Gibbon’s position on terror center baffling

Thursday, May 24, 2007 | 6:51 a.m.

Having given Gov. Jim Gibbons a firm no on his request for an anti-terrorism operation in Carson City, legislative leaders Wednesday struggled to understand why he is threatening to hold up the state's budget by insisting on an intelligence gathering hub in the capital.

Assembly and Senate budget committees this week refused to give Gibbons more than $520,000 to staff the "fusion center" amid opposition from law enforcement authorities, who said it would duplicate similar broader efforts in Las Vegas and Reno.

"We're looking at the big picture, trying to solve education and transportation issues, and one of his priorities is a fusion center that nobody supports," Senate Minority Leader Dina Titus, D-Las Vegas, said. "His priorities are an embarrassment."

Assembly Speaker Barbara Buckley, D-Las Vegas, speculated that Gibbons' adamant insistence on establishing a third fusion center stems from his years in Congress, where he served on the House of Representatives' intelligence committee.

"I think he's anxious to be leader in this area because this has been one of his longtime interests," Buckley said. "But to be a leader, there must be people behind you.

"He would get much better results if he worked with the law enforcement community and came up with a plan that had their support."

Assembly Majority Leader John Oceguera, a member of the Nevada Homeland Security Commission, said he detects no appetite in the Legislature to reverse its decision not to fund the Carson City fusion center.

"I haven't heard anyone from law enforcement come out and say this is a good idea," Oceguera, D-Las Vegas, said. "It doesn't make any sense."

Gibbons wants the Carson City operation to serve as the state's primary intelligence hub in the war on terrorism and become Nevada's main link to federal homeland security officials. But Southern Nevada law enforcement officials say the Las Vegas fusion center, set to open in July with federal anti-terrorism money, is best suited to be the state's main intelligence center.

Among those opposing the Carson City center is Clark County Sheriff Doug Gillespie, who is overseeing the development of the Las Vegas operation, which will include representatives from local, state and federal law enforcement agencies.

Gillespie expressed his opposition to Gibbons during a face-to-face meeting in Carson City on May 3 and plans to meet again with the governor on June 15, when he hopes to explain in more detail why the Las Vegas fusion center should be the state's primary intelligence gathering hub.

"His concern is what all the people in this process worry about - that information coming into these centers gets to those individuals who need to have it," Gillespie said Wednesday.

"We feel very confident that when we have the opportunity to present to him how we see this information flowing, that his concerns will be relieved."