Lombardo unveils commission appointees ahead of ethics hearing

RENO — Gov. Joe Lombardo announced the appointment of a former Las Vegas law enforcement officer and a lawyer with an international law firm to the Nevada Commission on Ethics, less than a week before the board is set to hold a hearing on alleged ethics violations committed by the first-term Republican during his campaign for governor.

Lombardo’s office announced the appointment of Stanley Olsen and John Moran III along with a handful of other board and commission appointments in an email earlier this week.

Olsen, a one-time Republican state senator who served with the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department for more than 30 years, and Moran, a Democrat who works as general counsel for Clark Hill Public Strategies, began their term as members on July 1, according to the Commission’s website. Moran formerly served as the chair of the ethics commission under former Gov. Jim Gibbons from 2004-2008 and is the grandson of former Clark County Sheriff John Moran Sr.

Olsen and Moran were were appointed to replace former Assemblyman James Oscarson, R-Pahrump, and attorney Damian Sheets, a member appointed by former Gov. Steve Sisolak who resigned in May after the commission moved forward with the investigation against Lombardo.

The governor’s office announced the appointment Wednesday. The Commission, which is comprised of four governor-appointed members and four members appointed by the Legislative Commission, is set on Tuesday to consider recommendations filed by the commission’s Executive Director Ross Armstrong alleging Lombardo committed multiple ethics violations by using his sheriff’s badge and uniform during his campaign for governor. The report, released in early June, recommends the commission censure Lombardo and place an ethics officer in the governor’s office.

The report also recommends fining Lombardo $1.67 million, an amount former Ethics Commission Chair Mark Hutchison called “unprecedented.” The largest fine the commission has issued is $15,000, according to Hutchison.

The meeting was first scheduled for June 13, but was rescheduled by the request of Lombardo’s lawyers after two members of the commission said they would be unable to attend the meeting in person.

Moran and Olsen could not be immediately reached for comment. A spokesperson from the governor’s office said Lombardo had the utmost confidence in Moran and Olsen to serve on the commission with fairness and impartiality.

Contact Taylor R. Avery at TAvery@reviewjournal.com. Follow @travery98 on Twitter.