Gibbons gets a ‘no’ on terror center

Jeff German and Cy Ryan

Tuesday, May 15, 2007 | 7:31 a.m.

With the Legislature winding down, the heart of Gov. Jim Gibbons' homeland security plan for the state is in limbo.

A joint budget subcommittee, split along party lines, late last week did not back a proposal by the Republican governor to create an anti-terrorism intelligence hub, or "fusion center," in Carson City.

The panel also did not go along with Gibbons' wish to put the state's homeland security office under the governor's direct control. It had been shifted to the Public Safety Department in 2005 at the request of then-Gov. Kenny Guinn, but Gibbons is looking for a more hands-on approach to fighting terrorism in Nevada.

Leading the opposition last week, Democrats on the joint Senate-Assembly panel said spending more than $520,000 in state money over the next two years to staff a Carson City fusion center would be wasteful and counterproductive to similar efforts in Las Vegas and Reno.

Senate Minority Leader Dina Titus, D-Las Vegas, said Gibbons' intelligence-gathering operation, which also is seeking $1.7 million in federal money for high-tech equipment, looked more like a "confusion" center to her.

Two Assembly Democrats on the joint subcommittee, Kathy McClain and David Parks, both of Las Vegas, said they saw little value in creating another layer of government.

In the end, the proposal was approved 2-1 by Senate members of the subcommittee, with Sens. Dean Rhoads, R-Tuscarora, and Bob Beers, R-Las Vegas, supporting it. But the panel's Assembly members voted 5-1 against it, leaving the proposal tied up. A similar split vote created uncertainty about control of the homeland security office. Under subcommittee rules, both legislative sides must approve a measure for it to move forward.

Gibbons wants to make the Carson City fusion center the focal point for the state's homeland security effort, but his plan is drawing criticism because both Las Vegas and Reno, the two cities most at risk of a terrorism attack, are on the verge of opening their own intelligence operations with $6.5 million in federal money.

Southern Nevada law enforcement authorities are pushing to make the Las Vegas operation, not Carson City, the state's primary anti-terrorism hub.

Nevada Homeland Security Director Larry Martines said after last week's hearing that the subcommittee's refusal to back the Carson City hub would slow the governor's efforts.

"I'm sure the governor will be talking to both sides," Martines said.

The full joint budget committee now must resolve the partisan differences.

Subcommittee members said the proposed Carson City center could end up being used as "trade bait" in the waning days of the Legislature, as Republicans and Democrats seek compromises on deadlocked issues.

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 plan to open the Las Vegas fusion center in July and staff it with 61 department employees. Representatives from other local, state and federal agencies also will be assigned to the center.

Top Southern Nevada law enforcement officials, including Sheriff Doug Gillespie and Henderson Police Chief Richard Perkins, said last week that Gibbons should recognize the Las Vegas operation, which has the most anti-terrorism resources at its disposal, as the state's primary intelligence- sharing hub with the federal government.