Short, contentious stay for homeland security adviser

Tuesday, July 3, 2007 | 7:36 a.m.

Larry Martines is stepping down as Nevada's homeland security adviser amid a rift between Gov. Jim Gibbons and top local law enforcement officials over the best site for the state's primary intelligence gathering operation in the war on terror.

John Douglas, chief of the Nevada Division of Investigations, confirmed Monday that he will take over the homeland security adviser's duties temporarily starting Friday.

"Homeland security is an ongoing challenge," Douglas said. "I'm looking forward to meeting that challenge."

Douglas declined further comment and referred questions to the governor's office.

Melissa Subbotin, the governor's press secretary, refused to say why Martines, who has been on the job since January and was one of Gibbons' first appointments, was stepping down.

"As a matter of office policy we don't divulge details of personnel matters," Subbo tin said.

One homeland security official would say only that Martines is leaving for personal reasons.

Law enforcement officials, however, have been critical of Martines' push, on behalf of Gibbons, to establish Carson City as the state's major intelligence gathering hub , or "fusion center," a move they say will undermine a Las Vegas operation that has been in the works for two years.

Martines also ran afoul of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada after he gave the senator the erroneous impression during a meeting in Washington that law enforcement backed Gibbons' Carson City hub proposal.

Martines' departure comes as top Nevada emergency management officials are to meet Friday with Metro Police homeland security detectives to try to iron out differences over the location of the state's main fusion center, which will serve as Nevada's primary link with federal homeland security officials.

Sheriff Doug Gillespie and other top law enforcement officials have told Gibbons that the federally funded intelligence gathering operation in Las Vegas, set to open in August, is best suited to be the state's leading fusion center. Most of the state's anti-terrorism resources are in Southern Nevada, as are most of the potential threats.

More than 60 Metro detectives, analysts and support staff will work out of the high-tech Southern Nevada Counter-Terrorism Center, designed to coordinate the collecting and disseminating of anti-terrorism intelligence. Local, state and federal law enforcement agencies, including the U.S. Homeland Security Department, also plan to station representatives at the Las Vegas fusion center.

Although his public comments have been diplomatic, Reid clearly was displeased about receiving what the senator's aides regarded as a less-than-candid assessment from Martines.

In a subsequent meeting with Gillespie in Washington, Reid learned that authorities want to focus their anti-terrorism efforts on the fusion centers in Las Vegas and Reno.

That information prompted Reid to send Gibbons a letter urging the governor to reconsider his plan, suggesting that a Carson City hub would drain intelligence gathering resources in the state's most heavily populated areas.