Ethics policy passes without anyone compromising their principles

The county commissioners played nice Tuesday.

The changes they made to the county ethics ordinances actually turned out to be decent changes, and it was all accomplished without snarky sniping.

Two ethics issues were clarified:

■ Clark County commissioners, their spouses and members of their households cannot be paid consultants to lobby any governments or public agencies in Clark County.

■ Commissioners who had public-sector jobs before they were elected could return to them without waiting for a one-year cooling-off period.

It was all very polite and nothing like the November meeting that had a sharp edge to it, starting when Commissioner Chris Giunchigliani sought to limit paid lobbying by county commissioners anywhere in Nevada, without mentioning fellow Commissioner Tom Collins by name.

Collins was more forthright, suggesting perhaps anyone trying to return to a public-sector job such as teaching in a public school should have to wait a year. No question that was aimed at Giunchigliani.

The exchanges that day were edgy and curt. Tuesday was civil and cooperative.

Commissioner Steve Sisolak played peacemaker and proposed the cooling-off language and the restrictions on commissioners’ families. Giunchigliani softened her suggested ban on paid consulting by commissioners, limiting it to Clark County instead of the entire state.

One change was sparked by Collins’ acceptance of a lobbying job for a bus contract before the Regional Transportation Commission. Another change was in retaliation, starting off aimed at restricting Giunchigliani’s ability to work as a teacher, but ending up expanding commissioners’ ability to work after they leave office.

In the end, they reached sensible compromises.

Thinking about who else Collins’ original proposal might block, a proposal staff didn’t even bother to write up, I realized I didn’t know what jobs some had or who had worked public-sector jobs.

I learned four of them don’t have other jobs: Lawrence Weekly, Mary Beth Scow, Sisolak and Giunchigliani. Commissioners are now paid $80,000 for their part-time jobs.

Weekly, who is looking for a job, was a management analyst for the Las Vegas Neighborhood Services Department and a community liaison. He was appointed to the Las Vegas City Council then appointed to the County Commission.

Scow is a former member of the Clark County School Board and is married to attorney Steven Scow.

Sisolak is a retired businessman who made millions successfully suing McCarran International Airport over air-space restrictions involving land he owned.

Giunchigliani took a leave from teaching. Previously, she has worked for the College of Southern Nevada and the teachers’ unions at the county and state.

Scow and Sisolak are the only two who have never held government or public-sector jobs before becoming commissioners.

The commissioners with outside jobs?

Susan Brager has been a real estate agent for 22 years and now works for Prudential Americana. She worked as an elementary school clerk for 22 years and was elected to the Clark County School Board before the County Commission.

Larry Brown is community relations manager for the Las Vegas 51s baseball team. His public-sector work experience includes jobs with the city of Las Vegas Economic and Urban Development Office and the Las Vegas Valley Water District. Previously, he was on the Las Vegas City Council.

Collins is a rancher, rodeo promoter and consultant. Formerly, he was a lineman for Nevada Power, an assemblyman and North Las Vegas planning commissioner. He worked for the Las Vegas Valley Water District in the 1960s.

Collins’ original proposal that no commissioners be able to work in public-sector jobs for a year’s cooling-off period could have limited job options for Brown and Weekly, too.

People should be able to go back to jobs they held before they were elected. That’s righteous.

No ethics policy will be able to close every loophole, but this wasn’t a bad effort, even though it began badly.

Jane Ann Morrison’s column appears Monday, Thursday and Saturday. Email her at Jane@reviewjournal.com or call her at (702) 383-0275. She also blogs at lvrj.com/blogs/Morrison.