Perkins to lobby for Henderson

He has served as Assembly speaker and the chief of police for Nevada's second-largest city. Richard Perkins plans to draw on both jobs in his latest role: paid lobbyist for the city of Henderson.

City Council members are expected to vote Tuesday on a two-year contract that will pay Perkins $240,000 to lobby on Henderson's behalf.

Perkins, 47, retired as chief in September after 25 years with the Henderson Police Department. He left the Legislature in 2006 after 14 years in office, the final six of them as speaker.

"I got a number of offers to go with established (lobbying) firms, but I decided to strike out on my own," he said of his decision to launch the Perkins Co. about three months ago.

Henderson is his first client.

Terri Barber, intergovernmental relations director for the city, said Perkins has knowledge and relationships at both the state and federal level that make him uniquely qualified to join Henderson's lobbying team.

"It's his experience that attracted us to him," Barber said. "And him being one of our constituents."

Perkins is a lifelong resident of Henderson. He has been registered as a lobbyist since May 2007, when he spent several days advocating on the city's behalf at the end of that year's Legislative session.

He was working as police chief then and was not paid any additional money by the city for his work in Carson City.

Perkins said he is now pursuing other clients and eventually hopes to expand his firm to handle issues at the local, state and federal levels.

"My reputation means a lot to me, so I'm not going to represent just anybody," he said.

It is standard practice for cities and other local governments to employ lobbyists to work on their behalf.

In addition to Perkins, Henderson plans to use private lobbyists Renny Ashleman and Marvin Leavitt, the latter of whom tracks financial issues under a contract also shared by Las Vegas and North Las Vegas.

Barber and fellow city employee Javier Trujillo also will handle some lobbying duties during the upcoming Legislative session.

Barber said the job is simply too big to be handled by a pair of city staffers.

"We tracked over 500 pieces of legislation last session."

She added that when the Legislature is in session, she basically lives in Carson City.

With massive budget cuts expected to dominate next year's session, Barber said, Henderson needs a strong lobbying team to make sure the state's shortfall "isn't all funded on the backs of local government."

When the Legislature is not in session, Barber said, Perkins will be called on to brief the City Council on new state laws, assist in dealing with other local governments, and work on federal legislation and appropriations that may be of interest to Henderson.

"I've been successful securing millions of dollars (in federal grants) for the city in the past," Perkins said.

As for the $10,000-a-month retainer Perkins will be paid, pending City Council approval, Barber said the contract is "fairly standard."

In July, Clark County hired two lobbyists to represent it and its District Court judges. One will be paid $10,000 a month for 15 months, the other $102,000 for one year.

Contact reporter Henry Brean at hbrean@ reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0350.