because his law firm, Lionel Sawyer & Collins , represents G.C. Wallace.
With two other commissioners absent - in part because of their private business interests - the board lacked enough members to take a vote on the two items.
"It seems everything is going wrong this morning," Reid said, referring in part to another vote earlier that was delayed half an hour because of abstentions and absences.
In Las Vegas' post-G-Sting era, commissioners are exceedingly careful to divulge potential conflicts of interest and abstain from votes accordingly.
But with most commissioners working for companies that deal with the commission - or that have clients who deal with the commission - on a regular basis, members are not casting some votes.
In fact, commissioners have abstained nearly 100 times so far this year, repeatedly leaving constituents in their districts without a voice.
To put the issue in perspective, commissioners vote on hundreds of issues every month, abstaining mostly on routine items that often pass unanimously. But while the abstentions rarely cause delays, the hiccups in this week's meeting underline an important point.
Although the county's tremendous growth rate has brought its estimated population to more than 1.7 million, county government still operates in a small-town manner in many ways.
"Every political job in the state of Nevada is a part-time job," Reid said. "When you have citizens involved in the process, you are going to have conflicts of interest. I think it's a sign of health, not weakness."
The concept of the citizen-legislator makes for a romantic story, but the reality is, Las Vegas is no longer a cowboy town, said Craig Walton, a UNLV professor and president of the Nevada Center for Public Ethics.
"The citizen-legislator story is beautiful," he said. "But I'd like to take it away from the personality realm. I'd like to bring in the workload realm."
The reality is that Clark County is among the busiest and fastest-growing counties in the nation. Not only does it have a relatively large population, it also has huge growth issues. Ask most commissioners and they'll tell you: The commission is not really a part-time job.
"I call it a part-time job," Reid said. "That is not entirely accurate."
"As my wife says, I have two full-time jobs," added Commissioner Bruce Woodbury, who, like Reid, has a law practice in addition to his county job.
Reid and Woodbury abstain more than any other commissioners, 51 and 36 times so far this year, respectively.
"It's time to say we're not a small town anymore," said Commissioner Myrna Williams, one of two commissioners - Tom Collins is the other - who has not had to abstain on any votes to date this year. (Each of the three other members had to abstain on only a handful of occasions.)
"I think we have to look at it from that point of view," Williams added. "We're looking at a time when we are going to have to look at full-time commissioners."
Commissioners earn $54,000 to $78,000 a year, depending on when they were elected and how long they have served. While that could translate to a full-time salary for many county residents, it might not be enough to attract highly qualified candidates to public office.
"I think it is really difficult to get top-grade people to serve," she said. "Experienced, committed people aren't going to give up good professions to serve. Money in the private sector is so much better."
An acceptance of professional politicians has yet to sink in here, where only 50 years ago the population had not yet reached 100,000.
"It goes back to pioneer days when there was a need to have some government, but it was the kind of thing you could take care of in your spare time," Walton said. Today, however, full-time commissioners are "certainly something we need to look into," he said.
But for most commissioners and the vast majority of state legislators who have the ultimate say over commissioners' pay, the cost of a few conflicts of interest is worth it.
"If you were full time, I think there would be a tendency to manage too closely," Woodbury said.
"You would have to raise the salaries significantly. The downside to making it full time far outweighs the benefits. Maybe it will be necessary someday, but I hope not."
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