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By Aida Ahmed 
Wednesday, Dec. 7, 2011 | 1:14 p.m.
Josh Reid
Henderson’s new city attorney, Josh M. Reid, said this week that he is eager to move past the controversy surrounding his appointment and onto city business.
Reid, the fourth of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s five children, was unanimously appointed to the post at a special council meeting Nov. 29 over the other city attorney finalist — current interim City Attorney Christine Guerci-Nyhus.
The appointment angered some Henderson residents, who felt that Reid received favorable treatment from the council because of his father’s political stature and phone calls from the elder Reid to city officials. Several citizens wrote letters to the Mayor and two Henderson residents spoke against Reid’s appointment.
“I ignore those kinds of things,” said Reid in an interview with the Sun. “I’m comfortable with who I am and it’s not something I deal with a lot. I think most of the controversy was drummed up by the press and there really wasn’t a whole lot of controversy.”
The 40-year-old environmental and energy attorney replaces Elizabeth Quillin, who resigned in August. Quillin was arrested for DUI in May.
Reid said he has known Mayor Andy Hafen for years and didn’t need his father to call the mayor on his behalf. He said he was unaware that his father was going to make the call.
“When I found out he made calls, I asked him not to do that,” said Reid. “I don’t think he was calling to have them select me, he was just concerned as a father.”
The council changed the original job requirements for the position, they said, after it was clear that they were limiting the field of candidates who could apply. Some residents speculated that the requirements were altered to keep Reid in the running.
“I think it’s disgusting,” Robert Sulliman, a Henderson resident who urged the council not to appoint Reid, said after the vote. “It’s not what is best for the citizens, the taxpayers of Henderson.”
But Reid said he believes such criticism reflects the attitudes of a tiny minority.
“Only two people spoke at the meeting and it was nothing personal against me — it was all about my father. That’s not something I focus on,” said Reid.
As shareholder in Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck’s Natural Resources Department, Reid’s practice focuses on environmental, energy and regulatory issues.
“As a private attorney I deal with a lot of general council clients and I understand the role,” said Reid, who could earn up to $199,000 in his new job.
His resume includes a decade of work in the private sector, something the mayor and council said appealed to them.
Before joining Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck, Reid worked at Parsons Behle and Latimer as well as Lionel Sawyer and Collins. He also served on the Utah State Board of Regents where he said he oversaw 10 public universities and colleges. He said his time serving on the Utah State Board of Education gave him experience in dealing with large public budgets.
“There is no greater scheme,” said Reid. “I have no interest in elected office. I just want to give as much time as I can to help the city.”
Reid and the city council are still in negotiations for the city attorney contract that must be finalized before he can take the post.
And you expect me to participate in this country and government when it's running this way? lol, no. You do it.
I don't see the problem. This is how the New World Order works. I'm sure Josh will have an easier time of getting his dad to slide some federal dollars towards Henderson instead of the other candidate.
Who cares if the right wingers don't like this? They aren't complaining because the man isn't talented. They are complaining because of their blind, partisan loyalty to anything that is ANTI Senator Reid. These righties had their chance and they brought that worthless Sharon Mangle to the table and got their hats handed to em. They can now sit down and wait to be called on if anyone wants their opinion. Welcome City Attorney Reid. As a proud, tax-paying resident of Henderson I am glad you were selected to help us keep Henderson on the road to success.
It is stories like this that make me glad I don't live in Henderson. I'm sure I am not alone when I say my BS detectors are going off.
A lot of us are glad we don't live in Henderson.
40 year old Yale grad who couldn't get a job on his own because of what reason?
Henderson, second largest city in Nevada managed like Detroit.
When everything you wanted in life has been handed to you because of your name, you don't understand a lot of things.
And the $190,000 a year doesn't hurt. A new person on the same job would not get the top tier pay scale unless their father was also named Harry.
The ethical approach would not have given public controversy and criticism an opportunity -- apparently accepting such appointments under the "I ignore those kinds of things" premise seems all too fitting to the Reid character as well as the community of Henderson which embraces it.
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Harry Reid is a sleaze. We have gone over this many times. U get the type of government that u want. Sleaze has done such a wonderful job in Nevada as housing and unemployment he deserves to to be Senate majority leader. It's all Bush's fault anyway.
Sure it is all about your father, the one who called the council members and the mayor and may have "suggested" the requirements be lowered, so you could qualify. Ethical? or just common political arm twisting and "payback"
I agree with Josh Reid that it is about his father. For, his resume and work history shows he has earned the position. It's odd to hear him described as spoiled or privileged. Unlike many children of famous parents who coast through life, Josh Reid has jumped in and gotten his hands dirty - and excelled while doing it. But, what do I know. I'm just a Moderate Republican who tries to look at each issue on its own merit - rather than through a party lens.
<<I don't see the problem. This is how the New World Order works. I'm sure Josh will have an easier time of getting his dad to slide some federal dollars towards Henderson instead of the other candidate>>
LOLOLOL If Chicago and Illinois have a hard time getting federal money, why should it be so easy for Henderson, NV just because of Harry Reid? Think about that. Who is Harry Reid compared to his boss???
And UTE - BEST post. Josh got this position because of his talent, not his father. Not many attorneys in Las Vegas who graduated from Yale!!! Maybe 2 or 3 at the most. Yale grads are no slouches. You have to be VERY VERY GOOD to be accepted into the law school in the first place and keep your grades up the whole time you are there. It isn't UNLV law school!!!
You're right Det_Munch. It isn't UNLV Law School because for those students they wouldn't have had to lower the requirements.
It is not what you know, it is who you know.
Hi, my name is Kobe Bryant. Please put me in a room full of women who will tease me and then when I do something inappropriate, will sue my pants off because I was put in a comprising position in the first place.
Can you say Blagojevich-gate.
Im not sure that I understand the connection here: Josh gets appointed because he graduated from Yale, is Harry Reids son, and a partner in a large firm, yet he doesnt have the political accumen to work with a council? A brain to make decisions? Or the business accumen to manage the city attorneys office? It looks like the Sharan Angle fans are just jealous. Her son got a drug fix while Harrys son got a job. Nice!
Det_Munch: Sure, he went to Yale for his Masters in Environmental Science. So what? He want to the University of Arizona for law school.