Las Vegas Review-Journal - Steve Sebelius Slash Politics

What timing! After that brutal hearing today before the Clark County Commission, the Henderson City Council is set to approve a tw0-year, $228,000 lobbying contract for a former lawmaker. Only tonight’s vote to hire ex-Speaker Richard Perkins will likely go much more smoothly than today’s debacle that saw ex-Assemblyman Morse Arberry lose out on a contract to lobby for the Clark County court system.

Why? For one thing, Perkins has been out of office for more than two  years, which satisfies the requirements for a so-called cooling off period. (Perkins served his last session of the Legislature as speaker in 2005; he returned to Carson City as a registered lobbyist two years later in 2007.) By contrast, Arberry resigned from his legislative seat only last week, as word of his potential agreement with the courts hit the press.

For another, Perkins has undoubtedly counted his votes; otherwise, the matter would likely not been on the agenda for approval. (You can see that agenda item here: Henderson-Perkins-contract.) Arberry and leaders of Clark County’s District Court and Justice Court went forward despite published reports that identified at least three “no” votes on the commission, when four of the seven commissioners would have been required to approve the contract. That’s — dare I say it — bad lobbying.

Yet another reason Perkins’s contract is less controversial than Arberry’s is the fact that Perkins has never been the subject of critical stories for failure to pay his property taxes or other fees. Arberry, despite leading the Assembly Ways & Means Committee, has repeatedly been found to be delinquent on his taxes. In fact, he only paid about $3,000 in overdue levies on Friday, knowing that he faced a hearing before the commission today.

Although former state Sen. Joe Neal today suggested that Arberry lost out on his lobbying deal because of his race, there’s no evidence to support such an ugly accusation. Those who spoke out against Arberry getting the contract had perfectly valid reasons for their opposition, from Steve Sisolak (who questioned the propriety of the expenditure, and the fact that the county was being asked to pay a lobbyist for the courts who would likely be arguing against the county’s own interests on at least one issue) to Rory Reid (who noted the agreement was struck with Arberry while he was still serving as a legislator, and who argued a two-year cooling off period was appropriate to avoid the appearance of impropriety).

While I have the greatest respect for Neal, a Nevada civil rights pioneer whose anger at not being allowed to speak before commissioners voted down the proposed lobbying deal was understandable and palpable, the allegation was unfounded and even reckless. Arberry’s contract drew media scrutiny and was ultimately rejected for very valid reasons, none of which had to do with his race.

Editor’s note: The Arberry saga — and lots of other breaking news — is yours for the asking by following me on Twitter.

Tags: Joe Neal, Morse Arberry, Richard Perkins, Rory Reid, Steve Sisolak

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