Looking back, 1999 was certainly not a landmark year politically speaking. No statewide elections were held, and not too many prominent local elections wore contested. However, as with every year, there were certainly enough events worth noting that had an Impact on every resident of this state. Here is a list of the top live political highlights of 1999.
Number 5: Millennium Scholarships — The significance of this event has nothing to do with the fact that the state will use a portion of its tobacco settlement money to offer financial aid to Nevada students. It has everything to do with how this idea was developed and who created it.
Obviously education is important to voters. However, it’s an issue that has generally been cornered by Democrats. Not this time. While state leaders were trying to decide how the enormous windfall from the lawsuit with big tobacco companies should be spent — most thought it should be used for healthcare-related issues — Governor Kenny Guinn had other plans.
He decided to create the Millennium Scholarship Fund to help aspiring Nevada students get to college. Going into an election year where statewide reapportionment of government — re-drawing district lines and voter counts — is at the forefront, he had an instant issue. The Republicans, usually seen as the ones trying to cut teacher salaries and tighten government spending on education, were now trying to help.
While the Democrats worked hard to make the plan their own, adding important provisions, Guinn will certainly use the fund as he tries to gain the majority in the Assembly (the Republicans already have a firm hold on the Senate).
Number 4: Senator Richard Bryan Leaving Office — One of Nevada’s most popular elected officials, Senator Bryan announced he would not seek re-election to a third term in the U.S. Senate. Citing personal reasons, Bryan would have been a lock for re-election.
His decision caused many Nevada politicos to re-think their strategies for the up-coming election year. Republican John Ensign, the former Congressman, made his decision to run for Bryan’s seat. He had been mulling a bid ever since losing by a slim margin to Sen. Harry Reid in 1998. However, Ensign almost chose to stay out when popular Democratic Governor Bob Miller was named as a possible successor to Bryan.
Miller received encouragement and pleas from as far away as the White House, where President Clinton called his old friend personally to ask him to run. In the end, however, Miller decided Washington wasn’t for him. He’d never really caught Potomac fever, and he was having too much fun as a senior partner in the law firm of Jones Vargas.
Democratic hopes then shifted to the state’s most eligible female party member, Attorney General Frankie Sue Del Papa. After failing to get into the Governor’s race against Guinn, Del Papa actually did announce for Bryan’s position. But her reputation as a horrible campaigner and a poor fundraiser hampered her from day one. Del Papa, despite huge favorable poll numbers, failed to catch fire and soon dropped out of contention for a second time.
The Democrats are now looking toward personal injury attorney Ed Bernstein to carry their water in this important election. If he’s willing to spend some personal cash he’ll have the money, but right now most insiders are considering his candidacy a long shot.
Number 3: The 120-day Legislative Session — Constitutionally mandated to do so, the Nevada Legislature brought business to a close within the time allotted — but not without controversy. Many advocates applauded the effort made by the 63 elected officials who make up the Senate and Assembly. Others, however, felt that debate on certain issues was cut off and the public was denied real access to the process.
There’s no doubt that hearings, on some bills were unusually short. But what else could be done? Chairmen had to keep the ball rolling, and often held discussion from both sides to a pre-determined time limit.
The burden was truly on lobbyists to find ways of resurrecting legislation when set deadlines caused their demise. Often this process was cleverly exploited, as amendments having very little to do with the original bill were added at the last hour.
Overall, the session was called a success. But Legislative leaders now know what must be done to improve lawmaking in a 120-day environment.
Number 2: De-consoildatlon of Metro — No single incident caused quite a stir in the state’s largest county as this issue. Las Vegas city officials, believing they could save millions of dollars, produced a study exploring the possible savings of forming their own police department and pulling out of Metro (Las Vegas and Clark County governments share in funding Metro).
Police backers, led by Sheriff Jerry Keller, Police Protective Association President Andy Anderson and local consultants Kent Oram and Billy Vassiliadis, virtually declared war on the city and any officials tied to the proposal.
Mayor Oscar Goodman, who had initially asked for the study as part of his department-by-department audit, was caught in the crossfire. Mayor pro-tern Michael McDonald, whose long-running feud with Keller is well known, was also targeted. Both men denied there was anything to the plan but a strong desire to save taxpayer money and better protect city residents.
In the end, Goodman put the issue to rest by saying Las Vegas would not secede from the Metro fold. The long-term political damage to Goodman and McDonald is hard to assess. Both have since made up with Keller and the police union. But no one is likely to forget the incident entirely.
Number 1: The Oscar Goodman’s Election as Mayor of Las Vegas — While it may be hard for citizens of Northern Nevada to see how the election of a mayor in Southern Nevada affects their lives, Goodman’s victory really reflected a fundamental change in the Silver State’s electoral process.
Although it’s difficult to assess what might have happened had the anointed candidate, Jay Bingham, stayed in the race (Bingham pulled out with health problems), Goodman’s victory over a popular city councilman was certainly significant.
Councilman Arnie Adamsen had a lot of support, a considerable war chest and an opponent with some rather serious baggage (lawyer to the Mob). However, he underestimated Goodman from the outset. Like most, he just figured no one would take Goodman’s candidacy seriously. He allowed the colorful attorney to define himself and take the negatives off the table.
When Adamsen did get around to attacking Goodman, the public had already been warned and just wasn’t buying it. Goodman won overwhelmingly.
Like Jesse Ventura in Minnesota, Goodman used an honest, forthright approach to capture people’s attention. He didn’t apologize for his past, and he didn’t make a lot of shallow promises for the future. In addition, he had already proven himself successful before entering political life, a quality that seems to be catching on in politics these days.
Certainly there were other issues that dotted the political landscape to end the millennium, but these were the ones that stood out most prominently. As we enter the year 2000, many exciting events are ahead. Tune in next month for a preview.