Editorial: It’s a question of trust

Friday, Jan. 5, 2007 | 7:11 a.m.

N ot even a week into his term, a political act of retribution by Republican Gov. Jim Gibbons could cause lasting damage to his credibility.

For several years now Gibbons and his Republican predecessor, Kenny Guinn, have had a bitter feud, which intensified when Guinn appointed in November his chief of staff, Keith Munro, to the state Gaming Control Board effective Jan. 1.

But Gibbons has tried to void the appointment, naming Randall Sayre, the board's chief investigator, to the spot Thursday. Gibbons' staff says Guinn wasn't the governor on Jan. 1 and thus can't make the appointment.

That is because Gibbons broke from the traditional 10 a.m. swearing-in ceremony and held a secret ceremony in his house on Dec. 31. The Associated Press reported that he started the oath about a minute before midnight and that it ended 12 seconds into the new year.

The pettiness of the move is overshadowed by the shameful, misleading way he used the specter of terrorism to cover his political guile. His quick oath, he said, was a necessity for the state to be "ready for any emergency" - i.e., terrorist attack - in the first change of governors since 9/11.

He promptly appointed new directors of homeland security and public safety because, he said in a statement, "Nevadans should be assured that their leaders are in place."

However, his office acknowledged that there was no known terrorist threat and that outgoing Homeland Security chief Giles Vanderhoof was still on the job, having pledged to stay for a few days after New Year's.

So far honesty has not been a trait of the young Gibbons administration.

Political commentator and Las Vegas Sun columnist Jon Ralston reported that last year Gibbons tried to persuade then-Secretary of State Dean Heller not to sign Munro's appointment papers. Yet in December Ralston was told by a spokesman that Gibbons "has no plans to intercede in Munro's appointment."

On Tuesday Ralston asked about the timing of Gibbons' oath and the governor's spokesman responded: "Was the midnight swearing-in a step to undo some Guinn appointments? That wasn't the intention."

No, the intention was to try to fool the public, enabling him to settle his political scores with a fellow Republican. In his inaugural address Tuesday, the governor pledged to bridge bipartisan differences and create "one Nevada," but given the abysmal way he has handled this appointment, we can only imagine what the next four years will bring.