State Democrats say fusion center in capital a waste of money

Friday, May 11, 2007 | 7:26 a.m.

Democratic legislative leaders Thursday joined a growing list of state officials opposing a plan by Gov. Jim Gibbons to establish an anti-terrorism intelligence gathering hub in Carson City.

The proposal, which seeks more than $520,000 over the next two fiscal years to staff the so-called "fusion center," was to be discussed this morning in Carson City before a joint legislative subcommittee reviewing the Republican governor's budget.

Gibbons wants to make the Carson City center the heart of Nevada's homeland security effort, but his plan is drawing criticism because Las Vegas and Reno, the two cities most at risk of terrorist attack, are on the verge of opening their intelligence gathering operations with millions of dollars in federal funding.

Authorities in Southern Nevada and Washington are pushing to make the Las Vegas operation the state's primary anti-terrorism hub.

Both Senate Minority Leader Dina Titus of Las Vegas, who serves on the subcommittee, and Assembly Majority Leader John Oceguera of North Las Vegas, a nonvoting member of the Nevada Commission on Homeland Security, said Thursday that pouring money into a Carson City center is a waste of tax dollars.

"Everybody's looking for places to save money, and I think this would be a place where we could make that argument," said Titus, who was defeated by Gibbons in last year's race for governor. "I think the money could be better spent on a communications system for first responders than duplicating services."

Oceguera said he would be surprised if Gibbons' push had any legs in the Legislature.

"It doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me," Oceguera said. "If something is going to happen, all the people you need are in Las Vegas and Reno."

Last summer state officials allocated $6.5 million in federal anti-terrorism money to establish the fusion centers in Las Vegas and Reno.

Federal authorities have encouraged states to create fusion centers to better coordinate the collecting and disseminating of intelligence across jurisdictions in the war on terrorism.

Metro Police, which has spearheaded the information-sharing effort in Las Vegas, plans to open the valley's fusion center in July and staff it with 61 department employees, including detectives and intelligence and crime analysts. Representatives from various federal and state agencies also will be assigned to the center.

Top Southern Nevada law enforcement officials, including Sheriff Doug Gillespie and Henderson Police Chief Richard Perkins, voiced concerns this week about Gibbons' Carson City effort.

The officials believe that Gibbons should recognize the Las Vegas fusion center as the state's primary intelligence sharing hub with the federal government, given that this is where most of the population is and where the state has devoted most of its anti-terrorism resources.

Sun reporter Cy Ryan contributed to this story.