Editorial: Failure of leadership

Sunday, Nov. 11, 2007 | 8:02 a.m.

Clark County Commission Chairman Rory Reid tried to get Republican Gov. Jim Gibbons to commit to protecting child welfare and juvenile justice services at Gibbons' budget summit Wednesday.

The governor has made it clear he wants to cut the state budget to address a projected shortfall in tax revenue, and Reid made an impassioned plea to exempt children's services from cuts.

"The children most vulnerable should not be in the discussion," Reid said. "Even (Republican state Sen.) Bob Beers agrees with that."

Beers, who has railed against government spending, has said he would leave child welfare services untouched, as David McGrath Schwartz reported in Thursday's Las Vegas Sun. Gibbons, however, would say only he would "minimize any impact" on child services.

"I'll take that as a yes," Reid said.

Gibbons laughed. Reid understandably didn't.

Children are already imperiled by Nevada's woefully underfunded child welfare system. The state needs a leader who will find ways to protect children, even in tough budget times, and not one who governs for show in summits.

Gibbons' penchant is to hold these meetings, look interested and then ignore whatever is said. Political leaders participating in last week's meeting should have realized that. They were given material citing the governor's legal authority to cut the budget. In other words, thanks for coming, but the governor isn't interested in your ideas.

The governor certainly wasn't interested in the idea of forming a task force to come up with proposals to handle a revenue shortfall, and that is too bad. As summit participants noted, there are other ways to deal with the situation that would preserve necessary services, such as delaying state building projects and dipping into the rainy-day fund.

Gibbons was using the summit to try to burnish his damaged image as a leader. He may have looked like a leader and maybe even sounded like a leader, but his actions show him to be nothing more than an empty suit.