With wife Dawn looking on, Gov. Jim Gibbons is sworn into office Tuesday by state Supreme Court Chief Justice Bill Maupin. The oath was ceremonial, coinciding with Gibbons' inaugural address. His official swearing-in took place on Monday.
Photos by The Associated Press.
Gov. Jim Gibbons gives his inaugural address Tuesday at the state Capitol. He promised to make decisions with fiscal discipline and to avoid conflicts that might pit one part of the state against another.
CARSON CITY -- Gov. Jim Gibbons said he wants to put aside partisan differences and work with Democrats for the benefit of the state in his inaugural address delivered Tuesday in gloomy 40-degree weather in front of the state Capitol.
"In order to achieve real results for all Nevadans, I know I must reach across the aisle, and understand that the shared patriotism I have with each person here today does not create barriers but builds bridges," Gibbons said in his nine-minute address.
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Nevadans must not allow regional differences to become an overriding concern in coming months as the state goes into a new legislative session, Gibbons added.
"Some would call that politics," he said. "I would call it turning our backs on the lessons of history, for any great society that pits one group against another is bound to fail."
He promised to make decisions with "fiscal discipline" and expressed faith in the American dream, which he described as "a dream of home ownership, safe streets and bountiful opportunity."
Gibbons told the crowd of 700, which included former Govs. Bob List, Richard Bryan and Bob Miller, how humbled he felt standing in front of the Capitol's silver dome as the 29th governor of Nevada.
Gibbons, the former five-term congressman had differences with former GOP Gov. Kenny Guinn, who didn't show up for the inauguration. Gibbons and Guinn had clashed over Guinn's 2003 tax increase, and during the 2006 campaign cycle, Guinn shunned party protocol and refused to endorse Gibbons' candidacy.
"I stand before you and pledge to fiercely defend the Constitution with as much steadfastness as I have trust in the people of this great state."
Supreme Court Chief Justice Bill Maupin administered the oath of office to Gibbons, Lt. Gov. Brian Krolicki, Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto, Secretary of State Ross Miller, state Treasurer Kate Marshall and state Controller Kim Wallin.
The oaths, however, were strictly ceremonial. All had previously been sworn in at 10 a.m. on New Year's Day because of a constitutional requirement they assume office on the first Monday in January after their election victories.
Gibbons actually was sworn in three times, shortly after midnight Monday in his home in Reno, then again with the other constitutional officers at 10 a.m. that day and publicly at Tuesday's inauguration.
During his address, Gibbons twice quoted from speeches by President Reagan and praised President Ford for leading America through a difficult period. A memorial for Ford, who died last week, was earlier Tuesday in Washington.
In quoting Reagan, Gibbons hinted that he might not be an activist governor.
"In Ronald Reagan's Second Inaugural Address as governor of California, he said that 'when those who are governed do too little, those who govern can, and often will, do too much.' Fortunately, for the past 143 years, this state has been blessed with leaders who knew just how much to govern -- and with citizens who set the path for them to be led."
Political leaders and observers agreed the speech set the right tone.
"I thought it was a fine speech," said Assembly Speaker Barbara Buckley, D-Las Vegas. "I think it is always good to have references to working together and reminders we are all Nevadans.'
Buckley added she worked well with Gibbons' wife, Dawn, who served four terms in the Legislature, and she expects to work well with her husband.
Jim Gibbons, however, said Monday, that he will not propose expanding full-day kindergarten programs across the state. Democrats have been ardent supporters of full-day kindergarten.
"Hopefully, he will look beyond the opposition and at the results," Buckley said.
Conservative Republican political consultant Chuck Muth was pleased by the Reagan references.
"It was a very limited government type of speech," he said. "We will see how long it lasts Politics always interferes. He is going to have to make concessions to keep the government running."
Bob Miller, who defeated Gibbons in the 1994 governor's race, said inaugural addresses are not the venue for partisan politics. He said politics generally comes when governors deliver their State of the State messages and outline their programs to the Legislature. Gibbons makes that speech on Jan. 22.
"He suggested he will reach across the aisle," Miller added. "That is a good start. It sets a good overall tone."
Miller expressed pride in his son, Ross, becoming secretary of state and noted that Cortez Masto was his chief of staff.
"We are seeing a new generation of leaders come into Nevada," Miller said. "It is a positive thing when children come forward into public life."
Cortez Masto is the daughter of former Clark County Commissioner Manny Cortez, who died in the summer.
Several Las Vegans attended the ceremony.
"I hope he holds up to what he is talking about,'' said Milo Kostelecky, who made a special trip to Carson City to attend the inauguration.
"I thought it was a very good speech needed to pull the state together," added Josephine Reising, a Las Vegas resident whose niece is Cortez Masto. "We needed that."
Gibbons, however, made a historical error during the address in mentioning how Nevada's first governor, James Nye, "placed his hand upon the Bible" in 1864 when he was sworn into office.
Nye, however, was appointed governor of Nevada Territory in 1861 and served until after Nevada became a state on Oct. 31, 1864. Gov. Henry Blasdel was the first elected governor of Nevada and he replaced Nye when he was sworn into office on Dec. 5, 1864.
A highlight of the inauguration was the singing of the National Anthem and the state song "Home Means Nevada" by 14-year Cethe Autumn Choux of Gardnerville. She has sung several times at appearances by Gibbons but made headlines when she was denied the opportunity to sing when Gibbons made a speech at the Legislature in 2005.
Then Assembly Speaker Richard Perkins, D-Henderson, blocked her from singing, contending Gibbons had not sought approval of the singing in advance and that it violated rules of the Legislature. At the time, Perkins was considered a leading Democratic candidate for governor.
Choux said she was concentrating so hard Tuesday on how she wanted to sing well that she did not hear Gibbons' inaugural address.
