Gibbons taunts Horsford with invite after handicapped parking flap

By David McGrath Schwartz

Tuesday, Dec. 15, 2009 | 2 a.m.

Gov. Jim Gibbons has invited state Senate Majority Leader Steven Horsford to join a board that oversees aid to children with developmental and physical disabilities.

This isn’t an olive branch from the Republican governor to the Democratic legislative leader. It’s more of a poke at Horsford, whom a Las Vegas TV station recently caught parking in a handicapped spot.

Horsford has yet to respond to the governor’s invitation, sent in a Nov. 30 letter, to fill the legislative position on the Early Intervention Interagency Coordinating Council.

Robin Reedy, Gibbons’ chief of staff, said Horsford’s “parking issues” played a role in their decision to invite him to join the board.

“We thought it would be mutually beneficial: 1. For the board to have a Senate Majority Leader appointed and 2. For him to gain additional insight to the plight of the disabled (something he publicly pledged to do in the media),” Reedy wrote in an e-mail message.

Horsford, more than any other Democratic lawmaker, has had a combative relationship with Gibbons.

Horsford accused Gibbons of political cowardice during the last legislative session. Gibbons, a former fighter pilot and war veteran, took particular umbrage at that charge.

Most recently, Horsford challenged Gibbons’ executive spending requests through the Legislature’s Interim Finance Committee. Gibbons countered by issuing an executive order allowing him to circumvent the board, and threatening to challenge the constitutionality of the legislative committee.

With that history, it was unlikely that the Gibbons’ administration would pass on an opportunity to highlight Horsford’s parking peccadillo — indeed the letter invites Horsford to the board “with great pleasure.”

Last month, KTNV, Channel 13 aired a six-minute story — “Lawmaker, Lawbreaker?” — in which Horsford was accused of illegally using a handicapped parking space.

In the story a local woman told of visiting a North Las Vegas park with her 14-year-old daughter, who uses a wheelchair, only to find all of the parking spaces occupied, including the handicapped spots.

Horsford’s SUV, with its conspicuous state Senate license plates, was parked in a marked handicapped zone for five to six hours, according to the mother, who produced photos to support her allegations. Horsford’s vehicle had no handicap placard.

In a statement to Channel 13, Horsford apologized for inadvertently parking in the handicapped spot. “I can assure the citizens of Nevada that such a situation will not arise again,” he said in the statement.

Reedy said that during a recent staff meeting to evaluate boards and commissions, the administration realized that the early intervention board had an opening set aside for a lawmaker.

The board, created under the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act of 2004, oversees Nevada Early Intervention Services, which serves children who are developmentally delayed and otherwise disabled from birth to age 3.

Horsford was not available to comment Monday, according to his office.

It was unclear whether he intends to accept the invitation or whether he will talk about the situation or wait for the story to fade.

David Damore, professor of political science at UNLV, said, “Obviously, the other side is going to try to make hay out of this.” He said this could cause a political problem for Horsford if there’s a pattern of him showing disregard for the unfortunate. Short of that though, “This is one of those things that people forget.”