Thursday, May 29, 2003
Copyright © Las Vegas Mercury

Editor's Note: Blame the voters

Many Las Vegans no doubt are shocked and dismayed by the FBI's public corruption investigation of several local public officials. After all, the revelations about consulting contracts, cash payments in sealed envelopes and videotaped lap dances run contrary to the sensibilities of average, law-abiding citizens.

But more troubling to me is the fact that we average, law-abiding citizens voted for these people. And we did so largely because of the efforts of local kingmakers who handpick candidates, throw big campaign money at them and get them elected, without particular concern for whether they have the intelligence, character and experience to do the job.

Local political writer Jon Ralston wrote a book about this nefarious process, The Anointed One, published in 2000. Ironically, the book focuses on the anointment of Kenny Guinn as Nevada governor, and Guinn is proving the exception to the rule when it comes to anointed officials keeping out of trouble once elected. But Ralston's main point stands:

"The mob may have lost its grip, but the corporate titans who run the Las Vegas Strip maintain a stranglehold over the political system that the capos of La Cosa Nostra would envy. Despite the state's phenomenal growth, power continues to repose in a handful of men, who, through their access to the Strip and its economic and political might, are able to anoint--and un-anoint--candidates for public office."

These anointers have a poor record of backing candidates who know right from wrong and avoid ethical conflicts. The record shows a litany of anointed candidates who come into office with middle-class jobs and suddenly are moving into bigger houses, driving fancier cars and dumping their careers to enter the lucrative world of "consulting." They see public office as a means to get rich, not as a civic service.

The group largely responsible for the election of so many dopes of late includes Billy Vassiliadis of R&R Advertising, Sig Rogich of Rogich Communications and longtime political consultant Kent Oram. This is no secret--they are well-known, respected members of the community and their political activities are conducted aboveboard. It's also important to emphasize that they represent only one piece of the puzzle. The other two pieces are the casino industry and U.S. Sen Harry Reid.

Reid has positioned himself as the godfather of which Democrats get which public offices. He doesn't get everything he wants--he was the main man behind Dario Herrera's unsuccessful congressional bid last year--but he gets a lot--witness his son's cakewalk election to the Clark County Commission (not that Rory Reid is necessarily one of the dopes described above; so far, he appears to be one of the smarter and more ethical members of the commission).

As for the casino industry, it provides the financial muscle flexed by Vassiliadis, Rogich, Oram and a few others. The industry relies on these experts to find candidates who will, at the very least, not actively work against the industry's agenda.

This subversion of the democratic process has produced a flurry of greed-induced ethical conflicts, numerous examples of officials voting for the interests of powerful industries over constituents and, most recently, the federal probe of public corruption. It certainly would not be fair to suggest that Vassiliadis, Rogich and Oram are in any way linked to the FBI's investigation of local strip clubs. That's not the point. The point is they--along with a na•ve and gullible public--are responsible for championing the kind of people who seek public office for the wrong reasons.

There is a solution. We voters can elect different people--those we believe are seeking public office for the right reasons, not those who look best on TV and put out the most signs and fliers.

I, for one, am determined to seek out those candidates who emerge organically--who have a record of activism in their neighborhoods, who show a genuine interest in and understanding of the principles of good government, who exhibit a strength of character that appears incorruptible. I will look for candidates who will reject certain campaign contributions they feel would compromise their candidacy, and who will not jump into bed with companies and individuals who frequently come before the board to which they are elected.

It's not easy to find these attributes. Opportunists abound in politics, and even unanointed candidates sometimes get into the race for the wrong reasons. Sometimes they start out unanointed and become anointed once they've proved themselves to be good soldiers. Sometimes they seem completely incorruptible during the campaign and then show their true colors later. But overall we can make better choices, improving the percentage, at least, of elected officials who aren't likely to find themselves at the center of an ethics scandal or FBI sting.

One way to find these candidates is to look beyond those anointed by the plutocracy now at the center of local politics. If the candidate is clearly a pawn of larger powers, be wary. If his television ads are so expertly done that they should be nominated for an Emmy, be wary. If his or her hair doesn't blow in the breeze, be wary.

Too often, we voters go to the polls ill-informed. We don't read the papers. We don't watch debates. We don't call the candidates or attend meetings and ask them questions. We only know the candidates from their slick TV ads and fliers. We don't do our homework. We scour Consumer Reports, ask friends for advice and test products before we buy them, yet we rely almost exclusively on a bombardment of inherently misleading advertisements to choose our elected officials. Money only decides elections because we allow it to.

--GEOFF SCHUMACHER