Gibbons is ‘hurting,’ but still a first lady

For now, Dawn Gibbons is still first lady of Nevada.

So there she was bright and early Saturday morning, welcoming a group of red-shirted Habitat for Humanity volunteers to a job site in the inner city and picking up a hammer herself to drive some nails into a house frame.

"I just think this is such a good way to celebrate Mother's Day," she said, her straw-blond hair blowing around her face in the wind. "Families have so many problems. The economy's bad. This is a way women can come together -- and men -- to give children a safe place to live in a good neighborhood and live the American dream. You know, government isn't always the answer for people. The private sector and Christian organizations like this have to be there."

The first family has its own problems lately, namely a standoff between Dawn Gibbons and her husband, Gov. Jim Gibbons.

The governor has filed for divorce and is seeking a court order to evict the first lady from the Governor's Mansion in Carson City. He's been spending nights at the couple's house in Reno instead, and nasty rumors swirl around the proceedings that currently are in the early stages and mostly secret.

Dawn Gibbons, 54, who was the owner of a Reno wedding chapel when she met her husband, has been cast mostly as the victim in this unfolding saga.

She says it's all her husband's doing and he hasn't given her an explanation. Her lawyer says she deserves to keep her position, even though he's the one Nevadans elected to live in the state mansion, because of all her work getting him elected over the years.

The governor has declined to comment on the situation, and his lawyers have sought to keep the proceedings out of public view.

Meanwhile, Dawn Gibbons, a former politician herself, simply keeps acting as first lady.

Saturday morning in Las Vegas, in addition to the homebuilding event, part of the international shelter group's National Women Build Week, she attended a ribbon-cutting for a Hispanic business expo.

The first lady said she's not tempted to hide from the public in her current circumstances. "I get more joy being around good people like this, doing positive things," she said.

Last year, she helped start a Web site and program, nevadavolunteers.org, to promote volunteerism in the state that is ranked last in the nation by that metric.

Dawn Gibbons also talked about the Crystal Darkness methamphetamine awareness program that she helped start statewide last year, which has since become a national phenomenon.

"The great thing about being in this role is I've met a lot of good people, and also a lot of people who need help," she said. "I get a lot of satisfaction out of it."

Although she knows the focus is on her and her troubled marriage, Gibbons begs a reporter to write about the homebuilding event, which she says deserves attention.

The program manager, Roger Cooper, said Gibbons is a stalwart friend of the organization. She was there for the same event a year ago, and used to sit on the board of the group's Reno chapter.

The six houses being framed on the lot in North Las Vegas, near the corner of Carey Avenue and Martin Luther King Boulevard, will go to deserving working families -- families selected because they are stable and responsible, not poor, but not quite making it, unable to afford a mortgage.

"The majority are single mothers, but we like to see families together," Cooper said. "Moms and dads and children."

Asked what is next for the first couple, Dawn Gibbons became emotional and said, "That kind of depends on my husband. It's in his hands."

For her part, she said, she'll continue to do good works. (A schedule provided by her office shows a full slate of charitable activities in the weeks ahead.)

"People know I'm hurting, but a lot of other people are hurting worse," she said. "We help each other. People, for the most part, are good. They feel compassion."

Contact reporter Molly Ball at mball @reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2919.