Funding for new court jobs at issue

Wednesday, May 17, 2006 | 7:33 a.m.

Clark County commissioners complained during a budget hearing this week that the state keeps creating new jobs that the county has to fund.

During a special meeting Monday, commissioners approved the creation of 207 positions and passed the county's $1.4 billion general fund budget for fiscal 2007.

The new positions will cost the county $13.7 million a year. Much of that money will fund judicial support staff for four new district judges that the state Legislature added to the bench in Clark County last year to help deal with an overburdened court system.

The state pays the judges' salaries, but the county has to fund courtroom positions such as clerks and bailiffs.

County Manager Thom Reilly said 52 of the new positions are linked to the four new judges who will be voted into office in November.

That raised some ire from commissioners during an otherwise sleepy budget hearing.

"We need to look to get the responsibility shifted to where it should be - with the state," said Yvonne Atkinson Gates, whose husband is District Judge Lee Gates.

"If we didn't have to pay for it, then we could look to some of the other departments that have a genuine need," she said.

Next year's $1.4 billion budget represents a $9.2 million increase over this year.

Clark County Commission Chairman Rory Reid is fighting for more than just re-election this November.

He's fighting for a raise.

Reid's commission salary will jump more than $14,000 - from $54,000 a year to $68,391 - if he is re-elected. That's because when commissioners voted to give themselves a raise in 2003, Reid opted not to take it until he faced voters again.

The raise might not be too difficult to earn because both of his opponents are political unknowns.

He'll face a Democratic primary challenge from Matthew O'Neil, whose phone number as listed with the election department is out of service.

His general election opponent is Republican Chuck Hurley, an application supervisor for the county's information technology department. He's one of two county staffers looking to take on one of their bosses this year.

"I don't think he is doing a bad job," Hurley said of Reid. "I don't come from a political family, so I have a different view of the world."

Hurley, who said he is frustrated over traffic jams and poor air quality, plans to retire as a county staffer in September.

Even if either of Reid's challengers pull together a formidable campaign, they would be up against Reid's recognizable name - he is the son of U.S. Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid - and enormous campaign treasury, which already boasts about $1 million.

"To me it doesn't really matter who my opponent is," Reid said. "I have to run on my record, and I'm glad to do that."

Reilly, on the other hand, won't have to wait as long for his raise.

Commissioners granted Reilly a 5 percent pay increase and awarded him a 2 percent bonus Tuesday as part of the county manager's annual performance evaluation.

His salary, starting immediately, will be $199,504, up $9,500 from his current salary of $190,004. The bonus, worth $3,800, is in addition to his salary increase.

Reid's two fellow commissioners who are up for re-election this year face stronger challenges.

Commissioner Myrna Williams faces perhaps the toughest challenge of any commissioner running this year, from Assemblywoman Chris Giunchigliani.

The winner of that Democratic primary contest will face Republican Joe Thibodeau, whose home/campaign phone number introduces his residence as the "blues pad."

A building inspection specialist for the county, Thibodeau, like the other county staffer running for commissioner, said he does not have any specific complaints with the incumbent but believes the county needs some "fresh eyes."

Commissioner Lynette Boggs McDonald is likely to face Clark County School Board Member Susan Brager-Wellman , assuming Brager-Wellman gets past other Democrats in the primary. Her opponents include Michael Wall, who owns a sign business ; John Wickett, a 35-year-old senior estimator and project manager for a local insulation contractor who is looking to put to use the political science degree he earned this year at UNLV; and John Sheehan, a retired lieutenant colonel with the Air Force.