Run for Congress likely in Rory Reid’s future as county reign ends

A contentious crowd filled the auditorium where entertainer Wayne Newton sought Clark County's permission to run paid tours at his ranch.

Opponents and fans of Newton's plan testified -- and vented -- to commissioners on Nov. 17 while tensions simmered in the audience.

Attorney Chris Kaempfer, representing a well-to-do resident, railed against the proposed tours, saying they would ruin the area's semi-rural setting.

His argument stirred a raucous ovation.

Commission Chairman Rory Reid remarked that Kaempfer no doubt enjoyed the applause because he doesn't get it very often. He then asked that everyone quit cheering so the meeting wouldn't drag on until midnight.

The audience laughed. Newton later got the commission's OK for his tours.

Reid is known for using his wry wit to defuse combative situations. Friends and colleagues say his ability to handle disputes and to work with people served him well as an elected leader.

And some predict Reid, 48, who is leaving office this week, will run for Congress.

Reid won't confirm or deny the speculation, though he makes it clear his passion for public service hasn't waned.

"I always want to be involved in working for the public," Reid said. "It's who I am."

He would have been a near shoo-in for a third term as commissioner in his solidly blue district, but he vacated the seat to run for governor, losing to Republican Brian Sandoval.

Democrat Mary Beth Scow, a former Clark County School Board member, will replace Reid today .

In the week before Christmas, Reid said his immediate goals were rejuvenating his law practice, which he has neglected while serving on the commission, and finishing his holiday shopping.

But some analysts are sure the public hasn't seen the last of Reid, the politician.

FUTURE PUBLIC SERVICE?

Chuck Muth, a conservative political consultant, is among them. He thinks there's "an excellent chance" Reid will vie for the House of Representatives seat that will be added to Southern Nevada because of population growth.

"There's a saying: Once politics gets into your blood, the only way to get it out of your system is with embalming fluid," Muth said.

Running for Congress would be a natural progression for Reid, who chaired the County Commission, the state's most powerful political body, Muth said.

It also would position Reid to pursue a U.S. Senate seat after his father, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, finishes his six-year term, Muth said.

Rory Reid would be a strong candidate for the new congressional post, partly because of his commission credentials and also because the district probably will favor Democrats, Muth said.

Muth predicted that when district lines are redrawn in the legislative session, Sandoval will push to fortify Republican Rep. Joe Heck's district with Republican voters. That will result in the new district being bluer.

The district will be mostly in Clark County, Reid's home turf, where voters know him much better than in a statewide gubernatorial race, said David Damore, political science professorat the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.

And in the next election, he wouldn't be in his father's shadow, the way he was while running against Sandoval, Damore said.

"I hope he remains active in the public (arena)," said Launce Rake, spokesman for the Progressive Leadership Alliance of Nevada, which promotes left-leaning public policies. "Do I agree with him on everything? Absolutely not. Did he listen to me? Yes."

Rake described Reid as trying to build consensus in a divisive time. He didn't always succeed, but no one could, Rake said.

M.J. Harvey, a community activist, said she and Reid weren't always on the same side, but he always took time to learn the policies he dealt with and he was always even-handed with people on both sides of the fence.

"He had a wonderful sense of humor," Harvey said. "A person who is patient and thoughtful and considerate is a good public servant, and that's what we need more of."

UNION RIFTS

Not everyone thinks kindly of Reid.

Although a Democrat, he alienated the county firefighters' and police unions.

As the gubernatorial race heated up, Reid joined Commissioner Steve Sisolak in bashing firefighters for their un­willingness to offer more concessions in the county's budget crisis.

Union leaders assailed Reid in a six-week advertising campaign. They blamed him for disbanding the Fire Department's heavy rescue and hazardous materials teams, even though county managers actually made the decision.

Reid shrugged off the attacks.

"We should've been more aggressive with the firefighters than we had been," he said.

He will leave office with the county and firefighters union wrangling in arbitration.

Reid's relationship with the police union soured over time.

He backed overhauling coroner's inquests into police killings. The changes, set to be finalized today , include letting the families of fallen suspects have appointed counsel -- known as an ombudsman -- at hearings.

Under the new rules, officers could have a union lawyer represent them at inquests.

Police union leaders vehemently oppose ombudsmen, arguing they will impugn officers involved in killings. They plan to advise officers not to testify at inquests or give statements to homicide detectives after officer-involved shootings or in-custody deaths.

Reid's rift with police dates back to 2005, when he cast the deciding vote against a four-year labor contract with Las Vegas police, said Chris Collins, executive director of the local Police Protective Association.

After the contract was rejected, the county and police union went into arbitration, Collins said. "He was definitely not our friend."

At the time, Reid and the two other county officials who voted "no" argued that the $52 million contract would give officers an annual 10 percent raise at the expense of other county services.

Collins said Reid later apologized for getting involved, and that he accepted Reid's apology. But many union members never forgave Reid, and the union, in turn, endorsed Sandoval for governor, Collins said.

That infuriated Reid, he said.

"He called me on my cell phone at home. He was literally screaming," Collins said. "I think his last-ditch effort to get even with the cops was the changes in the inquest system."

Reid said he was irked at not getting endorsed, but he denied revamping the inquests for revenge.

"I voted for it in the interest of the public. And the system needed to be changed," Reid said. "To suggest that this has anything to do with politics is wrong."

A DIFFERENT COUNTY

And what of Reid's legacy?

He took office in 2003 when three commissioners were embroiled in federal corruption charges and the county was growing at an unprecedented pace.

He will leave a commission that is scandal-free but struggling with severe financial problems brought on by a stubborn economic slump.

Reid recalled how a media frenzy consumed the commission when Erin Kenny, Dario Herrera and Mary Kincaid-Chauncey were indicted and later convicted on bribery charges.

All three were sentenced to federal prison and eventually served their time.

"People were watching the news every night and reading the papers, and all they were hearing was the County Commission was corrupt," Reid said. "That's a difficult situation to inherit."

The scandal shook the public's confidence in the commission, and angered residents who felt the corruption had marred their neighborhoods, Reid said. A stark example is Kenny admitting she took $200,000 from a developer to support putting a CVS pharmacy in a residential area, even though neighbors fiercely opposed it.

Reid said he pressed for more transparency to regain people's trust. The county began posting notices of public hearings further in advance and requiring developers to meet with neighbors when their proposed land uses didn't conform to zoning, he said.

He also spearheaded citizens' task forces to get more residents involved in county government.

"The commission had a bad reputation," Reid said. "There was only one way to fix it, and that was to invite them (residents) into the house."

Reid points to some other accomplishments under his watch.

He said he persuaded the county's biggest public employee union to open its labor contract two years ago and reduce cost-of-living raises to 1 percent from 3 percent, saving about $10 million.

The county trimmed labor costs in other ways, he said. It froze or eliminated more than 1,000 jobs, laid off or demoted a few hundred workers and offered voluntary furloughs.

"We began to rein in personnel costs because they were unsustainable," Reid said. "I think we really changed the way the county does business. It's more efficient."

Also, the first steps were taken to turn the financially strapped University Medical Center into a teaching and research hospital, Reid said. That includes creating an advisory board of experts to oversee many day-to-day operations, rather than having commissioners keep track of everything.

The next task will be to meld the hospital, medical school and higher education system, Reid said. This is the county's best chance at transforming a hospital that lost more than $80 million last year into a facility that pays for itself, he said.

The biggest challenge in 2011 will be weathering an expected money grab by the 2011 Legislature, Reid said. This one is bound to be worse than the one in 2009, in which the state drained $180 million from the county's coffers over two years, he said.

County officials should be less diplomatic with state leaders this time around, he said. "There's a tendency to put it all on the local governments, and that's not fair."

Reid said he tackled all he could in eight years.

"I hope my colleagues can continue to make life better for county residents. There's a lot more work to do."

Contact reporter Scott Wyland at
swyland@reviewjournal.com or 702-455-4519.