Questions of conflicts in North Las Vegas

So if Janice Ridondo works as a liaison for Clark County Commissioner Tom Collins and is elected to the North Las Vegas City Council, does she have a conflict? Which govern­ment holds her first loyalty? The one that pays her $65,000 full-time salary or the part-time job on the council which pays almost $42,000?

Ward 3 Councilwoman Anita Wood argued there is a conflict if Ridondo holds any county job.

Ridondo insists there isn’t. “I’m a pretty smart girl. If I felt there was a potential for a conflict, I’d abstain.”

That’s not Wood’s only concern. Her first negative mailer last week screamed. “JANICE RIDONDO IS JUST A PAWN FOR CLARK COUNTY COMMISSIONER TOM COLLINS.”

Ridondo said she had no reaction to that mailer other than, “I appreciate how white my teeth looked.”

Wood takes it more seriously.

“It’s very difficult to serve two masters at one time, and that concerns me,” Wood said. “If you’re following North Las Vegas at all, I’ve spent a good part of my term in office in disagreement with the county.”

North Las Vegas and Clark County have fought over numerous issues, including suing each other over the use of county-owned Sloan Channel to dispose of wastewater generated by North Las Vegas.

“We want to work well with the county, but I can’t say that in every instance we fall in line with it. The county serves as a competing jurisdiction. On the Regional Transportation Commission and on Regional Flood Control, as entities, we’re competing for various dollars,” Wood said.

Another problem Wood predicts is that Ridondo would have to abstain on votes involving the county. As a longtime community activist who has made serving on the council a full-time job, Wood said she doesn’t have those conflicts.

Meanwhile, the third contender, Tony Gales, is staying out of this fight, running a positive campaign and walking. His campaign is not drawing the wrath of either woman.

One of the three could win the election outright in the April 2 primary by getting more than 50 percent of the vote. That’s tough in a three-way race, so it’s likely the top two will advance to the June general election. Gales raised the least money, just $6,650. Wood raised $63,900 and Ridondo raised $50,591.

Wood landed on the wrong side of public employee unions in June when she voted to allow the city manager to change union contracts and cut positions to balance the city budget’s $31 million hole. That put her in the cross hairs of police and firefighter unions, which are dropping anti-Wood mailers, without urging voters to vote for Gales or Ridondo.

The question of Ridondo’s potential conflicts and need to abstain are not as lively as the shoving match between Wood and Collins.

Four years ago, he endorsed her and the picture she used of him in one of her mailers shows the two at her swearing in. Collins said the photo was used without his permission and suggested he is endorsing her when he is not. His mailer, however, went far beyond explaining that. He also said, “I have significant concerns about her performance.” He went on to say Wood lacked character, integrity and “needs to be replaced.”

His verbiage sounded like his last challenger’s attacks on him.

“Without a doubt” Wood believes she is running against Collins, not Ridondo.

The liaison is funny and personable and in her job has made contacts and is known in the ward.

“I fix things for people,” Ridondo said, “That’s why I’m doing this.”

Wood believes Collins persuaded Ridondo to run. He is her landlord and owns the rural property where she has been a renter since 2010 and where she operates Windy’s Ranch & Rescue, an animal rescue effort.

When I asked Ridondo for one issue on which she and Collins disagree, she quickly replied, “Almost anything animal-related.”

She advocates spaying and neutering “and he tells me he’s got a .22 to take care of that. He’s a tried and true cowboy.”

Ridondo insisted there would be no conflict because she won’t be working as Collins’ liaison if she wins. The county has agreed to find her a job where she won’t have access to sensitive materials.

Wood disagreed.

“You still have a loyalty to your employer whatever department you’re in. You’ll still be influenced by your county commissioners.”

Nevada abounds with conflicts at all levels of government. Gaming Commissioner Joe Brown abstains frequently because his law firm represents gaming clients. Government employees serving in the Legislature abound.

Collins himself had to limit his consulting work when he lobbied other city politicians, leading to a new policy on lobbying by commissioners. He insisted there was no conflict. The Nevada Ethics Commission said there was.

Obviously, Wood and Ridondo will never agree on conflicts and abstentions. So I went to a neutral party and asked the opinion of Martin Dean Dupalo, president of the Nevada Center for Public Ethics. Like me, he saw it as a gray area.

“I imagine that she (Ridondo) would have to abstain several times, but I don’t see she’d have to abstain a lot,” he said. “Not every single board meeting has a Clark County issue.”

“She’d have to be careful, someone would have to be aware of it (the potential conflict) at all times. She’d probably need to seek guidance from the North Las Vegas city attorney and the Nevada Ethics Commission. But she has the tools to know what to do.”

He didn’t see the possibility of abstentions or conflicts as an overwhelming reason to vote against her.

“I think it’s legitimate that she runs; it’s not a major issue,” he said.

Dupalo said everyone needs to abstain on certain decisions. The problem comes when politicians who should, don’t.

That’s why the Nevada Ethics Commission has a full-time staff.

Jane Ann Morrison’s column appears Monday, Thursday and Saturday. Email her at Jane@reviewjournal.com or call her at 702-383-0275.