Typically, when an executive with a financial company asks how to invest in Nevada, the state throws its arms open. But an inquiry by a Mellon Financial vice president to the state Board of Finance earlier this year so rankled Treasurer Brian Krolicki, a Republican candidate for lieutenant governor, it sent him on a personal jihad.

Robert Kasner's questions about typical Nevada cronyism struck a little too close to home for Krolicki. Instead of a measured response to Kasner explaining the law, Krolicki erupted in sniping rhetoric not once or twice, but four times.

No wonder Mellon withdrew an application seeking a chance to do investment work similar to that of Krolicki's friend and mentor, former treasurer turned Assemblyman Bob Seale.

On March 23, Kasner spoke to the Nevada Board of Finance about how Mellon might serve as an investment adviser in Nevada's rural communities, purchasing securities for the smaller towns in the state. Mellon manages about $700 billion worth of assets. In 2003, Krolicki's office awarded such a contract to Seale's company, GIF Services.

After the March meeting, Kasner wrote to Gov. Kenny Guinn, who chairs the Board of Finance, and raised some questions about the NVEST program. He asked whether anyone else could compete with the arrangement Krolicki's office had with Seale's company. Kasner asked what authority Seale had to market his efforts as those of the state treasurer. He said he thought the arrangement established a monopoly for Seale. Kasner also suggested that his reading of state law left him fuzzy on whether other companies could compete. He sought an attorney general's opinion. Sounds reasonable.

But not to Krolicki. On May 3, he sent a five-page letter to Kasner with 12 points defending the NVEST program, refuting some claims Kasner never even made.

"The allegations raised in your letter to the governor were patently unfounded," he began the letter.

On the same day, Krolicki sent a two-page letter to Mellon's home office in Pittsburgh, addressed to the company's chief counsel and to the corporate ethics officer. He copied Mellon's chairman and chief executive officer.

In that letter, he accused Kasner of making false charges about the Board of Finance. He also suggested Kasner was somehow hiding his work as a Mellon officer because he had sent his letter to Guinn on plain letterhead.

How dare he question a sweetheart deal?

Mellon responded immediately, saying Kasner simply raised concerns about the NVEST program and felt that an attorney general's opinion should be sought. The general counsel, Michael Bleier, stated Kasner was free to express his own opinion on the matter. Additionally, he said, Mellon was withdrawing its application to serve as an investment adviser.

Krolicki immediately called Bleier to complain some more. On May 11, Bleier wrote back referencing that conversation.

"I have spoken to Mr. Kasner about his letter and he has assured me that he did not mean to suggest any impropriety," Bleier wrote to Krolicki.

Krolicki was not willing to let the issue go without getting Kasner in trouble. So he wrote again on May 16, rambling about how Kasner could not act as a private citizen given the fact that he had communicated as a Mellon officer to the Board of Finance.

"Please let me know what specific steps Mellon intends to take to insure that any factual misrepresentations made by Robert M. Kasner, first vice president -- managing direct of Mellon, relating to the NVEST program, will be corrected immediately and to insure that such factual misrepresentations will not be communicated publicly in the future," Krolicki wrote.

I tried to ask Krolicki this week why he reacted the way he did. Your state treasurer tried repeatedly to hide by saying, "Off the record." Krolicki also pointed out that other media had seen the correspondence and that "no one's believed it to be a story."

When I tried to pin him down, he suggested I didn't have all the facts, that neither he nor Seale had done anything wrong and that Kasner was somehow tied to his opponent in the Republican primary for lieutenant governor.

Seale's company won the bid. Nothing illegal there. But it still stinks of good-ol'-boy, Grand-Old-Party cronyism. Seale was chairman of the state GOP and helped with Krolicki's two successful statewide campaigns for treasurer.

Krolicki said he responded to Kasner with such vigor because "Mr. Kasner was violating a series of rules, as I understand them, with the Securities and Exchange Commission. He was participating in a word-of-mouth campaign that was impugning my office, the Board of Finance, Assemblyman Seale and the governor. It was important to get a cease and desist on Mr. Kasner, because his comments were extraordinarily untrue.

"I am very sensitive when people state that I'm doing things uncorrectly or unlawfully," Krolicki whined.

Grow some more skin, Mr. Treasurer, because what you have now isn't thick enough to justify putting you a heartbeat away from the governor's mansion.

Erin Neff's column runs Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday. She can be reached at (702) 387-2906, or by e-mail at eneff@reviewjournal.com.