Gibbons’ aides defend raises

CARSON CITY -- In the face of mounting criticism, spokesmen for Gov. Jim Gibbons continued to defend salary increases in his office, saying that staff pay overall has been slashed by 11 percent.

Some in the governor's office have seen significant pay boosts but only because they were promoted to new jobs with added duties, Chief of Staff Josh Hicks said Tuesday.

Gibbons has come under fire since it was revealed Monday in a Senate Finance Committee that some of his staff members were receiving salaries nearly twice what lawmakers had approved. The increases were possible because Gibbons now has 16.5 staff members, fewer than the legislatively approved 27. Overall, office pay is 11 percent less than what the Legislature approved in 2007.

A 1999 state law allows governors to set pay for their immediate staff at any figure if the total salary budget for the office does not exceed what was set by the Legislature.

Democratic legislators, however, are not backing down from their criticism of Gibbons, especially in light of how he has asked state workers and teachers to take 6 percent pay cuts starting July 1.

"Just because you can doesn't mean you should, particularly when he is asking all other state employees, including teachers, to take cuts," said Senate Majority Leader Steven Horsford, D-Las Vegas.

"It looks bad," added Assembly Ways and Means Chairman Morse Arberry, D-Las Vegas. "Everyone needs to take a hit. If it wasn't such a bad year economically, we wouldn't mind. But how do we tell teachers that they must take a salary cuts when he has given his employees raises?"

Hicks contended that the pay increases approved by Gibbons are no different than increases any state employee would receive, even in a recession, after a promotion.

On Monday, Senate Finance Chairwoman Bernice Mathews, D-Reno, said that Gibbons' communications director, Daniel Burns, had received a 28 percent salary increase to earn $109,996, while Jodi Stephens, Gibbons' legislative director, earns $103,382, about double what she made two years ago.

Mathews added that 14 of the 16.5 staff members have received pay increases in the past year. State employees and teachers received 4 percent cost-of-living increases on July 1 and step increases in many instances.

Hicks said total salary costs in Gibbons' office this fiscal year will be $1.346 million, 11 percent less than the approved $1.519 million.

Stephens had been an executive assistant, Hicks said, but her duties increased immensely when she was named Gibbons' legislative director, his chief lobbyist in the Legislature.

Gibbons by law earns $141,000 a year. He pays Hicks $133,340 and legal counsel Chris Nielsen $120,000. Deputy chief of staff Mendy Elliott earns $127,723.

At one point, Gibbons had both a press secretary and a communications director. The duties of both jobs now fall to Burns, a former Las Vegas television newsman.

Gibbons intends to keep his promise to decrease his own salary and those of his staff on July 1, the start of the next fiscal year, Hicks said.

Whatever salary reduction is approved by the Legislature will be implemented in the governor's office, he said.

Horsford said all state employees are working harder because of a hiring freeze ordered by the governor, and their pay was not increased.

The criticism of Gibbons comes on the heels of a hearing last week, when Bob Loux, the former Agency for Nuclear Projects administrator, appeared before the Ethics Commission to respond to a complaint that he had raised salaries of his staff by 16 percent last year without the authorization of the governor.

He admitted during an Legislature Interim Finance Committee hearing in September that he converted the salary of a woman on his staff who retired to salary increases for himself and his staff.

"Loux didn't have authority to approve salary increases," Burns said. "That never happened here" in the governor's office.

During the testimony last week, former Gov. Kenny Guinn, four of his former chiefs of staff and three high-ranking officers in Gibbons' staff all testified Loux did not have their permission to increase his and his staff salaries.