State Homeland director resigns

The director of Nevada's Office of Homeland Security announced his resignation Wednesday, saying he wants to devote more time to his family and pursue new endeavors.

Rick Eaton's resignation will take effect Nov. 30. The announcement that he will leave the position that he has held for more than two years came about a month after Gov. Jim Gibbons placed the Office of Homeland Security under the direction of the Department of Public Safety.

The reorganization sparked some controversy Wednesday during a meeting of the Nevada Commission on Homeland Security, but commission chairman Dale Carrison said the changes will help some homeland security programs move ahead.

"I support the changes with the caveat that it's all we can do right now," Carrison said.

Carrison said key areas of the critical infrastructure, citizen corps and communication programs have not been progressing adequately and risk losing federal funding.

"On my watch I don't want Nevada giving any of the money back to the federal government because of bureaucratic tangles or the failure of someone to perform," the chairman said.

Carrison said he is less interested in placing blame than he is in fixing the problems. "Let's all get in the boat and row in the same direction," he said.

Carrison said he has no way of objectively judging Eaton's performance, because Eaton did not answer to him.

Frank Siracusa, chief of the Department of Public Safety's Division of Emergency Management, will take on Eaton's responsibilities.

Carrison said some commissioners expressed concern that Siracusa "has enough to do already." Many of the commissioners agreed that the state needs legislation establishing a homeland security director who will answer to the governor, the chairman said.

Jerry Hafen, director of the Department of Public Safety, said in a written statement Wednesday that Eaton will be missed and that his support during the transition "has been invaluable."

"This restructuring makes sense; we have already seen the benefits in enhanced communication, less duplication of effort and forward movement of homeland security projects," according to the statement.

Gibbons named Eaton director of the Nevada Department of Homeland Security in July 2007. Eaton assumed the post after retiring from a lengthy career in federal law enforcement.

Contact reporter Carri Geer Thevenot at cgeer@reviewjournal.com or 702-384-8710.