Editorial: No experience necessary

Thursday, Nov. 29, 2007 | 7:04 a.m.

Competence is obviously not a requirement in Gov. Jim Gibbons' administration, as Joe Enge's hiring proves. Enge was recently appointed deputy director of the state's Energy Office despite having no experience in the field.

Enge is a former history teacher who is politely described as having a colorful past. He is known for his public battle over curriculum at Carson City High School, where he taught history before being forced out. He since has won a seat on the Carson City School Board and written screeds against public education for the right-wing Nevada Policy Research Institute.

Enge has been convicted of DUI twice. Another time, in 2005, he was charged with drunken driving, but the charge was dismissed after a judge ruled that breath test results, which showed he had about three times the legal level of alcohol in his system, could have been skewed by his dentures.

He plowed over a fence with his car in Carson City last month and left the scene. Police charged him with hit and run, but the case was dismissed after he paid the homeowner $1,200.

Inexperience coupled with bad judgment are a hallmark of the Gibbons administration, which has a track record of making appointments marked by politics and incompetence. For example:

Now add Enge. His predecessor had a doctorate and plenty of technical experience in energy matters. Enge will make $64,921 a year to, in his words, "basically organize the (five-person) office."

Disgraceful.