Public-private partnerships nothing new to Gibbons — this one’s a disaster, too

When the governor's office sent out a news release Thursday morning, staffers probably did so hoping to turn the tide of unflattering revelations about their boss.

But announcing a public-private partnership advisory board to address the looming multibillion-dollar highway funding shortfall only continued the wave of disastrous actions by Jim Gibbons.

The dozen people appointed to this board are decent enough. They represent a host of interests from banks, casinos, taxpayers and politicians. But what can this dozen do that two previous study groups couldn't? How can they possibly fix this problem, beyond further delaying a solution?

The inane move casts aside the findings of a blue-ribbon panel of experts that met for more than a year and a transition team of notables that offered sage wisdom to the incoming governor earlier this year.

And why would the governor have sitting legislators constitute one-third of this new panel? Why not just let the Legislature come up with a solution and run it past the other eight members of the panel, local politicians and lobbyists who already appear before lawmakers on a regular basis?

The composition of this "innovative" public-private partnership isn't much different than the other two panels. Each of the previous groups had politicians, developers, bankers, taxpayer advocates and transportation experts. Ironically, this latest panel has less true transportation representation than the previous two.

In theory, lawmakers have enough time remaining in their regular session to actually do the legislative branch's work. And with a majority of legislators from Southern Nevada -- where the highway projects need to be built -- there appears no reason the elected 63 cannot come up with their own solution.

But maybe Gibbons appointed Sen. Dennis Nolan, R-Las Vegas, and Assemblyman Kelvin Atkinson, D-North Las Vegas -- the chairmen of the two legislative transportation committees -- to his public-private partnership panel to keep them from finding a solution on their own.

Gibbons, who has long represented Northern Nevada interests as an assemblyman and congressman, really doesn't give a damn about Clark County. His "One Nevada" essentially applies to the Gibbons household, with their one-two punch of "you-help-us-we'll-help-you" public policy.

The Couple Gibbons know plenty about public-private partnerships already. That's how Fatih and Eren Ozmen and their Sierra Nevada Corp. scored $2 million in no-bid federal contracts. It's also how eTreppid, owned by Gibbons friend Warren Trepp, won tens of millions of dollars worth of "black budget" appropriations.

The public-private partnership didn't work the way you might think, though. The Couple Gibbons twisted the idea to mean the private company could use the public official, provided the public official who used his or her office to help the company was nicely compensated.

In the case of Sierra Nevada, the money went to Dawn Gibbons in the form of a $35,000 consulting contract. It's clear she did "work her butt off" for the money, as she told The Associated Press. The company in return got $2 million in federal contracts.

In the case of eTreppid, it appears Jim and Dawn Gibbons got a lavish Caribbean cruise and tens of thousands of dollars in campaign contributions, if not more, by using the "public-private partnership" model.

If this is how the governor views the notion of a public-private partnerships, our highway issue has little chance of resolution. It does not appear the Ozmens or Trepps are in the business of building highways.

It remains to be seen whether the governor or first lady will be reprimanded for their unseemly use of their former offices. In this latest case, it seems unlikely the state Ethics Commission would consider a case against a former elected official -- Dawn Gibbons, a former assemblywoman -- for her consulting gig, just as the House Ethics Committee declined to proceed against its former member, Jim Gibbons, for failing to report the Trepp trip.

Jim Gibbons' legal defense fund didn't violate state campaign finance laws per se because it's not a campaign account or a political action committee. How convenient.

After using public-private partnerships for personal benefit, it seems a no-brainer Gov. Gibbons would propose them on an actual public issue.

But by the time this newest transportation group finishes its study, the shortfall will have risen a few billion dollars more.

Sadly, this Legislature, particularly this state Senate, appears more inclined to avoid a North-South fight over which projects should get priority than in solving the looming crisis. This public-private partnership provides them unnecessary political cover to avoid a decision.

And once again, as it is with all public-private partnerships involving the Gibbonses, the only group that really suffers is the taxpaying public.

Under the governor's newest public-private partnership, all recommendations will be forwarded for final approval by the Nevada Department of Transportation's Board of Directors. The only southerners on that seven-member board are Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto and Controller Kim Wallin. Gibbons chairs it.

I wonder what's in it for the Couple Gibbons if the governor can get Interstate 80 in Reno expanded.

Erin Neff's column runs Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday. She can be reached at (702) 387-2906, or by e-mail at eneff@reviewjournal.com.