State Sen. Randolph Townsend, R-Reno, was one of four lawmakers who discussed ethics at a town hall meeting Saturday at UNLV. Photo by Jane Kalinowsky.

Four Nevada lawmakers defended the role of lobbyists in the political process during a town hall meeting Saturday morning at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.

Several of the roughly 35 members of the audience peppered state Sens. Randolph Townsend, R-Reno, and Terry Care, D-Las Vegas, and Assemblymen Bob Seale, R-Henderson, and Marcus Conklin, D-Las Vegas, with questions about the influence of lobbyists in the Legislature.

But the legislators said lobbyists fill an important role in the legislative process.

"We have a job to gather as much information before we come to a decision (on bills), and they (lobbyists) are part of that equation," Conklin said.

Townsend added, "We work on issues so complex we don't even understand it." Lobbyists, he said, are critical in helping politicians understand those issues.

Not all lobbyists are bad, Townsend added. "Teachers have lobbyists," he said.

Seale, who said he wouldn't run for office again because he couldn't balance his life in the Legislature and his profession as an accountant, said having full-time staff when the legislature was out of session would have lightened his workload.

"I don't know how other people (lawmakers) do it," Seale said.

Despite scandals and perceptions that politicians lead a life of luxury, Townsend said state senators don't fly in private jets or go on "fact-finding" missions overseas like Washington politicians.

"We aren't that exciting," Townsend said. "That's just not us."

The gathering was sponsored by the nonpartisan Nevada Center for Public Ethics, an organization that aims to educate the public and government officials about ethical integrity in government. Craig Walton, a former UNLV ethics professor and president of the Center for Public Ethics, said he asked the four legislators to attend because they were either not running for re-election or are running unopposed.

The lawmakers agreed that better informed and more engaged voters would go a long way to keeping corrupt politicians out of office.

"Ultimately, it's the duty of the citizens to vote," Care said. "This country is only as strong as the voters."

Conklin said afterward that "it's disappointing that there are so few engaged in the debate."

Audience members said they shared the lawmakers' frustration over low voter turnout, but added that citizens believe politicians aren't interested in listening to their problems. The result, they said, is a cycle of cynicism in which public apathy feeds apathy on the part of politicians.

Townsend said, "You think you're cynical, how do you think we feel?"

Walton said Saturday's meeting, the first town hall meeting hosted by the organization, was a success.

"Obviously it was lively," he said. "You have to have a setting with a mediator to keep the anger and frustration down."

The legislators said they also believed the meeting was constructive. "I'm always interested in what the public has to say, and there are some angry people out there," Care said afterward.