Gibbons and the sweetheart deal

Each time I pen a column critical of Gov. Jim Gibbons, the 20 percenters who still support him suggest I find a new topic.

So today's column will be about ethics.

Nevada law is often criticized as being too gray to deal with the often-fuzzy actions by public officials. But NRS 281A.400(2) doesn't present a lot of wiggle room.

"A public officer or employee shall not use his position in government to secure or grant unwarranted privileges, preferences, exemptions or advantages for himself, any business entity in which he has a significant pecuniary interest, or any person to whom he has a commitment in a private capacity to the interests of that person."

Let's say you were the governor and you had plans to build a retirement home on 40 acres in Elko County. And let's say you purchased the land by cobbling together off-book donations from contractors under the guise of using your "congressional pension."

And let's say that you just really didn't want to have to pay $5,000 in property taxes on the site. In fact, $15 looked much better. But what's a lowly governor to do when the tax assessor tells him he just doesn't qualify for an agricultural exemption, what with his 40 acres and no mule?

Well, if it's our governor, he makes a personal visit.

He also picks up the phone and gets some help from a politically connected attorney who serves on the state Tax Commission and also just happens to be the son of a well-respected rancher/assemblyman. The assessor, Joe Aguirre, told The Associated Press he felt pressured and "uncomfortable."

The comments by Aguirre, published in Sandra Chereb's Associated Press story in Saturday's Review-Journal, make it clear Gibbons used his position to obtain an unwarranted privilege.

If I went to the Clark County assessor and asked for an agricultural exemption for my 1/4 acre, you can bet he'd summon the feds to find the marijuana plants.

I can think of no other way I'd make enough cash on my property.

Of course the county assessor would tell me to take a hike because the exemption wasn't warranted.

When you're the governor and you pay a visit to the local assessor, it's already a bit different. Gibbons K. Citizen certainly couldn't pressure an assessor to do something. But Gov. Jim Gibbons can, and did.

Aguirre told the AP it "seems odd" that a member of the Tax Commission was tapped to send the application on behalf of Gibbons. "I did feel uncomfortable," Aguirre said.

Translation -- Aguirre, a Republican stalwart in Gibbons Country, worries about his future in the assessor's office if he doesn't grant Gibbons an unwarranted exemption.

If Gibbons had tried to pull this with a Democratic assessor, the public might just assume the local official was crying political foul.

Aguirre's comments speak to ethical fouls.

And in Nevada, an official found guilty of breaking the law loses his seat.

It's long passed time for Gibbons to return to his roots with rocks. He's got a fitting personality.

So bring on the ethics complaint, please.

Subpoena John E. Marvel and Joe Aguirre.

If Marvel were honest and not just covering his tracks, he might tell the Ethics Commission that he felt it would be good for his business as an attorney to have a friend in the governor's office.

Maybe Gibbons promised him a seat on the Tax Commission in perpetuity. Such an appointment couldn't hurt his business.

And what will Aguirre do? If it were just the facts, it would seem a slam dunk.

Maybe the feds will come poking around this little transaction. We know they're already interested in the purchase of the land.

Darn it anyway. Buying land is just like those government programs Gibbons hates. Not only do you have to pay for it, you have to keep paying each year.

There's no way around it. Gibbons got something you and I couldn't just because he's governor. And that, my friends, is just another reason why he shouldn't be governor.

Contact Erin Neff at (702) 387-2906, or by e-mail at e-neff@reviewjournal.com.