Gibbons’ stimulus stew

Sunday, Aug. 23, 2009 | 2:07 a.m.

Gov. Jim Gibbons makes a lot of news, but rarely is it the kind one would desire.

His campaign in fall 2006 generated national publicity, but only because a cocktail waitress accused him of assaulting her, an allegation now contained in a pending civil rights lawsuit.

During the 2007 session of the Legislature, Gibbons, a Republican, made news after using his state cell phone to send 867 text messages to a woman over six weeks. In spring 2008 Gibbons generated publicity by moving out of the Governor’s Mansion in Carson City because of marital problems.

In January Gibbons made headlines for being disengaged from the most critical financial issue to ever hit the state — a projected deficit of more than $2 billion. Gibbons also made news for being equally disengaged during this year’s session of the Legislature. One would be hard pressed to find any stories stressing Gibbons’ positive accomplishments as governor.

The point here is that Gibbons has been a big fat zero when it comes to leadership. This is why the Interim Finance Committee, which functions as the Legislature between sessions, this month stripped control of the state’s share of federal stimulus money from Gibbons and placed that responsibility under the state controller. The bipartisan committee, with good reason, does not have any faith in Gibbons’ ability to properly spend the money and account for it.

Now Gibbons is in a battle with the committee. He has declared the committee’s action void and has hired his own overseer of stimulus money. Friday, he sent out a rambling news release, asserting his power and asking questions that should be addressed directly to the committee, whose very legitimacy he is questioning in yet another sideshow.

Given Nevada’s high unemployment rate, stimulus money is critical, and Gibbons should not be turning it into a contentious issue. Assembly Majority Leader John Oceguera said Friday that the Legislature has worked to ensure that stimulus money is spent wisely and with transparency, and that the governor’s office and Legislature should be working together. Instead, he said, the governor is “bringing Washington politics to Nevada.”

Gibbons likes to say that his administration is working for the people of Nevada. He would have a hard time proving it.