Comments (34) | Add a comment
Sandoval reaches out to both parties
-
TIM DUNN/RENO GAZETTE-JOURNAL
Brian Sandoval, Nevada governor-elect, and his family arrive Wednesday afternoon at the Reno-Tahoe International Airport. With him are wife Kathleen, daughters Marisa, 6, and Maddy, 13, and son James, 15.
Tools
LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL
Brian Sandoval didn't waste time getting to work hours after being elected governor of Nevada.
The Republican reached out to state and federal officials from both major parties and made transition appointments that suggest a centrist, insider approach to the job.
That would contrast with departing Republican Jim Gibbons, who was praised by conservatives for his anti-tax zeal but criticized for his aloof approach to governing that alienated legislators and others across the political spectrum.
"It is my intention to work with everyone," said Sandoval, during an interview Wednesday. "I think that is the strength of Nevada, the fact it is a small state and the elected officials do see one another quite often and do work together very closely. And that is what I intend to do."
Sandoval's decisions Wednesday, which he began making about 12 hours after defeating Democrat Rory Reid in all 17 counties, included appointing former Assembly Minority Leader Heidi Gansert, R-Reno, to direct his transition team. Dale Erquiaga, former R&R Partners vice president and former Clark County School District lobbyist, will help her.
Gansert spent six years on the Assembly Ways and Means Committee and is the daughter of Leo Seevers, a former member of the Nevada Economic Forum, the group that makes official revenue projections that are the basis for state budgets.
Gansert, who said she would consider a full-time job with the Sandoval administration, said her background makes her a natural for helping the incoming governor cope with a budget cycle that could start with revenue projections falling as much as $3 billion short of forecast expenses for the 2011-13 budget cycle.
"I am a numbers person," Gansert said, adding she thinks Sandoval is realistic in expecting that he can base a budget on $5.2 billion in general fund spending, about 20 percent less than the previous biennial budget.
"He has talked about going back to 2007 as a benchmark year, which makes sense," she said.
Erquiaga, who works as a managerial consultant to public agencies and businesses in Nevada and Arizona, specializes in strategic planning and leadership development. He did not return a call for comment.
Erquiaga worked for the Clark County School District from September 2009 until last month, and his history includes a role crafting a law credited with advancing gay rights during the administration of the late Gov. Kenny Guinn, a Republican and mentor to Sandoval.
Erquiaga, while working at R&R Partners, was credited with writing a draft of SB386, which solidified the hospital visitation rights of unmarried, cohabiting couples.
A 2003 article in the now-defunct Las Vegas Mercury detailed how Erquiaga crafted the legislation in a way that focused on legal issues that could affect any couples and avoided having the issue come down to a matter of gay rights, which would have been controversial.
"We didn't want it to be just a gay rights issue," Erquiaga told the Mercury. Erquiaga, who is gay, wrote the original draft of SB386. "By not having gay rights activists testify (at hearings), legislators could focus on the human rights issues. So it wasn't offensive to those who don't want gay-related legislation."
The bill passed with the support of Democrats and Republicans.
Erquiaga was the subject of recent criticism by the conservative think tank Nevada Policy Research Institute.
As a consultant in 2008, he received $84,000 plus expenses from the Clark County School District for providing a program "to describe the personality types of School Board members in blue, green, red or yellow colors," the think tank reported.
The program was included in the group's 2010 "Nevada Piglet Book" as an example of wasteful government spending.
In addition to the appointments, Sandoval reached out to Republican and Democratic legislative leaders, Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., GOP Congressman-elect Joe Heck, Rep. Shelley Berkley, D-Nev., and the state's constitutional officers.
The new governor will need all of the help he can get if he intends to balance the budget without breaking his promise not to increase taxes.
Democrats and Republicans who have grappled with the state budget in the past say it will be a difficult task.
"There is a lot of campaign rhetoric that takes place; his next function is to adopt an executive budget," said state Senate Minority Leader Bill Raggio, R-Reno. "If some of the cuts to human services or public safety or education are Draconian and can't be sustained, then we're going to have to talk about other things."
Senate Majority Leader Steven Horsford, D-Las Vegas, refrained from making recommendations for Sandoval's upcoming budget proposal, saying he wants to see the numbers first.
"It is the governor's job to present the Legislature with a budget," Horsford said. "I will comment on it at that time."
Fred Lokken, a professor of political science at Truckee Meadows Community College in Reno, said Sandoval is wise to reach out to members of both major parties at the outset of his tenure.
Democrats have majorities in both houses of the Legislature, but they don't have enough votes to override gubernatorial vetoes or raise taxes.
And Sandoval does not have enough Republicans in the Legislature to push through laws without help from Democrats.
"Actually, I would say Democrats and Republicans and independents should be saluting him for what looks like a good start in terms of the kind of politics we need," Lokken said.
With making governing decisions, Sandoval is making personal choices. He said he plans to move with his wife, Kathleen, and three children from their Reno home to the Governor's Mansion in Carson City.
He said that his wife will keep her job at the Children's Cabinet nonprofit organization in Reno and that his children will remain at their current schools for the time being.
He plans to take a couple days off to spend time with his family but will be skipping the post-Election Day vacation he had been hoping for.
"That is really not going to happen," he said.
Contact reporter Benjamin Spillman at bspillman@reviewjournal.com or 702-477-3861.
Comments
Terms & Conditions
The following comments are provided by readers and are the sole responsiblity of the authors. The Review-Journal does not review comments before publication nor guarantee their accuracy. By publishing a comment here you agree to abide by the comment policy. If you see a comment that violates the policy, please use the Report Abuse button.
Some comments may not display immediately due to an automatic filter. These comments will be reviewed within 24 hours. Please do not submit a comment more than once.
Note: Comments made by reporters and editors of the Las Vegas Review-Journal are presented with a yellow background.
RSS
Twitter
Facebook
@frank.thompson Unfortunately, Sandoval was voted into office by the dumbest city in the nation, so I don't have much confidence in their 'mandate'.
Gov. elect Sandoval R-Nevada: The "mandate" is to shrink government, not raise taxes. Adress revenue "shortfalls" with budget cuts and outright elimination of non-essential programs. This entire election has been a referendum for smaller government. That's why you are Gov. elect and not RORY!
FREE AMERICA FROM THE TWO PARTY SYSTEM! That is when you can start to change AMERICA!!!
This idiot, with no plan, told everyone he would not raise taxes. Now we find out RAISING TAXES IS ON THE TABLE!
What a stunner, a republican LYING TO GET ELECTED!
We will watch as republican policies continue to destroy our State and our Country.
The loyalty of republicans is to those who bankrolled their campaigns, COMMUNIST CHINA AND INDIA!
And gramps is living off of social security, I'll bet he didn't vote for Angle!
He'd lose his medicare and his guvment checks!
Nevada will never join the big league because we would rather trash talk to each other than get our game on. Sandoval hasn't even taken office and he's being second quessed. Go figure.
ODJ "ONE DUMB JERK" you won nothing , you are not smart enough to analyze the nationwide results. OBUMMER will now have to redirect !!!
When Rory took over as the Chairman of the Clark County Commission, UMC was only about $24 million in the red. That deficit was blamed on Lacy Thomas and his shady dealings with his crooked Chicago friends, and Lacy was fired. Fast forward about 3 short years later and UMC is now about $200 million in the red and there are plans to stop the bleeding. Why? Because the deficit is coming from providing services to illegals who do not pay for them. Had this guy been elected, he would have taken the deficit this state already has and quintupled it in the month in office, just like his daddy has done to this country. Give me break. I can't believe he even got on the ballot.
Raggio just quit.
This is what ALL GOP who endorsed Reid face.
Reid may get to play for two more years, but in 012, he will face the same fate as Pelosi.
Nevada unions destroyed this state.
Really Old Vegas,
UNLV's cuts were only about 10 percent - hardly devastating. They excluded the ARRA subsidies when they looked at the budget cuts. They are dishonest with the numbers. But this is also the school that increased tuition and fees 74 percent (inflation adjusted) in the last decade and still couldn't graduate more than half its students after 8 YEARS! http://prgibbons.blogspot.com/2010/10/hyperinflation-in-higher-education.html
A kitchen cabinet fully stocked by R&R.