A name difference that needs notice

One way or another, Las Vegas Constable John Bonaventura is a goner.

But he may not go down alone. He might take his cousin down with him, smearing his own negative name recognition onto his cousin, Justice of the Peace Joe Bonaventure.

The Clark County commissioners did as expected Tuesday and voted unanimously to abolish Bonaventura’s elected job when his term ends in January 2015.

The meeting wasn’t the barnburner I had expected. The commissioners played it straight, although Commissioner Chris Giunchigliani did say, “John, I did not call the Highway Patrol on you, and I wanted that on the record.”

That was the only reference to his arrest for drunken driving and his lying to a Highway Patrol officer. Bonaventura made the claim with no proof, just suspicion, that she had set him up for that arrest.

That’s part of his modus operandi, to blame others for his own bad behavior.

During the hearing, Commissioner Lawrence Weekly speculated on why Bonaventura has had problems since he became Las Vegas constable in January 2011. Allegations of sexual harassment, mismanagement, poor hiring practices and poor judgment have dogged him.

Weekly believes Bonaventura has a communication problem. Weekly wasn’t sure whether Bonaventura has an “ego thing” or whether his problem is his attitude that “I was elected by the people, I don’t have to answer to anyone.”

Weekly is spot-on. It is an ego thing, and Bonaventura believes he doesn’t have to answer to anyone but the will of the people, certainly not to county officials or county commissioners or constables in other jurisdictions.

Bonaventura said that when he tried to defend the Las Vegas township from other constables poaching on his turf by process serving in his jurisdiction, he had to do it on his own because county officials wouldn’t pay his legal fees.

“I was brushed off like some bad dandruff,” he said.

Bonaventura was an embarrassment during the meeting. He stumbled through his various defenses. He read from his phone to the commissioners. He was unclear in his explanations.

Late in the hearing, Bonaventura told the commissioners, “There is a communication problem, we need to spend more time together.”

Too little, too late, too insincere.

Giunchigliani had already made the motion to abolish the office on the basis that it was no longer necessary and the job of process serving and evictions can be done by the sheriff, using either public or private means.

Doubtlessly, Bonaventura will fight this in the courts. He already has started by trying to block the commission from holding Tuesday’s hearing, an effort he lost. But he will continue.

There is one other opportunity to remove him faster. Senate Minority Leader Michael Roberson introduced Senate Bill 294 to abolish the Las Vegas constable’s job as soon as the bill is passed.

However, any court challenge of actions by the commission or the Legislature could stretch until the next election in 2014.

Presuming Bonaventura’s fails in court to save the constable’s job, he could opt to run for another elected position. You can abolish the job, but you can’t stop him from filing for something else. He’s not a felon, he’s just an abysmal manager with pitiful judgment, lousy communication skills and an out-of-control ego.

Before, I would have said the Bonaventura name, so similar to his uncle and cousin, both judges named Joe Bonaventure, would have helped the constable’s future political endeavors. But with all the bad publicity surrounding the constable, his name has lost any positive connotation.

Justice of the Peace Joe Bonaventure isn’t up for re-election until 2016, but he could decide to run for District Court when all the seats are up for election in 2014. His father retired.

Joe Bonaventure, John Bonaventura. There’s a big difference, but voters may not realize that.

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