Despite Gibbons’ pick, agency to hold own director search

CARSON CITY -- The Nevada Commission on Tourism voted Monday to proceed with its own search for a new agency director, dismissing Gov. Jim Gibbons' appointment last week of Kirk Montero, who one commissioner said would not have made his top 10 list of candidates.

The tourism commission was advised by the state attorney general's office that Nevada law requires the governor to appoint one of the three finalists recommended by the commission.

The commission is vetting candidates and had not forwarded its recommendations when the governor named Montero to the $117,000-a-year job on Christmas Eve.

"The statute is very clear," Deputy Attorney General Dennis Belcourt said.

To include Montero would require reopening the entire selection process, something the tourism commission said it was unwilling to do, said Lt. Gov. Brian Krolicki, who leads the commission.

"We have some very highly qualified candidates," said Commissioner Ryan Sheltra, who serves on a committee searching for a new director.

"I can tell you Mr. Montero would not have made it into my top 10," he said.

The search committee should have about a half dozen finalists for the commission to consider in January, said Lorraine Hunt-Bono, former lieutenant governor and commission member.

The governor's office did not return a phone message seeking comment.

The post had been vacant since Tim Maland resigned in September. Montero, 60, is station manager for US Airways at Reno-Tahoe International Airport. Before that, he was reservations manager for Reno Air.

In making the appointment, the Republican governor said that filling the job quickly was important because tourism is key to the state's economic health.

The governor's office did not send a representative to the tourism commission meeting.

Gibbons has proposed merging the tourism agency with the Nevada Commission on Economic Development to cut costs. That would require approval by the 2009 Legislature.

Krolicki sent a Dec. 11 letter to the governor and questioned whether to proceed with the director search and Gibbons' seemingly mixed messages about the agency's fate.

Gibbons, in a Dec. 12 reply, said any consolidation of the agencies was uncertain.

"Given the difficult current revenue situation in Nevada ... I feel it is imperative that NCOT promptly submit qualified applicants for the executive director position that are acceptable to me," Gibbons wrote. "I expect the recommendations to include Mr. Kirk Montero."

The letter concluded, "Thank you for your immediate attention to this matter and I look forward to appointing an acceptable applicant without further undue delay."

Commissioners voiced opposition to merging the tourism and economic development agencies and said that their missions are different and that combining them would unravel years of progress.