Appointment to top tourism post is starting to look shaky

By Cy Ryan

Tuesday, Dec. 30, 2008 | 2 a.m.

Gov. Jim Gibbons appeared to back away from his controversial appointment of the friend of a top adviser to head the state’s Tourism Commission.

On Monday, the commission rejected the governor’s Christmas Eve appointment of Kirk Montero, a manager for US Airways at Reno/Tahoe International Airport, to the $117,000-a-year post. In a 9-0 vote, the panel decided to continue its search for a new executive director.

The vote followed a Las Vegas Sun story reporting the governor had ignored state law in making the appointment. The job is, by law, to be filled following a search by the appointed Tourism Commission.

Gibbons spokesman Dan Burns acknowledged Monday that Montero might not get the post.

“Nine to nothing is pretty persuasive,” Burns said of the commission vote.

The executive director serves at the pleasure of the Tourism Commission, which could dismiss Montero immediately even if the governor were to continue to stand behind his appointee.

Lt. Gov. Brian Krolicki, who is chairman of the Tourism Commission, said the search committee will meet early next month to narrow a list of more than 60 candidates to eight to 10, who will then be interviewed by phone. The top five or six candidates will be interviewed in person.

The governor will choose an executive director from the commission’s three finalists.

Gibbons had justified skirting state law to appoint Montero by arguing the job is too vital to be left vacant during an economic downturn.

Gibbons has also proposed combining the Tourism Commission with the state’s Economic Development Commission as a cost-cutting measure.

“We waited 3 1/2 months and never got a decision” by the Tourism Commission on finalists for the job, Burns said. “The governor feels tourism is so vitally important, especially in this downturn, that

3 1/2 months is a long time to wait for a search.”

The former director, Tim Maland, resigned in September.

In a Dec. 12 letter, Gibbons told Krolicki it was imperative that the commission submit the names of qualified applicants. “I expect the recommendations to include Mr. Kirk Montero, whose resume was hand delivered to your office shortly after the prior Executive Director resigned.”

Burns said the governor was “still looking at legal options.”

Montero told the Sun last week that he got the job without an interview.

He said his references, “a number of whom know the governor,” might have helped him land the position. The list included Tourism Commissioner Bruce Dewing and Howard Weiss, owner of a Reno RV dealership and a close friend of and adviser to the governor.

The Tourism Commission received 67 applications for the job before the Oct. 24 deadline.

Montero’s application was hand-delivered by a member of Gibbons’ office on Nov. 4, according to sources.

There were “some very highly qualified applicants,” but Montero would not have been among the top 10, Commissioner Ryan Sheltra said on Monday.

The commission rejected a proposal to reopen the search and allow Montero’s application to be considered. Krolicki told the commission that legal advice from the state attorney general’s office indicated the process would have to be opened to all if Montero’s late application were accepted.

“With all respect we have to move forward with the existing search,” Krolicki said.

Montero, 60, whose previously worked as a reservations manager for now-defunct Reno Air and owned a tour company in California, was planning to retire from his job with US Airways in February. He said Monday that he still plans to begin work as executive director of the Tourism Commission on Jan. 12.

If Montero attempts to assume the post, Burns said, he will not be paid until he is sworn into office.

“At this point, it doesn’t look like he will be sworn in,” Burns said.