Facebook
Fark
Digg
Reddit
Stumble
Wednesday, March 18, 2009 | 2 a.m.
Sun archives
Sen. Terry Care canceled a hearing Tuesday on a bill to find out how much executives at the Las Vegas Monorail Co. earn, after monorail officials voluntarily released their salary information.
Though the transit line has yet to turn a profit, its financial troubles haven’t hurt executives’ personal earnings. According to the monorail’s Form 990 for 2007:
• President and Chief Executive Curtis Myles was paid $339,000. He works a 50-hour week, according to the document.
• Ross Johnson, the chief financial officer, earned $152,250.
• Vice President and Director of Operations Lloyd Welch was paid $116,389.
• Ingrid Reisman, a vice president, was paid $139,200.
Company directors, which included several prominent figures, were paid $60,000 in 2007. Among the directors were government and political consultant Terry Murphy, former Nevada Power executive Pat Shalmy and gaming attorney Bob Faiss.
The privately financed transit line has never turned a profit and has consistently fallen short of the revenue projections used to sell it to bondholders, who largely underwrote its construction.
Care, a Las Vegas Democrat, is keeping Senate Bill 198 alive, but said he currently has no plans to push for its passage.
•••
The Governor’s Mansion isn’t used as much as it has been in past administrations — given the first couple is divorcing. But it still requires three and a half state workers to keep it running, State Budget Director Andrew Clinger told the Senate Finance Committee this week.
Sen. Bob Coffin, D-Las Vegas, questioned how much the mansion is used considering the Gibbonses’ marital situation. Gov. Jim Gibbons filed for divorce from first lady Dawn Gibbons in May.
But Clinger called the mansion “the primary residence” of the governor. The governor also spends a good deal of time at his home in Reno, which the couple have been trying to sell since last year.
The first lady stays in a house adjoining the mansion.
During legislative sessions, the mansion is used for cocktail parties sponsored by various lobbying groups.
Lawmakers trimmed the out-of-state travel budget for Dawn Gibbons, from the budgeted $4,400 to $1,350. The first lady’s in-state travel budget will remain $10,880 in each of the coming two fiscal years.
•••
Among the bills introduced Monday, the final day individual legislators could introduce bills, were proposals to pad the pocketbooks of state lawmakers and eliminate term limits for senators and Assembly members.
Sen. Dennis Nolan, R-Las Vegas, sponsored a bill to allow payments of up to $2,500 to reimburse lawmakers for income lost while serving in a regular legislative session.
Senate Bill 299 would also provide reimbursements for vacations interrupted when the governor convenes a special session. Lawmakers would be entitled to the cost of travel if they are outside Nevada when a special session is called. They would also be reimbursed for money lost on airline tickets, vacation packages and tickets to special events.
Legislators are paid for the first 60 days of the regular 120-day session. Those elected or reelected in 2008 earn $146 per day. Holdover senators are paid $136 per day.
During a special session, lawmakers are paid a salary for a maximum of 20 days.
Sen. Maurice Washington, R-Reno, who is serving in his last session because of term limits, introduced a proposed constitutional amendment to eliminate the 12-year maximum a person can serve in each house of the Legislature.
Senate Joint Resolution 10 would have to be passed by this session and the 2011 Legislature and then ratified by the voters in 2012 before it would become effective.
Besides reporting their earnings I would find it very interesting to have what they actually 'do' (besides show up for work) reported as well - that might either justify their outrages salaries (or not).
Who wants to ride at 7-10 bucks? Do not these fools see why no profits? No rider = no profits.
Some bus routing and drop in fares would fill the trains with workers during the downturn.
More of Harry Reid's mormon mafia?
when it is cheaper and easier to ride a cab then this system has no future. Pedestrianise the strip from mgm to the venetian then people will use it and everyone will be happier.
Cy, there is more there than simply whether or not the business is making a profit. How many quarters did Amazon take before it became profitable? Operating and maintaining the infrastructure investment, working to increase ridership and maintaining jobs for numerous workers are at stake.
How many corporations in SoNev are showing profits at this time? Are you suggesting that the Monorail be scrapped, or is this another easy 'class warfare' attack on folks who make more than you do? Since it is a privately held company, what difference is it to you what they pay their executives, unless of course you are an angry bond holder.
Some of the bloggers here apparently haven't tried to ride the monorail when a big convention is in town...
Hey rocket_car, try doing some research before you launch into one of those "love all capitalists" odes. The Monorail is private in name only...it was financed by bonds issued through the Nevada Department of Business and Industry, and insured by AMBAC. Last time I checked, those bonds were trading like borderline junk. That's right, the state used its awesome name and credit rating to help get the boondoggle funded. Ever wonder why Pat Shalmy, a former county manager, and Terry Murphy, a former county administrative services manager, are on the board? Ever wonder why Bob Broadbent pushed for this albatross and then employed Cam Walker, his son-in-law, and Walker's brother, in six-figure jobs at the place? The whole concept was a legal fix to poach loads of cash and high-paying, do-nothing sinecures out of the public trough. Don't believe it? Do the research yourself. But don't expect anything to change...the pigs are already working on the next leg of this mega-scheme to screw dollars out of you. It'll all be done in the interest of alleviating traffic, enhancing the tourist experience or whatever soundbite the backroom politicians and money-grubbing special interests can manufacture to dull our witless minds. In southern Nevada, when the politicians and saints come marching in, you better hold on to your wallet.
Hi Belinda, sounds like you are more familiar with the history and details than the article's author; thanks for enlightening. I didn't comment on whether or not it should be built, nor whether the execs were appropriate for the positions. My comment was that whoever is put in charge of an entity worth over a half billion, they're going to get paid well into the six figures (if not much higher).
I did some research (see link below) and see that Moody's rated the bonds 'Baa3' in 2000, while expecting an endlessly rosy outlook for Las Vegas economic trends. And Ambac is a total disaster...buyer beware...
http://www.innovativefinance.org/project...
The author put the focus on executives "raking it in" while the project is unprofitable. My question remains: what are the exec salaries of the other SoNev corporations that will be going bankrupt this year?
Profound deficit projections from nearly a decade ago (in this paper):
http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/1999/nov...