State high court rules 21 ineligible

CARSON CITY -- Twenty-one elected officials, including long-serving Clark County Commissioner Bruce Woodbury, were tossed off the ballot Friday when the Nevada Supreme Court ruled they were ineligible to run for re-election because of term limits.

In a unanimous decision, the Nevada Supreme Court said the clock for term limits started ticking in 1996 for local officials, making those with 12 years of service or more ineligible to run for another term this year.

In another unanimous ruling, the court said 13 veteran lawmakers, including Assembly Speaker Barbara Buckley, D-Las Vegas, and Senate Majority Leader Bill Raggio, R-Reno, can run again because their term limits clock started running at a later time.

The court also ruled that a challenge to term limits themselves, pursued by attorneys for the Legislative Counsel Bureau, was barred because the challenge came more than a decade after voters approved the limits. But even so, the court found that the term limits ballot question approved by voters was valid.

"Although the amendment was presented to the voters in a slightly varied format during two successive general elections, the amendment's language was identical in both, clear in its content, and twice approved by the voters," the court said.

The rulings came one day before early voting begins for the primary.

Despite the rulings, the names of the local officials will appear on the Aug. 12 primary election ballot because the voter information has already been printed. Signs will be posted at the polls informing voters of the candidates who can't run in the general election.

Woodbury didn't entirely agree with the outcome, but said he would accept it.

"I'm fine with the decision," said Woodbury, a commisioner since 1981. "I think I would have preferred a little more of a graceful exit."

Woodbury estimated that he spent at least $200,000 to campaign that he will never get back.

He said he must research the laws to determine what to do with his leftover funds. He probably will keep his campaign signs posted through the primary at sites he has already leased.

He said he won't formally endorse Republican candidate Brian Scroggins, who has stated publicly that Woodbury, if disqualified, would give him the political nod. However, he would be supportive of Scroggins' bid for commissioner.

"I have a good, long friendship with Brian, so I think he'd do a good job," Woodbury said.

However, Woodbury said he also planned to meet with the other Republican candidate, Duane Christy, at Christy's request.

Woodbury said he might consider pursuing a different political office later.

Other local officials affected by the ruling include university system Regents Thalia Dondero and Howard Rosenberg and Clark County School Board members Ruth Johnson and Mary Beth Scow.

Dondero, 87, likened the decision to "getting a kick in the stomach."

"I feel like the best term limits you can have is the voters," said Dondero, a Democrat whose term on the nonpartisan board is up this year. "They vote you in or out."

Dondero, a regent since 1996, previously served 20 years on the County Commission. She said she is uncertain whether she'll run for another elected office some day. She will not, she said, challenge the court's decision.

"I don't have that kind of money to spend," she said. "So that's it."

Both Johnson and Scow said they probably would not have run for the school board if Secretary of State Ross Miller had issued the term-limit challenge sooner, or at least warned them that they could be deemed ineligible.

"I'm very disappointed because I've worked hard on the board to provide solid leadership," Johnson said. "I'm also very frustrated it happened the way it has. I felt I was running in good faith."

The voters will be deprived of a full range of choices, she said. "So the constituents are the losers."

Johnson said she plans to endorse candidate Gaya Guymon, who has served on numerous committees in the school district. Scow said she felt relieved that it was over and she can go back to having a "regular life" away from public office. However, she thinks the election was compromised by having candidates bumped off the ballot this late.

"I feel the voters were disenfranchised," Scow said.

Buckley said she believed all along the court would not toss her off the ballot because the state constitution is clear about when lawmaker terms begin.

Miller did not seek to bar her or other lawmakers from running again, she said, because the legislative term starts immediately after the general election.

"I think all of the 13 legislators who would have been removed from the ballot are pleased the court affirmed Nevada's constitution," Buckley said.

Raggio said he was satisfied that the issue had finally been resolved, even though a number of "dedicated public servants" will be lost as a result. The rulings, which uphold the constitutionality of term limits, means there will be a number of lawmakers leaving office beginning in 2010, he said. That total will be 18 lawmakers, nearly a third of the Legislature.

Attorney Dominic Gentile, who crafted a legal challenge to Woodbury's candidacy on behalf of Regent Steve Sisolak, said he was thrilled with the court's ruling.

"When I saw the Supreme Court's opinion, it looked like my brief," Gentile said. "We got everything we asked for."

Kevin Child, a Republican candidate for Buckley's Assembly seat who sought to remove her from the ballot under the term limits law, said he was disappointed by the court's decision.

"They ruled half and half; it was really stupid," he said. "Twelve years is 12 years and it's a shame they did not respect the voters. I hope the voters remember this when they elect their Supreme Court justices."

The court, in its decision regarding the local officials, said the state constitution "plainly states that if a person has served, or at the conclusion of his or her current term will have served, 12 years or more in an office or a position on a local governing body, that person may not be re-elected to that office or position."

The opinion is contrary to legal advice received by Woodbury and others that they could serve another term.

In the opinion on the lawmaker challenge, the court agreed that the start date for lawmaker terms was different than for local officials, and that the clock did not start ticking until 1998.

The court agreed that the members of the Legislature start their new terms of office the day after the general election, while the term limits initiative petition approved by voters in 1996 did not take effect until the election results were canvassed several days later. As a result, the 1996 election of lawmakers did not count toward the 12-year limit.

The court said the framers of the state constitution specifically defined the start of terms for lawmakers, "in order to 'prevent any abuse of power by the executive of the state' in the event that a special session is called in the interim between the election and the canvass of votes.

"While legislators may not be called to actively serve in their positions before a canvass of the votes, they must be prepared to do so, as there is no set date on which they may be called into session," the court said.

Local officials, however, did not take office until the January following the election when term limits were approved, and so had their 1996 elections count toward the 12-year limit, the court said.

Both opinions were written by Chief Justice Mark Gibbons, who is running for re-election to the court this year.

U.S. Term Limits President Philip Blumel praised the rulings.

"This is certainly a great day for the citizens of Nevada," he said. "U.S. Term Limits made the decision early that this was an effort by the politicians to use the courts to undo the will of the people. We couldn't be happier of our decision to monitor this case and file amicus briefs protecting the voters from deceitful politicians."

Miller, who initiated the challenge to local candidates in May, expressed appreciation to the court for issuing a "fair and well-reasoned" decision so quickly. Notices will be posted for early voting, and at precincts on primary election day Aug. 12, explaining to voters what will happen in the affected races, he said.

"This decision in no way discredits the distinguished careers these affected candidates have had," he said.

Different scenarios are in play for different candidates since the primary ballots have already been printed.

In Woodbury's case, he is one of three Republicans in the primary. If he wins, the Clark County Republican Central Committee will determine the party candidate to appear on the November general election ballot.

The signs displayed at the polls will let voters know that a vote for Woodbury is not a hollow gesture, but could have a real impact on the election, said Bernie Zadrowski, chairman of the county Republican Party.

Woodbury winning would allow the party to consider viable candidates who might have jumped in the race if the term-limits issue had been brought to light sooner, Zadrowski said. "What I want is for the entire process to be fair."

In Dondero's case, where she is the only candidate, Gov. Jim Gibbons will have to appoint someone to serve in the seat until the 2010 election. Dondero will be able to finish her current term, which will end on the first Monday in January.

Miller said a legal analysis suggests that Dondero could be appointed to the two-year term, since term limits applies to those elected to office, not to those who are appointed.

In the two Clark County School Board races, the top two candidates, excluding Scow and Johnson, will advance to the general election.

Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto, who pursued the challenge to the local candidates on behalf of Miller, said: "The will of the voters has been affirmed by this decision, which upholds the constitutionality of term limits. We are grateful to the court for its expeditious review of this important case."

Review-Journal writer Richard Lake contributed to this report. Contact Capital Bureau reporter Sean Whaley at swhaley@reviewjournal.com or 775-687-3900. Contact reporter Scott Wyland at swyland@reviewjournal.com or 702-455-4519.