Gibbons bypasses lawmakers, names stimulus director

By David McGrath Schwartz

Tuesday, Aug. 18, 2009 | 6:29 p.m.

Gov. Jim Gibbons today named a stimulus director to oversee the $2.2 billion in federal money designated for Nevada under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

Charles Harvey, currently the assistant Clark County recorder, will enter a political fracas raging between Gibbons and Democratic lawmakers over control of the stimulus money.

Gibbons last week issued an executive order creating the stimulus coordinator position and granting his office control over the stimulus money. The Interim Finance Committee earlier this month rejected Gibbons' proposal for a $120,000-a-year project and an assistant, opting instead to put an accounting position under Democratic Controller Kim Wallin.

Changes to the budget while the Legislature is not in session have gone through the Interim Finance Committee, made up of legislators, for the past 40 years.

But Gibbons' office argues that the governor's executive order allows him to bypass the system -- for both the stimulus coordinator position and the rest of the $2.2 billion in stimulus -- because the state could lose money if there's a delay.

Wallin said last week she believed an attorney general opinion from 18 months ago means that any change in the budget has to be approved by the Interim Finance Committee, meaning she wouldn't process the position.

But Gibbons wrote a letter to Wallin on Tuesday that used the same legal opinion to argue for processing the budget changes.

The letter pointed to a passage in state law that said the governor could change the budget without legislative approval if "life or property" was in danger.

Deputy Chief of Staff Stacy Woodbury said the tight timeline under the stimulus could mean the loss of money if there are delays.

Woodbury said she had consulted with the attorney general's office before submitting the letter. Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto did not respond to a request for comment on Tuesday. Wallin was out of state and also couldn't be reached for comment.

Harvey has worked in the Clark County Recorder's office for more than 10 years, according to the governor's office. He is also a case management coordinator for the Eighth Judicial District Court. He previously served in the U.S. Air Force.