Nevada No. 2 on list of ‘most dysfunctional’ governments

By Cara McCoy

Monday, July 13, 2009 | 5:46 p.m.

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.