No matter what he does, Josh Reid can’t shake father’s shadow

Henderson’s new city attorney, Josh Reid, has more experience than the guy Henderson hired in 1964 — his father, Harry Reid. The elder Reid, who turns 72 Friday, was fresh out of law school when Henderson hired him for what was then a part-time job.

Josh Reid’s legal experience is 10 years with three major law firms, two in Las Vegas and one in Utah. While less than half that of his major competitor, his experience is a lot more than his Dad’s, now the Senate majority leader.

I don’t know for sure who the best candidate is, but as soon as the five members of the Henderson City Council started praising Christine Guerci-Nyhus, who has been interim city attorney since August and has 21 years of legal experience, a friend leaned over and whispered, “Complimenting her is the kiss of death.”

He was dead-on. When the compliments ended and the vote taken, all five Henderson officials agreed Josh Reid was the best candidate for the job.

Councilwoman Kathleen Vermillion abstained, saying she had conflicts because the senator’s son Rory sits on the Nevada Partnership for Homeless Youth board, while a Reid granddaughter interned with the nonprofit Vermillion founded.

Here’s the perplexing question: Why would Josh Reid, a shareholder in a large national law firm, although he’s only worked there since 2008, want to take a major pay cut to work as Henderson’s city attorney? Josh Reid will receive a contract paying between $127,000 to $199,000, far less than he takes in as a partner in Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck.

Vermillion asked him that.

I couldn’t reach him Wednesday, but Josh Reid told her he wanted more family time, which sounds familiar because both Vermillion and Clark County District Attorney David Roger are retiring in January citing the exact same reason.

He is going to a job where the office is open only four days a week and there is no pressure to work billable hours.

The newest councilman, Deputy District Attorney Sam Bateman, said he was the impetus for the lowering of the job requirements from 10 years of experience to eight and eliminating the requirement that applicants have five years of public-sector experience.

Bateman said that he thought that the requirement to have five years of public-sector experience diminished the pool of applicants and that he personally wanted someone from the private sector who could run the city attorney’s office like a law firm.

However, Josh Reid was the only one of six finalists who didn’t meet the higher standards, making the process smell like cheese gone bad.

If it’s true the standards were not lowered so that Josh Reid could qualify, it doesn’t look true.

Then the senator made it worse. Around Labor Day, he called Mayor Andy Hafen and Vermillion and pitched his son’s candidacy.

Because of Harry Reid’s powerful status, it caused cynics to believe the job was juiced for Josh. One woman left the meeting muttering, “Screwed again.”

Mayor Andy Hafen acknowledged that because of the public perception that the standards were lowered for Reid, “each of us will lose votes if we choose Josh.” Yet he said Josh did the best in the written test and the oral interview.

Hafen said under the original standards none of the Nevada Supreme Court Justices could be city attorney of Henderson.

Of course, that wasn’t true. All seven justices could apply for the job and meet the public-sector experience standard.

If the standards hadn’t been lowered and the senator had not pitched his son, it wouldn’t have looked so likely Josh Reid benefited from his daddy’s juice.

When you are one of Harry Reid’s five kids, nobody knows whether you made it on your own. That must be an awful burden, even as it opens doors closed to others.

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