Did we really need to see the impeachment of now-deceased state controller Kathy Augustine, the forced removal of county recorder Frances Deane from office or the travails of Sen. Sandra Tiffany—the former accused of using her state office for campaign purposes, the latter two of using their positions to enrich themselves—to reaffirm that the love of money is the root of much political evil?
Or the dissolution of the state's largest anti-poverty program (the county-run, nonprofit Economic Opportunity Board) and the recent closure of the nonprofit Southern Nevada Workforce Investment Board (which dispensed welfare-to-work funds and ran youth programs) to convince of us that some political appointees are just as susceptible to malfeasance, laziness and ineptitude as the people who anointed them?
The short answer is no.
Truth is, many of us suspect politicians and government officials (and their appointees) are all crooked. And the byproduct of that distrust is skepticism, low voter turnout—27 percent in the August 15 primary, up from 25 percent in previous elections—and convicting politicians in the court of public opinion before they're convicted in the court of law.
Craig Walton, UNLV professor emeritus and creator of the watchdog Nevada Center for Public Ethics, has had an up-close and personal view of that distrust. Over his 34 years in town, he's walked door-to-door for Dems and Repubs alike and, on many occasions, has gotten the business from distrusting citizens who say all politicians are corrupt, that it's not a matter of if they'll screw you, but when. It's sad and unfair, he says, that the sins of the few are seen as the foibles of all government workers.
"I know a lot of people in government who are honest and do try. You can reach them, call them, track them, e-mail them," Walton says. "If you added up all elected and appointed officials and government workers in Nevada, you'd have more than 25,000. If you say all politics is corrupt, you are tarring many thousands of men and women, most of whom work all day and on holidays and weekends to help the public. It's irresponsible to lash out against all of them when a few people do something wrong."
Of the G-Sting bribery scandal, Walton says the offending county commissioners are wrong. Of the LA Times expose, he says there are many judges who work hard to be fair. And many state lawmakers, he says, go above and beyond their required duties. "They're paid to work 120 days every two years, but many make themselves available every day, so they're basically working for 610 days for free," says Walton (who recently e-mailed a Disney executive to express dismay over ABC's fictionalizing portions of The Path to 9/11 because of its biased, pro-GOP, anti-Bill Clinton bent. "If you don't need to tell the truth to tell the story, then what story are you telling?")
Back to Nevada: Walton says we've got to be as willing to praise honest, hardworking officials as we are to denigrate corrupt ones. "I think that weakens our negativity [toward them]," he says. And voters, he says, should start meeting with people who live in their district to vet and select candidates, rather than relying on the current system where an unknown commodity runs, gets elected and you're stuck with that person.
"Political parties should get people who live in districts to select candidates," he says. "That would be democracy." And it might help restore some trust.
Like Walton says, government does its share of good. Some examples:
• Nevada's congressional delegation has (so far) kept the Congress from siphoning millions the state receives from the sale of federal land.
• The delegation, led by Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, has (so far) stifled the opening of the proposed Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository.
• The National Association of Counties (NAC) identified the District Court's Mental Health Court as innovative and progressive; the court diverts nonviolent mentally ill offenders into treatment programs.
• District Court also earned NAC recognition for eJuror, which allows prospective jurors to confirm jury duty online.
• The City of Las Vegas earns high marks for e-government from Brown University's International Study of Digital Government, which rates government websites on the number of services they provide.
• UMC's Family Resource Center has been recognized for Safe Sitter, which provides baby-sitting training to locals. Boston-based Children's Trust Fund has provided monies to support the decade-old program.
• Moody's upgraded Clark County's bond rating this April to Aa1 from Aa2, the highest of any local government in the state—a reflection on the county's fiscal probity.
• Nevada Power finished as first runner-up in last year's United Telecom Council's Apex national contest for outstanding work in the telecom field. The utility was recognized for designing, engineering and transitioning the Nevada Highway Patrol to a new radio communications system.
• The Clark County Parks and Recreation won three awards at February's Nevada Recreation and Park Society annual conference in Reno.
Our skepticism is warranted, but so, too, is a broader view.