State senator seeks to boost counties’ power

By Joe Schoenmann

Wednesday, Dec. 3, 2008 | 2 a.m.

State Sen. Terry Care believes running Clark County is no longer part-time work.

The region’s growth has brought a bigger bureaucracy to oversee and issues too complex to be dealt with by a part-time County Commission, Care says.

The Las Vegas Democrat will introduce a pair of bills during the 2009 legislative session to make commission seats in Nevada’s most populous counties full-time positions and to give commissioners more say over taxes.

He doesn’t see how the Clark County Commission can operate any other way.

“They are a powerful body, maybe the second most powerful in the state after the governor,” Care said. “They oversee the airport, the hospital, water, waste — that’s a lot of stuff to do and it’s a part-time job. It has to become a full-time job. It just has to.”

Commissioners frequently disqualify themselves from voting on issues because of potential conflicts related to their full-time work. It’s an issue that is evident at the start of every Clark County Commission meeting.

Tuesday was no different as Chairman Rory Reid and Commissioner Chip Maxfield announced they wouldn’t vote on a variety of items because of potential conflicts of interest.

“You’re not elected to abstain, you’re elected to vote,” Care said. “I would think that many conflicts would go away if they were full-time commissioners.”

Three commissioners have outside jobs: Reid, an attorney; Tom Collins, a rancher; and Susan Brager, a real estate agent.

Commissioners Chris Giunchigliani and Lawrence Weekly do commission work exclusively.

The two incoming commissioners, Larry Brown and retired businessman Steve Sisolak, have said they will do the job full time.

The base pay for commissioners is $73,971.

Reid said Tuesday he would welcome a debate of the proposal. Details would have to be hashed out at the county, where government operates with an appointed county manager overseeing day-to-day operations while seven elected commissioners periodically meet and set policy.

“Nevada has a proud history of citizen legislators, but it might be wise to consider making these exclusive jobs,” Reid said. If the law had been in place before he ran for the County Commission, his decision would have been “much more difficult.”

“I would have had to resign from my law firm at the time,” he said. “I’m not sure what I would have done.”

Brager said she considers her commission seat a full-time job, but she still makes time for real estate.

“Would that mean I couldn’t keep my real estate license that I worked so hard for?” she asked. “It would be an interesting debate.”

Collins, the rancher, chuckled at the idea, saying he doesn’t think it has a chance of passing.

“That means I wouldn’t be able to go sell cattle,” he said. “If this thing passes — let’s just say I strongly disagree with it.”

Care said Tuesday that his proposed bill to make commission seats full-time jobs has “good” support among his fellow lawmakers. Otherwise, he said, he wouldn’t go forward with the measure.

But the longtime lawmaker said he isn’t as sure the second bill he’s backing — one he believes goes hand-in-hand with full-time commissions — will have as much support.

The bill would give commissions and other local government bodies the ability to levy and withdraw taxes, including room taxes and fuel taxes. Currently, local governments must get legislative approval to raise or eliminate taxes.

“I’m not suggesting by any means that Clark County should be out there raising taxes, but I’m just saying there’s no reason they shouldn’t be able to,” Care said. “My point is, I’m a big believer in home rule and since the Legislature only meets 120 days every two years, I’m saying shift the power to the local entities.”

When proposals to raise room taxes in Douglas County or sales taxes in Nye County have come before the Legislature, Care said, he found it to be a waste of time for state lawmakers.

“I don’t know what’s going on in those counties,” he said. “I don’t see the need for the Legislature to be making those decisions.”

Care characterized support for expanding the authority of local elected officials as “iffy.”

Carole Vilardo, lobbyist for the conservative Nevada Taxpayers Association, said she supports the idea as long as there are safeguards.

“The devil is in the details,” said Vilardo, who hadn’t seen the proposed bill. “How do they raise the taxes? Are there any conditions? Are you allowed to raise taxes but within a percentage of something? Is it going to require a simple majority vote or a two-thirds vote?”

State government’s control over many aspects of local government stems from a system of governance that Care says Nevada has outgrown. Nevada is a “Dillon’s Rule” state, named for an Iowa Supreme Court justice, John Dillon, who mistrusted local governments and ruled in 1886 that states have the power to grant them specific powers. Today, 31 states follow Dillon’s Rule, 10 have gotten rid of it and eight apply it only to certain municipalities. Florida’s status is in legal limbo.

Care has previously proposed loosening the state’s grip on local government, noting that 10 percent of the bills before the state Legislature from 2001 to 2005 could have been handled by local governments.

“Dillon’s Rule becomes quite cumbersome in a state that has growth like ours,” Care said.

In County Commission chambers late Tuesday, it was impossible to find anyone who believed such a bill could pass the Legislature. State lawmakers would be reluctant to surrender their power over local governments, county officials said.

County Manager Virginia Valentine, carrying a foot-high stack of binders out of the chambers, looked puzzled by the idea.

“I’d like to see it in writing,” she said, smiling.