Aide says Tom Collins was tired of red tape, but likely will run for North Las Vegas mayor

Clark County Commissioner Tom Collins hasn't made a public appearance since his surprise resignation Monday afternoon, but his longtime aide says the self-styled "Cowboy Commissioner" simply has had enough of county red tape and decided to call it a day.

The three-term Democrat left his post Monday because he was "fed up with the bureaucracy," but didn't say what, if anything, pushed him over the edge, Commission District B liaison Janice Ridondo said Tuesday.

Was it Moapa-based zoo Roos-N-More, which could soon close despite Collins' protests? Was it the "vindictive SOB's @ Animal Control," Collins referred to in a July email to county manager Don Burnette? Was it Burnette's move to block Collins from emailing county staffers in light of those messages?

It may have been all of those things but, Ridondo said, "not in order."

Collins, who announced his departure via Twitter, wrote in a resignation letter to Gov. Brian Sandoval that he was leaving office immediately "due to family matters that I will be dedicated to for the next several months that will certainly impact my service to my constituents in District B and throughout Clark County."

He did not elaborate and did not return phone calls, emails or text messages seeking comment. He also did not answer knocks on the front door of one of his homes Tuesday afternoon.

Fellow commissioners described the move as a surprise. Assemblyman Jim Wheeler, R-Minden, tweeted he had lunch with Collins on Monday and he "never said a word" about the impending announcement.

But Collins may not stay silent for long.

"I do believe he will run for mayor of North Las Vegas, but that's quite a ways away," Ridondo wrote in a text message. Collins would face embattled incumbent Mayor John Lee, who has come in for criticism after a former North Las Vegas police chief told the Review-Journal the mayor received special treatment in a brief investigation into suspected child pornography on his iPad.

She didn't volunteer further comment on Collins' resignation letter or his family situation.

Ridondo did say she is pulling for the governor to name Assembly Minority Speaker Marilyn Kirkpatrick as Collins' replacement, a move she hopes would come by the end of the week. A Sandoval spokeswoman said Tuesday the governor plans an appointment before the commission's Sept. 1 meeting.

Kirkpatrick, D-North Las Vegas, has been a long-rumored contender for Collins' post, which the term-limited commissioner was due to hand over in January 2017. She did not return requests for comment Monday and Tuesday.

County officials had no comment on the resignation Monday, but a spokesman confirmed Collins' personal email address was blocked last month by Burnette after the commissioner sent emails the county manager described as "completely inappropriate and unacceptable."

Partially redacted emails obtained by the Review-Journal show the commissioner advising one recipient, whose name was blacked out, to "STAY THE F#@K AWAY FROM ME. YOU ARE A SIMPLE PLAGUE!"

Often blunt to the point of abrasive, Collins — who once described himself as a "binge drinker" to the Los Angeles Times — often was at odds with fellow commissioners and seldom went long before attracting attention for impolitic public comments to politicians, journalists, county workers and anyone else in earshot. He landed in hot water last year over expletive-laden remarks directed at Utah-based Cliven Bundy supporters and his own commission colleagues.

But Collins easily won reelection in 2012, despite being cited for illegally discharging a firearm in the yard at his home — shooting a stubborn tree he was trying to uproot — and for a separate incident involving a bull that escaped from his property, sending a woman to the hospital and netting him two misdemeanor charges.

Las Vegas City Councilman Steve Ross, no stranger to political scrapes with Collins, announced his bid for the former commissioner's seat months ago.

That doesn't mean he would turn down a chance to take the post by appointment.

"I wouldn't say no," Ross said. "A caretaker (appointee) would just keep the seat warm, but I'm working very closely with the community here."

Sandoval's appointee, who must by law be a Democrat, would face election in 2016.

Whoever replaces Collins might be a better bet to support a revived version of Metro's long sought More Cops sales tax.

Collins, who helped kill a toned-down 0.075-percentage point increase in late 2013, has repeatedly voted to support only the full 0.15-percentage point hike allowed under state law.

Commission Chairman Steve Sisolak, who has opposed the larger increase, said he doubts Collins' departure has much to do with taxes or anything else the public might be aware of.

"It looked to me like that resignation letter was something he carried around in his pocket for years, like it was just ready to fill in with a date," Sisolak said. "Everybody uses that (family) excuse. I think it was something we don't know about."

Contact James DeHaven at jdehaven@reviewjournal.com or 702-477-3839. Find him on Twitter: @JamesDeHaven.