Facebook
Fark
Digg
Reddit
StumblePOLITICS:
Nevada No. 2 on list of ‘most dysfunctional’ governments
National Journal ranking cites Gibbons’ divorce, budget woes
Monday, July 13, 2009 | 5:46 p.m.
Sun Coverage
A nonpartisan political magazine has ranked Nevada's government among the worst in the country.
In a list released Monday, the Washington, D.C.-based National Journal ranked the "nation's six most dysfunctional state governments." On the list, Nevada ranks No. 2, trailing only New York. At No. 3 is Illinois, which in January saw Gov. Rod Blagojevich ousted after a scandal in which he was charged with putting the Senate seat vacated by President Barack Obama up for sale.
Nevada's neighbor, California, appears on the list at No. 6.
The magazine said the rankings are based on interviews with state political experts who looked at four criteria: quality of leadership (legislature and governor), any criminality in the state's political leadership, the severity of any policy challenges the state is facing and the intensity of the media circus surrounding state government.
Each category was graded on a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being the worst. Those scores were averaged to produce the ranking, the magazine said.
As for Nevada, the magazine gave its leadership problems a "10" and its criminality, statewide challenges and media circus each a "7," leaving it with a dysfunction rating of 7.75.
The magazine did make this disclaimer: "Because the list is limited to current trouble spots, a state like Louisiana -- where the corruption and inefficiency is legendary, but whose current leadership under Gov. Bobby Jindal (R) appears conscientious -- does not make the list. For now, anyway."
"The extramarital affair recently acknowledged by Republican Sen. John Ensign hardly compares to the tabloid richness of GOP Gov. Jim Gibbons' one term," the magazine said.
It cited Gibbons' "nasty divorce" and subsequent news that he had sent more than 800 text messages in six weeks to a woman using a state phone in its assessment of the state's leadership. It also pointed to the frenzy surrounding former cocktail waitress Chrissy Mazzeo, who sued Gibbons -- at the time a candidate for governor -- for assault.
Also in its assessment of Gibbons, the magazine pointed to Las Vegas Sun columnist Jon Ralston, who in a recent column wrote "Gibbons is perhaps the worst governor in Nevada history and a national joke."
In its ranking of the state's criminality, the magazine pointed to Lt. Gov. Brian Krolicki (R) who is facing prosecution on felony charges alleging he mishandled a multibillion-dollar state college savings program when he was state treasurer, and Oscar Goodman, the "former mob lawyer turned Las Vegas mayor" who might announce a bid to unseat Gibbons.
In terms of challenges in the Silver State, the magazine cites budget issues that stem from a state "dependent on tourism" with "a collapsing housing market."
"For the first time in 35 years, the proposed operating budget in Nevada has shrunk, and the governor and legislators have been sparring over how to close a multibillion-dollar budget gap," the magazine said.
New York, which the magazine pegged as "most dysfunctional," ranked one-and-a-half points higher than Nevada, at 9.25.
Discussion: comments so far…
Comments are moderated by Las Vegas Sun editors. Our goal is not to limit the discussion, but rather to elevate it. Comments should be relevant and contain no abusive language. Comments that are off-topic, vulgar, profane or include personal attacks will be removed. Full comments policy. Additionally, we now display comments from trusted commenters by default. Those wishing to become a trusted commenter need to verify their identity or sign in with Facebook Connect to tie their Facebook account to their Las Vegas Sun account. For more on this change, read our story about how it works and why we did it.
Only trusted comments are displayed on this page. Untrusted comments have expired from this story.
No trusted comments have been posted.
Post a comment
Most Popular
- Viewed
- Discussed
- E-mailed
Everything Under the Sun
Blogs
The Kats Report
Clint Holmes is a big deal at Cabaret Jazz and 'The Carlyle!'; Playboy's furry-ous closing; Elvis is a 'Legend'
Joe Pesci remembers his own honeymoon in Vegas -- meeting the Rat Pack (1 Comment)
Las Vegas Philharmonic says search for new music director to begin 'immediately' (1 Comment)
With Shenandoah project stalled, Wayne Newton hits back legally (7 Comments)
Where does a Playmate play when she turns 21? Vegas! (3 Comments)
Ice Ice Billy
The road to six-toed cats and Mayor Bubba
The Kats Report
David Itkin tells L.V. Philharmonic officials he's on his way out (14 Comments)
- Locally owned and independent since 1950; Winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Public Service, best news website in the nation & DuPont Award for broadcast journalism
Whoever wrote the article for the National Journal is a sensationalist moron, who has no idea how deeply disfunctional California is.
Nevada has a budget. Nevada is paying its bills, including checks to its welfare receipients.
California has no budget. California is not paying its bills. California is paying many of its welfare receipients with IOU's which banks will not cash. The Governator is in something like his 4th year of trying to get the corrupt Democrats in the California Legislature (about 2/3rd of the Dem Caucus) to give up pandering to the special interests who elected each of them, and to figure out a rational way for California to live within its economic means.
Perhaps magazines like National Journal should give I.Q. tests to its writer/reporters, before they let them go to work. Ranking Nevada and Illinois in front of California, as disfunctional states, is simply ridiculous on a factual basis.
Did you ever think the news rag was joshing?
Jim Gibbons wins another prize!
After reading the entire article - not just The Sun's summary - I think Nevada is placed quite accurately.
Nevada has an inept governor, a sinning senator, an indicted lt. governor, legislative and executive branches incapable of resolving budget issues, one of the worst school systems in the country, the list goes on and on.
Yep, Nevada is still the "wild west" where anything goes (usually wrong for the state's residents) in Carson City.
Add to it-the Clark County Commissioners who served time for taking bucks from a strip club owner, wasted dollars on the monorail to nowhere, the ludicrous Mob Museum, the corrupt housing trifecta-mortgage lenders, assessors and realtors, it rivals Louisiana's rich history of corruptness.
It truly is a great read.
Nothing new to us. We know our Government is dysfunctional.
The real question is how do we fix it?
This is not new news. Ensign is going to hell. Gibbons is a moron. Aaron Kenny et al are in jail or have been. A handful of lobbyists run the state.
The politicians give away the farm to the wealthy and powerful. Meanwhile the schools are under funded. Museums are partially closed, Families are now homeless.
How do you fix it? Slow down growth. Look at the long perspective. Not just the couple of years that a politician is in office.
Look at planning for the good of the society and not just an handful of big businesses. Right now the state has given tax credits to green energy. The counties where this stuff is planned will get short term jobs and then? They will have to pay for infrastructure. That is us the public, the tax payers. Meanwhile the big businesses reaps the profits and we? Get screwed AGAIN!
Cynical-
On one hand, I'm also surprised that California isn't higher on that list. But on the other hand, I disagree with your reasoning. "The Governator" isn't fighting "corrupt Democrats". He's trying to destroy the entire social safety net over there! I just moved here from there, and I can tell you the reality behind California's mess. Because of Prop 13's creation of massive corporate tax breaks and the 2/3 rule to adjust taxes, the Republican minority always has veto power to derail the budget. And now that Arnold's back to enabling them, my mother has lost her badly needed COLA increase for her SSI while my best friend may lose his health care (provided by the state HIV-AIDS care program).
So are disabled people like my mom and my best friend "special interests"? And the giant corporations and super-rich that hardly pay any property taxes and enjoy ridiculous tax loopholes like "the yacht exemption" are not? Gimme a break!
Everyone else-
Btw, this is why Nevada desperately needs real tax reform. We can't afford to repeat California's mistakes.