North wins in Gibbons’ naming of top officials

By Cy Ryan

Saturday, Jan. 3, 2009 | 2 a.m.

Lost in the debate over the legality of Gov. Jim Gibbons’ attempted appointment of the friend of a friend to head the state Tourism Commission is the governor’s penchant for another kind of favoritism.

Gibbons overwhelmingly favors Northern Nevadans in his appointments to top salaried administrative posts — including the controversial attempted appointment of Kirk Montero of Reno as tourism chief.

Few residents of Clark County, home to 70 percent of the state’s population, serve in the governor’s Cabinet or in senior staff positions.

His chief of staff, Josh Hicks; assistant chief of staff, Mendy Elliott; and chief counsel, Chris Nielsen, are from the Reno-Carson City area. Until November, Gibbons’ communications director was a Northern Nevadan, Ben Kieckhefer.

Dan Burns, the Las Vegan who replaced Kieckhefer as the governor’s spokesman and commutes between Southern Nevada and Carson City, said when Gibbons is deliberating on appointments he often jokes with the governor by asking when someone from the South will be selected.

According to a recent tally, of 27 top appointments by Gibbons, 19 are from Northern Nevada and eight are from Clark County.

Despite being required by law to choose from recommendations by the Tourism Commission, Gibbons last month named Montero to replace Tim Maland, who resigned in September. The commission refused to accept the appointment and is going forward with a search for a replacement.

Gibbons recently named former Sparks Mayor Bruce Breslow administrator of the Nuclear Projects Agency, which spearheads the state’s opposition to the proposed nuclear waste dump at Yucca Mountain. The two other people recommended for the job by the Nuclear Projects Commission are from the Reno area.

The governor this week did name a Southern Nevadan, Mark Lipparelli of Las Vegas, to the Gaming Control Board. But the appointment didn’t boost the South’s voice on the panel. Lipparelli replaced Mark Clayton, who is also from Southern Nevada. The other two board members are from Northern Nevada.

Burns said the reason behind the geographical disparity is that many of the appointments are promotions from within agencies based in the Reno-Carson City area.

Luring Southern Nevada officials to tiny Carson City can be a tough sell. And Clark County government salaries tend to be higher than the state’s.

David Damore, an associate professor of political science at UNLV, said the North’s dominance in Gibbons’ administration is apparent, as are the reasons for it. The governor “is appointing all his old buddies he grew up with in Sparks,” Damore said.

Damore said he expected Gibbons, who represented rural and Northern Nevada in Congress, to favor the North as governor.

Gibbons isn’t the only constitutional officer choosing top staff from Northern Nevada. Other appointments include—Kathryn Besser, Lt. Gov. Brian Krolicki’s chief of staff; Cecilia Colling, Treasurer Kate Marshall’s chief of staff; Mark Taylor, Controller Kim Wallin’s assistant controller;—Keith Munro, Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto’s assistant attorney general; and Nichole Lamboley, Secretary of State Ross Miller’s chief deputy.

Damore said Southern Nevadans shouldn’t worry they’re being shortchanged by state government because of the regional disparity in top positions.

“Southern Nevada gets its revenue in the Legislature,” where the South far outnumbers the North, Damore said.