Ruben Kihuen’s moving on out

The Legislature has never had a shortage of lawmakers who win election to represent one district, then go live in another district, taking great care to leave a paper trail that creates the illusion they still reside among their constituents.

But it might be a first in Nevada politics to have a sitting assemblyman sign a public document declaring he has moved out the district he was elected to represent -- a full six months before the expiration of his term.

Either way, the only people who can do anything about it are voters. It's more politics as usual in Nevada.

Three weeks ago, I wrote about residency questions heading into November's election, highlighting the importance of our representatives living alongside us, in our neighborhoods, so they can be witness to and actually experience the issues that concern us. I concluded the column by pointing out that lawmakers will "keep straying far from home as long as they think you don't care."

Count Democratic Assemblyman Ruben Kihuen in that group.

Kihuen represents Assembly District 11, an L-shaped jurisdiction north of Charleston Boulevard that reaches from Lake Mead Boulevard and Civic Center Drive in the northwest past Stewart Avenue and Lamb Boulevard in the southeast. He decided against seeking re-election to run for state Senate District 10, which is being vacated by the term-limited Bob Coffin.

When Kihuen filed his declaration of candidacy for Senate District 10 on March 2, he listed as his home address a Lamb Boulevard apartment that also fell within the boundaries of Assembly District 11. Nothing wrong there.

However, nine weeks later, on May 3, he filed a change of address notice with the Clark County Election Department listing his residence as a Grannis Lane home, near Sahara Avenue and the U.S. Highway 95 overpass -- barely within the boundaries of Senate District 10, but a little less than a mile outside Assembly District 11.

Is that a big deal? It should be. When voters re-elected Kihuen to the Assembly in 2008, they expected him to keep his stake in their district for two years. What does it say about the quality of life within a district if its own representative doesn't want to live there anymore?

"Since I was first elected it has been my number one priority to represent and serve the constituents of Assembly District 11," Kihuen wrote in an e-mail Wednesday night after acknowledging that he no longer lives in District 11. "Since I moved a few months ago I have not stopped fulfilling my duty to my constituents. I spend a considerable amount of time in my district, working to address any concerns that arise."

Concerns that may not affect him as much -- because he moved out.

If Kihuen were seeking re-election to Assembly District 11, the courts would toss him from the ballot. But the Elections Department and the secretary of state's office only have jurisdiction over candidates, not sitting elected officials. Because his May move doesn't affect his candidacy for Senate District 10, there's nothing either office can do about the fact that he's no longer eligible to represent Assembly District 11.

Even the attorney general's office "doesn't have anything we can put our finger on" in spelling out statutory wrongdoing, spokeswoman Edie Cartwright said Thursday. Cartwright said a complaint would have to be filed before state prosecutors could, perhaps, write an opinion on what to do about sitting legislators who leave their districts before their terms expire.

In some circles, Kihuen's move doesn't matter one bit. The Legislature hasn't been called into special session during his time outside the district, so he hasn't cast any votes on behalf of District 11.

But the Legislature's business goes on between regular and special sessions regardless, with interim committee hearings and studies.

Kihuen noted in his e-mail that, as a good-faith gesture to make up for leaving his constituents, "I have not taken any legislative pay or reimbursement in that time, as a matter of principle."

Good thing, because he isn't supposed to draw a salary and, according to the Legislature's website, Kihuen doesn't have a seat on a single interim committee, statutory committee or interim study committee. He has just one interim obligation, a nonvoting seat on a non-legislative committee, the Nevada Commission on Sports, a body charged with promoting physical fitness and athletic competitions. The Legislative Counsel Bureau reports that commission hasn't met since Kihuen headed south for summer.

Kihuen's move and the state's inability to do anything about it reveals an alarming reality for voters: your legislator really has to live within your district only during the campaign. Once elected, they can set up house in Timbuktu, as long as they show up for meetings when summoned.

How is that good for democracy? Lawmakers won't crack down on themselves. If voters ever want their meandering legislators held accountable, they'll have to circulate an initiative petition that punishes representatives who reside outside their districts with removal from office.

Tip of the hat

Last week's column took to task the campaign of Rory Reid, the Democratic nominee for governor, for refusing to answer (three times!) my question about his commitment to hold the line on taxes: Would Reid, who for months has proposed balancing the state's budget solely through spending cuts, veto any tax increases passed by the Legislature?

On Wednesday, amid the revelry of former President Bill Clinton's Mandalay Bay rally for Reid, Las Vegas CityLife Editor Steve Sebelius pressed Reid on the important question, which Reid clearly had no desire to answer.

From Sebelius' Slash Politics blog posting of Wednesday night:

" 'A bill that includes a tax hike or a fee hike could take a number of different forms,' Reid said.

"Was Reid trying to give himself some wiggle room to get out of consistent anti-tax statements he'd made since getting into the race?

" 'I'm not trying to find wiggle room for myself,' Reid replied.

"Well, would he veto a bill that contained taxes, or not? I asked.

" 'I'm saying it depends what it is,' Reid said.

"So, if I were to tell my readers that Rory Reid might sign a bill that raises taxes, that would be an accurate statement? I pressed.

" 'It would,' he replied.

And so, with Reid's dramatic shift in his anti-tax rhetoric, his race against Republican Brian Sandoval -- who has firmly stated he would veto any tax increases if elected governor -- the blah-fest that was the gubernatorial campaign has been reshaped.

Glenn Cook (gcook@reviewjournal.com) is a Review-Journal editorial writer.