Knappster: Rory Reid works magic to forge peace among utility combatants

By George Knapp

Rather than sending Condi Rice to the Middle East to hammer out a peace agreement, maybe the United States should send Rory Reid. And while we're at it, let's book the Clark County commissioner on a flight to North Korea to see if he can work his magic with the swaggering knucklehead who runs the place. If he has the time, maybe Rory could settle the argument between dogs and cats.

You think not? I would argue that the soft-spoken rookie commissioner has earned his chops as a world-class peacemaker. Jimmy Carter and Nelson Mandela should be taking notes. Anyone who can bring Nevada Power Co., the Colorado River Commission and the Southern Nevada Water Authority to the table AND get them to bury the hatchet in a place other than each other's spinal cords is either a sorcerer, a hypnotist or a canny, capable leader. It may be too early to put Rory Reid in the same category as former Govs. Mike O'Callaghan or Grant Sawyer, but he clearly has potential.

Like everyone else, I was stunned to learn a few days ago that the three bitter enemies mentioned above had reached an accord. It ticks me off, of course, that it was accomplished over several months of negotiations without so much as a wispy hint from any of the parties involved. Whatever happened to good, old-fashioned news leaks?

Unexpected outbreaks of peace and serenity are never good for news folks. As our critics often note, we tend to thrive on catfights, gut punches and verbal brawls, especially those rare but glorious instances when major power players go at it. It's in those kind of situations that we tend to learn a lot about what's really going on. This dispute had it all. Huge stakes, serious allegations, gargantuan personalities and seemingly unforgiveable transgressions. Alas, all things must pass.

From the perspective of taxpayers, utility customers and those public officials who found themselves in the crossfire, the announcement of a happy resolution is absolutely a positive development. It makes no practical sense for the SNWA, CRC and NP to be at war. Not only are their respective roles inextricably entwined, but their legal bills are our legal bills. We pay for it all, either through taxes, water fees or power bills. In that sense, it's a good thing the three combatants are no longer lobbing legal ICBMs at each other. Such exchanges are damned entertaining but expensive.

During joint public appearances last week, the key players also hinted that they intend to cooperate on an assortment of future endeavors, presumably for the unspoken benefit of widows, orphans, fluffy kittens, our valiant soldiers and unborn generations to come. They stopped just short of joining hands to sing you-know-what. They didn't swap spit or slash their thumbs in a blood-brother ceremony--it would be an exaggeration to say there was a lot of love in the room, but at least the principal antagonists stuck to the script without reaching for their switchblades. For that reason alone, Pat Mulroy, Pat Shalmy, Richard Bunker and Walt Higgins deserve a round of applause. County Commissioner Reid deserves even more accolades for somehow cajoling them all into talking. It really is a remarkable piece of diplomacy.

The unanswered question is whether the truce will last. Frankly, I don't know how these folks can pretend to forget what's happened. I've been writing about their assorted skirmishes for a couple of years now, a somewhat lonely endeavor that has earned me the scorn of pretty much everyone involved. But their disgust with me isn't nearly as pronounced as their antipathy toward each other. Consider the following:

The Colorado River Commission, a state agency, was ordered to pay close to a million dollars in public money to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission for its complicity in the Enron scandal. FERC determined that the CRC was a willing partner in Enron's despicable manipulation of Western energy markets. Somehow, this considerable fine was not considered to be newsworthy by most media outlets, and didn't even generate a mild rebuke within state government, but you can bet that Nevada Power certainly remembers, especially considering the now-public statements made by CRC employees about "screwing" Nevada Power.

The SNWA initiated a very public, ostensibly hostile attempted takeover of the power company. An advisory issue on the ballot barely prevailed but plans were put into motion and battle lines were drawn. As the largest electricity customer in the state, SNWA had legitimate reasons for being concerned about perceived deficiencies in NP management, and it aired those concerns in public meetings and in media interviews. Basically, water officials declared that the management of NP is inept and unreliable, which, in the electricity biz, is the equivalent of insulting someone's mama. The harsh criticism arguably contributed to a dramatic slide in the price of NP stock. SNWA boldly declared that it could do a better job. If the takeover had gone through, Nevada Power's top managers would have been toast.

NP countered with a legal onslaught. It accused the CRC and SNWA of conspiring to sabotage the company, with the help of Enron, for the purpose of paving the way for a hostile takeover by the public sector. As mentioned, audio tapes were made public of CRC traders talking to Enron and SNWA about really sticking it to NP. The tapes imply that higher-ups at SNWA and the CRC were fully aware of what was going on. NP filed a federal lawsuit, a document that overflowed with truly nasty allegations and announced that it would never stop until the company, its employees and its stockholders were "made whole." SNWA hinted that it had tapes of its own that would be forthcoming. While most Nevada reporters ignored the story, it eventually made a big splash in the national media.

The fact that Rory Reid managed to get all these people to sit down and talk about the reasons for their disgust is damned amazing. The fact that they held a joint news conference to announce their mutual admiration and love of humanity is a testament to their collective professionalism. The notion that they will forget all previous transgressions, start dating each other and live happily ever after stretches the boundaries of credulity. That would be great, but I'll believe it when I see it.

Someone should tell Rory the Peacemaker to remain on standby.

Names and faces

Former teen star Corey Feldman has made quite a splash with his nonspecific inferences about Michael Jackson on the eve of Jackson's trial on child sex charges. Feldman isn't quite sure what Jackson did wrong but he has the feeling it must have been something. I wonder if it was anything like what two witnesses say they saw inside the Green Door swingers club here in Las Vegas? The incomparable Mistress Lee, who has been mentioned in this space before, says she and a friend were visiting the Green Door to check out the new dungeon when they were invited to join certain group activities. The invitation came from a young couple that looked a heck of a lot like Mr. and Mrs. Feldman. Mistress Lee shared a lot of other details with me about what went on that night and she hopes ABC News, which aired the Feldman interview about Jackson, will come calling to hear the same stories. ... Why is District Attorney Dave Roger walking around with a smile on his face? I'm sworn to secrecy, but hopefully not for long. ... Informed sources say a new Elvis Presley album is going to be released this year in connection with the Las Vegas Centennial. I don't know what songs will be included on the recording, but I am told the LV Centennial logo will be prominently featured on the album cover. There are rumbles about similar Centennial albums from Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin. ... Legendary Las Vegas newsman Don Digilio is alive and well and living in Henderson. Digilio was a longtime editor at the Review-Journal and a popular columnist at the Sun but has kept the lowest of profiles for the past several years. The way I hear it, Digilio is talking with famed screenwriter Nick Pileggi about a Ralph Lamb movie project. If Pileggi is looking for colorful stories about the Lamb years, he picked the right guy. ... Actor Tony Curtis will lend his name and fame to the rally for wild horses, set for Tuesday at the West Charleston Library. Curtis became involved in rehabilitating injured and abandoned horses through his wife, who does extensive work with the animals. He will join with pro-horse politicians and other celebrities at the 4 p.m. rally. The public is invited. ... The New York Times was in Pahrump this week, interviewing a family of Native Americans who are being forced off their land by the feds, even though they've been paying taxes on the property for more than 50 years. Knappster first reported the story on television several days ago, and now the nation's premier newspaper is jumping on it.