Gas tax fuels speculation about Brooks’ Assembly successor

Whoever is chosen Tuesday to inherit Steven Brooks’ Assembly District 17 seat is going to be a loyal Democrat, willing to be “guided” by Democratic Speaker Marilyn Kirkpatrick. That’s a given.

Clark County Commissioner Tom Collins, who represents North Las Vegas, said he will support whomever Kirkpatrick recommends.

Collins said the importance of the seat to all Clark County residents is this: Whoever gets it will serve  on the most important Assembly committee, Ways and Means. And that matters. County commissioners want the Legislature to give them the ability to raise fuel taxes, a tax increase that Gov. Brian Sandoval is expected to veto.

Whoever nabs the empty seat is expected to be someone Kirkpatrick needs to vote “yes” in Ways and Means — which currently has eight Democrats and seven Republicans — to get that fuel tax through.

Kirkpatrick also needs 28 Assembly members to vote for the fuel tax bills. Democrats hold 27 seats, and Republicans hold 15, in the Assembly.

Plus, if Democrats come up with a viable bipartisan plan to raise other taxes, they must have a veto-proof two-thirds majority, or 28 votes, to override Sandoval’s veto.

The nine candidates under consideration may want to consider one quirk involved in the selection of a midsession assemblyman. Will the winner get paid a salary?

Legislative Counsel Bureau Director Rick Combs said Brooks spent “a little over half” of the $10,000 each legislator receives for travel, so the new appointee would get the rest.

The appointee would receive the $152 per diem that all legislators receive. That totals about $13,000.

The unanswered question is whether the appointee would be paid for 60 days. The language, according to Combs, doesn’t say the first 60 days, just 60 days. So, would the new appointee receive another roughly $8,500? Combs is trying to work that out. The total could rise to about $21,000 if a salary is included.

The only applicant I know personally is Mujahid Ramadan, who always struck me as smart and competent. Ramadan is someone who could fill the seat with some of the dignity it has been sadly lacking since January, when Brooks’ behavior dragged him into the spotlight as well as into criminal courts in Las Vegas and California.

Ramadan was Gov. Bob Miller’s drug czar and for nine years headed Nevada Partners, working on diversity issues in the community. Currently he is a diversity consultant. He also is African-American, and Kirkpatrick has said she would like a minority to fill the seat.

The only candidate with prior legislative experience is Kelly Thomas, a one-term assemblyman . In 1999, he sat on Brooks’ other two committees, Health and Human Services and Transportation . Thomas is not a minority.

William Robinson II, son of a longtime North Las Vegas city councilman, lost his political race for the North Las Vegas City Council in 2011.

Meli Pulido is executive director of Project 150, a nonprofit organization that helps homeless students. Pulido retired from the city of Las Vegas after 25 years, most of it in human resources.

Tyrone Thompson is a homeless services coordinator for the Southern Nevada Regional Planning Coalition.

Michelle Jotz, a former lobbyist representing police unions, has been with the Las Vegas police since 1993 and is an Internal Affairs detective.

Less well-known applicants include retiree Fred Young, career specialist Glynn Coleman and Nevada Taxicab Authority investigator Mike Kelly.

I would pick Ramadan. But my vote can’t compare with Kirkpatrick’s wishes.

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