Facebook
Fark
Digg
Reddit
Stumble
Henderson Mayor Andy Hafen speaks during a Henderson City Council meeting Tuesday, Nov. 29, 2011, in which the council unanimously appointed Josh M. Reid, U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s son, to be the next city attorney.
By Aida Ahmed 
Published Tuesday, Nov. 29, 2011 | 6:10 p.m.
Updated Wednesday, Nov. 30, 2011 | 12:22 a.m.
Henderson picks city attorney
Viewing video requires the latest version of Adobe's Flash Player
KSNV coverage of the Henderson City Council naming Josh Reid, son of Senator Harry Reid as the city attorney, Nov. 29, 2011.
Josh Reid
In a controversial vote that one resident at the meeting called "disgusting" and "nepotism," the Henderson City Council unanimously appointed Josh M. Reid, U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s son, to be the next city attorney.
Josh Reid, chosen by a 4-0 vote, will be paid a salary of up to $199,000 a year, not including benefits. Council members also said they will add a one-year probation period for the position.
Members of the council cited Josh Reid’s experience in the private sector and a desire to bring in someone from outside of the city attorney’s office as reasons he stood out among the other candidates.
Reid and interim City Attorney Christine Guerci-Nyhus were the finalists for the job. Neither was at the meeting.
A number of people at Tuesday’s meeting said they felt Reid would be selected because of pressure from his father, who contacted some council members after his son applied for the job.
At the outset of the meeting, Mayor Andy Hafen, who had been contacted by the senator, addressed the issue, saying, “Every candidate had someone lobby on their behalf. I’m very well aware of what is out there with Sen. Reid. I did speak with Sen. Reid for about a minute.”
Hafen said that neither political nor media pressure played a part in the decision.
“He brings an outside perspective that I think we need right now,” the mayor said.
“I know there are those of you who will never believe that,” said Hafen, whose daughter worked for the senator.
Sun columnist Jon Ralston reported last month that Harry Reid had made phone calls to Henderson officials after his son applied for the job.
Councilwoman Kathleen Vermillion also confirmed that she received a call from the senator.
Vermillion, who abstained from voting after announcing her resignation from the council, said if she had voted, it would have been for Reid.
About 45 people originally applied for the post. The city’s human resources department narrowed the list down to eight candidates, and six interviewed with the council. Reid and Guerci-Nyhus both interviewed privately with each council member before the final vote.
The position became vacant when former city attorney Elizabeth Quillin resigned in early August after a May DUI arrest.
Quillin, who served as the city’s attorney for two years, received a $99,500 severance package. The package included accrued vacation time and 10 months of insurance coverage, worth about $3,800.
The reaction to the appointment — and to Harry Reid's involvement in the decision — has been mixed.
“He is an attorney with an impressive business-related legal practice and that’s a valuable trait, I think, to have in the city,” said councilwoman Deborah March, who voted with the council through a conference call. She added that his appointment would be a win-win if Guerci-Nyhus stayed with the city.
“I think it’s disgusting,” Robert Sulliman, a Henderson resident who urged the council not to appoint Reid, said after the vote.
“The nepotism in the city of Henderson where I am a taxpayer and have been for five years is despicable," Sulliman said. "It’s just wrong … to have a unanimous vote here tonight after they lowered the standards. It’s not what is best for the citizens, the taxpayers of Henderson.”
Sulliman and another resident said they would not support council members in the future if the vote was for Reid, whose politically powerful father called several council members before the vote Tuesday.
The council changed the original job requirements posted for the position, they said, after it was clear that they were limiting the candidates who could apply.
Mayor Hafen said the original requirements were so strict even a Supreme Court Justice would not qualify and were not altered to allow Reid to be in the running.
“I wasn’t surprised,” said Jon Foster, who attended the meeting. “I don’t agree with it. Did Josh Reid get as far as he did because he’s Harry Reid’s son, or was he really qualified?”
I am shocked, stunned and, well, duh!
"A number of people at Tuesday's meeting said they felt Reid would be selected because of pressure from his father, who contacted some council members after his son applied for the job."
Amazing. Just amazing. Totally objective choice. I've also got a bridge in Brooklyn to sell.
Who voted for that Crazy Mayor?
We have soldiers fighting for this corrupt nonsense as well. What a shame.
No one does anything. Just put your head in the sand and pretend this isn't where we live.
The people of Henderson should not allow this. There should be an immediate petition to recall all the council members and reid as well.
These elected officials do not even care what the people want, they have forgotten who they wrok for.
You're upset because Reid's kid has been hired as the city attorney, but you're not upset that his predecessor was given a $100K severance package following a DUI arrest??? How much would I get in severance from my company were I to be arrested for DUI? ZIP!
George Bush never got anywhere without his father either.
$100,000 to go away after a DUI? Nice gig if you can get it.
So Reid the Younger will bring in over $200,000 after benefits. Nice gig if you can get it.
Where is OccupyHenderson? The citizens of Henderson must approve or they would protest City Hall from dawn to dusk. The Council knows: A few people will b|tch and then every thing will quiet down. Then the council will do something like that again and a few people will b|tch and then things will quiet down. Repeat.
Citizens do nothing while politicians take money from the wealthy to write the rules to favor them at the expense of the working class citizens.
Or maybe they think he was really more qualified than the person who had been doing the job since the Council paid the last person $100,000 to go away.
Obviously, more than one sucker's born every minute in Henderson.
I guess we can say there wasn't exactly a nation-wide search conducted.
No good deed go unpunished or Virtue is its own reward?
This is not uncommon for the Reid family, particularly Harry Reid. Sigh. As a native Nevadan, I am amazed at our state. Despite people seeing his obvious tendency to nepotism, suspicious deals and self-servingness, our state keeps re-electing him. But it is not just him is it? We keep electing in officials at every level who are underqualified, incompetent or just plain corrupt. This is what happens in a state and city with high transiency. Nobody running or voting is here long enough to know each other...our flaws and our strengths so we guess blindly. No wonder.
I have lived in Nevada for over 25 yrs and have come to realize at least one thing, Nevada is corrupt. Always has been, always will be thanks to politicians like Harry Reid.
I don't understand all the hatred. The son of the most juiced-in, powerful person on a national basis has gotten a job representing the city at the legal level for a salary that appears to be competetive and he appears to be qualified for. The potential benefit for the city is millions of dollars in direct government spending and indirect investment based on their family relationship. That's how the real world works. That's why we go to the same restaurant on a regular basis, because the owner or bartender gives us 3 beers and only charges for one.
I can't imagine that job being too hard if the last person to have the job was blackout drunk at 3PM on a work day.
Notice how everyone against this decision fail in every way to point out any substantive reason against this appointment.
The attacks are all personal - Nothing of substance! Nothing!
unlv, I take it you are a product of the las vegas school system. Go back and re-read the article, and the posts, and you will see that there are reasons that people are against this.
JLOKC nails this one nicely ...
"I can't imagine that job being too hard if the last person to have the job was blackout drunk at 3PM on a work day."
Sums up just about every level of govt employment from the guy sweeping the floors all the way up to the Oval Office.
Nice work if you can get it (or your family can get it for you).
I like the comment "he is qualified". He wasn't qualified until they lowered the criteria? How is that qualified? The only reason to do this is if you didn't have candidates under the prior qualifications. That was not the case. A "green" attorney making 200K is quite a feat in a down economy. Oh well, Harry did manage to get someone a job in Nevada. Surprise, Surprise. Between this and online poker is there any ? about his motives and who he serves. Self serving politician is that something new? Greed and take care of Harry, always has been and always will be. The political system is broken. Nevadans have accepted to live in poverty, while Harry and sons live a life of luxury.
And anyone is surprised about this?
This just looks SO wrong.
Come on, everyone should have known that Sen. Harry Reid's son Josh was going to be named Henderson city attorney.
I'm not surprised or shocked.
You poor Henderson suckers, you keep voting for these morons and then you wonder why they do what they do.
So Harry would create more jobs in Nevada if he just had more relatives???
Harry, you could always adopt.
While not a fan of our litigation prone society, had I been one passed over for this obviously juiced position, I would seriously consider a lawsuit. Henderson city gov. is a joke.
So when is "Josh" going to become mayor of Henderson?
Pinky Reid will payoff handsomely to the members that voted for his son. A little inside info here and there. Bidness as usual for the Reid dynasty.
It certainly has the "appearance" of a conflict of interest.
I always thought it was the water here in Nevada that caused people to make bad judgement calls. I admit, I was wrong. It's the Nepotism in this state that makes for the bad judgement calls. I suspect some bad Karma is headed the mayor's way.
Why can't any of the Reids get a real job?