New jobs, old faces–just another day in Nevada

It's a good time to be in the business-card printing business.

More people are changing jobs this political season than usual, and for different reasons. Term limits and ambition have been replaced by scandal and intrigue as the reasons Nevada political figures are swapping seats.

It all started with Las Vegas Councilman Steve Wolfson, who got himself appointed Clark County's new district attorney. That left his seat on the council vacant -- and created an opportunity.

Mayor Carolyn Goodman did the right thing Wednesday by pushing for a special election, even though it's a more costly option than appointment. That's especially true since several people floated the name of former state Sen. Ray Rawson as a caretaker, the same Rawson who was tossed from the state Senate and the state Board of Regents -- not exactly endorsements from the voting public.

Ironically, one of the men now competing to replace Wolfson is former state Sen. Bob Beers, the man who ended Rawson's Senate career in 2004. Beers has been out of public life since he lost his Senate seat in an especially nasty 2008 race.

Out in Henderson, things are even more tumultuous. City Manager Mark Calhoun is leaving, along with Police Chief Jutta Chambers. That's the kind of thing that happens when some members of the City Council don't learn about a videotaped police beating until they're being asked to sign off on a $250,000 settlement for the victim. (Chambers will participate in a city buyout reflective of her three decades of service.)

That's not Henderson's only municipal mishap, either. Calhoun's predecessor, Mary Kay Peck, got a $1.28 million settlement after her 2009 termination. Ex-City Attorney Elizabeth Quillen got $100,000 on her way out, notwithstanding the fact that a bottle of cheap Chardonnay was found rolling around in the back seat of the car she crashed during work hours. The city seems studiously unconcerned with the fact that former Councilwoman Kathleen Vermillion may have abused city "discretionary funds" by donating them to a charity that paid Vermillion a salary.

And, of course, there's the new city attorney, Josh Reid -- son of Sen. Harry Reid -- who made the cut only after the initial job criteria were changed.

It's long past time to find a serious watchdog for Henderson government. One person reportedly interested in the job: Regional Transportation Commission General Manager Jacob Snow. So long as Henderson doesn't have to properly synchronize traffic signals or manage the bidding of a complicated bus contract, everything should be fine.

That would leave the RTC job open. What's former Clark County Commissioner Chip Maxfield doing since his Clean Water Coalition job dried up? And Las Vegas Monorail CEO Curtis Myles has got to be looking for a new gig by now.

Up north, the seat switching has statewide implications. State Sen. Sheila Leslie has bowed out of a perfectly safe Democratic district to move next door and challenge Republican Greg Brower in a district that's almost evenly split. If Leslie wins -- certainly not out of the question -- she'll not only throw Republican hopes for Senate control into doubt, she'll also interrupt Brower's career trajectory. (A former U.S. attorney for Nevada, Brower is interested in becoming Nevada's next attorney general in 2014.) Either way, Leslie's switch opens the door for Assemblywoman Debbie Smith to move up to the state Senate.

Smith is one of three lawmakers potentially vying for Assembly speaker, a group that includes William Horne, the man who took a junket to London on the dime of PokerStars, introduced the precise bill the company sought, but then had to water down the legislation after PokerStars got indicted.

No second acts in politics? Please. This is Nevada, baby.

Steve Sebelius is a Review-Journal political columnist, and author of the blog SlashPolitics.com. Follow him on Twitter (@SteveSebelius) or reach him at (702) 387-5276 or ssebelius@reviewjournal.com.