Gibbons’ Cabinet worries lawmaker

Tuesday, Jan. 9, 2007 | 7:13 a.m.

CARSON CITY - Southern Nevada holds 70 percent of the state's population. It generates more than 71 percent of the state's sales and gaming taxes.

And so far, it is home to a measly 6 percent of the department heads in the Gibbons administration.

A state legislative leader from Las Vegas thinks those numbers don't add up and hopes to see what he regards as a political imbalance corrected.

Unhappy that most of Gov. Jim Gibbons' Cabinet appointees have come from Northern Nevada, Assemblyman Morse Arberry, chairman of the Assembly Ways and Means Committee, said Monday that Gibbons needs to be more sensitive to Southern Nevada.

Of the 16 department heads in Gibbons' Cabinet, all but one - Las Vegan Terry Johnson of the Employment, Training and Rehabilitation Department - are from Northern Nevada. The Cabinet also includes chief of staff Mike Dayton, a Las Vegan who previously lived in Northern Nevada.

Arberry, a Democrat, said while the Republican governor has the right to appoint anyone he wants, the Gibbons appointees could spur some legislators' displeasure if they are unfamiliar with Clark County's programs and needs.

Describing Gibbons' appointments to date as a "white castle" in Northern Nevada, Arberry said he will not be satisfied to hear department heads tell legislators that they intend to fly to Las Vegas one or two days a week.

Rather, some of them should be from Las Vegas so they can take a familiarity with the problems of Southern Nevada with them to Carson City rather than learn about them on the job.

If Gibbons is not going to consider appointees from Las Vegas, "we need to sit down and talk," Arberry said.

The Cabinet of Gibbons' predecessor, Gov. Kenny Guinn, included four from Las Vegas, with the rest coming from Northern Nevada.

Brent Boynton, Gibbons' chief of communications, said the governor is readying another significant appointment from Clark County.

"He's (Gibbons) looking for qualifications, not region," Boynton said, adding that geography is "not a big factor" for the governor in making appointments.

Boynton is from Reno, as are deputy chief of staff Dianne Cornwall, a former Washoe County commissioner, and Josh Hicks, the governor's counsel.

Gibbons, immediately after taking the oath of office, named Phil Galeoto, a former Reno police officer, as director of the state Public Safety Department.

Since then he has named Susan Martinovich of Carson City as director of the Transportation Department, and appointed high school classmate Daniel Stockwell, a nine-year employee of the Information and Technology Department, to head that agency. Stockwell, who lives in Truckee, Calif., has not voted in a Nevada election since 1998.

Last week Gibbons named banking executive Mendy Elliott of Reno as director of the Business and Industry Department.

And to replace Bobby Siller of Las Vegas on the state Gaming Control Board, Gibbons selected Randy Sayre of Carson City. Sayre is the board's chief investigator.

That appointment sparked controversy, because Guinn in November chose his chief of staff, Keith Munro of Reno, to the board to succeed Siller. The first Gaming Control Board meeting of this year will be Wednesday, and it remains unclear whether Munro or Sayre will be at the table.

Gibbons also has retained a number of Guinn's appointments from Northern Nevada, including Budget Director Andrew Clinger, Health and Human Services Director Mike Wilden, Motor Vehicle Director Ginny Lewis and Allen Biaggi, head of the Conservation and Natural Resources Department.