Week One of the Gibbons administration is one for the history books, maybe even one for the late-night comics. The only rougher start for a Nevada governor was Robert List's. The day after he was elected, the story broke that as attorney general he had accepted $3,000 in comps at the Stardust, yet billed the state for his per diem.

OK, his kickoff week was rougher than Jim Gibbons'. But surely Jim and Dawn Gibbons cringed at some of the news stories detailing their first week.

First, there was the unprecedented number of times Gibbons took the oath of office. Three times is a lot of swearing.

He did the midnight swearing-in at his Reno home, making him the first governor to take the oath of office outside of Carson City. He was sworn in again 10 hours later in Carson City with the other constitutional officers, meeting the legal requirement that they take the oath on the first Monday in January, even though New Year's Day was inconvenient. Then they held the more formal swearing-in Tuesday.

Immediately there were doubts about the competency of one of his first appointments, Phil Galeoto to head of the Department of Public Safety. Galeoto was a lieutenant who resigned in 1999 after 24 years with the Reno Police Department in the middle of an official inquiry into why he wasn't putting arrest warrants into the police computers. Will he be able to get the top-level FBI security clearance he'll need for that job? It will be hard for him to perform his duties if he cannot.

Then there was the initial reaction to first lady Dawn Gibbons' announcement that the Governor's Mansion would be alcohol free. Many thought it was just a bad joke until she clarified that it wasn't as sweeping as it sounded and explained that she didn't like alcohol because her father was an alcoholic who committed suicide.

The governor's hand tremors were so noticeable when he was sworn in that this, too, became a news story. The condition runs in his family and is made worse by stress.

Then Gibbons decided his midnight swearing-in made it possible for him to undo the Gaming Control Board appointment of Keith Munro, former chief of staff and legal counsel to Gov. Kenny Guinn.

Of course, Gibbons replaced Munro with Guinn's second choice, Randall Sayre, the chief of the board's investigations division. (So, either way, Guinn is leaving his mark.) Although I chuckled about the power play at the time, Guinn shouldn't have appointed anyone to replace retiring Gaming Control Board member Bobby Siller, whose term ended Dec. 31. Most governors would have let the next governor make the appointment, but most governors aren't caught up in a grudge match.

Armed with a legal opinion, Guinn named Munro to the board, snatching a key appointment from Gibbons. Depending on whether Munro engages in a legal fight to keep the appointment, this creates instability and tension at the board. Who's on first? Munro or Sayre?

The magnitude of the tension and antipathy between the two Republican governors and their first ladies is unseemly. The ugly transition becomes a historical footnote, symbolized by Guinn's decision not to attend the formal swearing-in Tuesday. Attending would have been a class act following a tradition started in 1971 by Gov. Mike O'Callaghan, the first to invite all living governors to attend his inauguration.

When Guinn decided not to attend Gibbons' swearing-in, Dema Guinn said it was because it was "their time, our time is over. It's like being the queen of the ball, you can't have two." The new governor and first lady were probably just as glad that the Guinns weren't there. But for the sake of tradition, I wish they had gone. When our presidents attend a successor's inauguration, it's a sign of our peaceful changing of power. Did Gerald Ford have fun watching Jimmy Carter succeed him? Not a chance. But it's the American way.

Gibbons started the grudge match with his fighting (and false) words that Guinn didn't know much about budgets or education. Guinn retaliated, making appointments and budget decisions that apparently can be undone.

For the good of Nevada, Munro should resign gracefully, and this grudge match needs to be called a draw.

Get over it, boys.

Jane Ann Morrison's column appears Monday, Thursday and Saturday. E-mail her at Jane@reviewjournal.com or call 383-0275.