Tom Collins resigns from Clark County Commission
Tom Collins, Clark County's colorful and controversial "cowboy commissioner," stepped down on Monday, announcing his decision but not explaining it in a post on his Twitter account.
The post made at just after 3 p.m. reads only: "Today 8/10/2015 I have delivered my resignation from Clark County Commission to @GovSandoval effective at 3PM."
In his letter to the governor's office, Collins said he was leaving office "due to family matters that I will be dedicated to for the next several months that will certainly impact my service to my constituents in District B and throughout Clark County."
Collins did not elaborate and attempts to reach him Monday were unsuccessful.
County spokesman Erik Pappa said it will be up to Gov. Brian Sandoval to appoint a replacement from the same party as Collins, who is a Democrat.
County administration had no comment on the resignation, but Pappa confirmed that Collins' personal email address was blocked last month by County Manager Don Burnette after the commissioner sent emails deemed "inappropriate for the workplace" to county staff members.
Burnette and senior staff who report directly to him could no longer receive emails from Collins after his address was blocked, Pappa said.
The Review-Journal requested the emails, and the county provided two, both with the names of recipients blacked out. One was sent July 17 with the subject line "You." It reads: "YOU ARE A TOTAL PRICK. YOU MAY AS WELL CRAWL UNDER (word redacted) SKIRT. BUT FIRST STAY THE F#@K AWAY FROM ME. YOU ARE A SIMPLE PLAGUE!"
The other sent July 14 is only 13 words long, including the subject line: "Vidictive SOB's @ Animal Control are at it again! Only at Clark County."
Burnette was copied on both messages apparently sent from Collins' personal email address, where he goes by the nickname "brutally honest Tom." In a written statement Monday, Burnette described the messages as "completely inappropriate and unacceptable."
But they weren't out of character for the blunt-talking Collins, who just last week told a Review-Journal reporter that the head of the county's animal control department didn't know "s--- from Shinola" and "couldn't tell you which end of a cow the hay comes out of."
Pappa said Collins was on his way back from Carson City after attending a legislative meeting there Monday, though he did not know what meeting it was or whether Collins was there representing the commission.
About an hour after his initial Twitter post, Collins followed with another tweet: "Breaking Silence to tell all you news birds to Stay away from my Mother. Thank you."
Commissioner Steve Sisolak said he heard the news via Twitter and knew nothing more about it.
Asked if Collins seemed disgruntled or unhappy about his elected post lately, Sisolak said "not any more than normal."
"This is all coming as kind of a surprise," Sisolak said.
Collins has served on the commission since 2005 and was in the second half of his third term and final term.
The self-described "cowboy commissioner" easily won reelection in 2012, despite one incident of illegally discharging a firearm in the yard at his home and another in which a bull escaped from his property, sending a woman to the hospital and netting him two misdemeanor charges.
Collins also served as a member of the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority's board of directors where he often championed Western events, such as the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo.
Collins has been on the authority's board for more than 10 years, first appointed in January 2005. He served as the authority board's chairman from July 2011 to January of this year and was a member of several of the organization's subcommittees.
Under the authority's procedures, the County Commission would choose one of its members to take one of two county representative positions on the board. Commissioner Lawrence Weekly is the county's other representative.
Review-Journal writers Sandra Chereb and Richard N. Velotta contributed to this report.
Contact Henry Brean at hbrean@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0350. Find him on Twitter: @RefriedBrean.
COLLINS IN OFFICE
• Tom Collins was elected to the Nevada Legislature as an assemblyman in 1992. He served during five regular and four special sessions.
• Collins has served on the Clark County Commission since 2005.
• He was appointed to the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority's board of directors in January 2005 and remains on the board.
NOTABLE MOMENTS
• On July 3, 2012, Collins’ neighbors called North Las Vegas police after hearing at least seven shots from his property. Collins shot a tree and a wooden post with a handgun and was shouting, according to the police report. The “cowboy commissioner” did not face criminal charges because the attorney general’s office declined to prosecute.
• In August 2012, his bull escaped his property and injured a 42-year-old woman, landing Collins in North Las Vegas Municipal Court, where he pleaded no contest to misdemeanor charges of disturbing the peace and livestock at large.
• In April 2014, national attention turned to Bunkerville when rancher Cliven Bundy’s feud with federal agents over their seizure of his cattle prompted militias to rally in his support. Darin Bushman, a Piute County, Utah, commissioner, called Collins about the matter. Afterward, Bushman posted on Facebook that Collins said Utahns are “inbred bastards” and if they come to Clark County to support Bundy they “better have funeral plans.” Collins claimed he was quoted incorrectly but publicly apologized at a Clark County Commission meeting saying, “I’ve been in a downward spiral for a couple of years, I admit it.”
• In May 2014, Collins got caught in a profanity-laced conversation deriding his fellow commissioners when the Review-Journal obtained a recording of his conversation with then- Las Vegas Township Constable John Bonaventura. Commissioners had unanimously voted to abolish the embattled office.
— Las Vegas Review-Journal
