Monday, Dec. 9, 1996 | 11:59 a.m.
CARSON CITY -- A recall election is set for Tuesday for Mineral County Clerk-Treasurer Steven Bowles, the first and only person ever fined by the state Ethics Commission for misconduct in office.
Bowles, in his first term, is accused of mishandling money, being lazy and mistreating the public.
"He's very arrogant," says Jack Lightfoot, president of Concerned Citizens of Mineral County, which gathered more than 800 signatures to force the recall.
But Bowles maintains he's tightened spending, collected overdue bills and created the first-ever procedure manual for his office. He says he may have made some poor judgments, but there's no money missing and he has been cleared by the state attorney general's office of any criminal activity.
"This has been a very, very, ugly, vengeful event," said the 46-year-old Bowles, who is doing his first stint in elective office. A former paramedic, he earns $38,000 a year.
"I wouldn't do it again for $138,000 if I knew I would be jousting with windmills," he said.
After an all-day hearing last month in the county's biggest town, Hawthorne, the Ethics Commission decided to levy a $4,000 fine against Bowles for four violations. It was the first time in its history the commission ever imposed a money penalty on a public officer.
Both sides are predicting victory in Tuesday's election. Lightfoot said "the biggest majority of the community is upset with his dealings."
Bowles said, "I'm conducting myself with the basic philosophy that I will still be in office after Tuesday." He added he hopes to leave office in two years with a "big star" beside his name, signifying a "glowing evaluation."
Bowles is accused of taking cash from county and state accounts in his office to finance the county Democratic Party convention and to pay for a school booster-club activity. It was some time before he reimbursed the accounts.
He was also charged with taking a trip to Sparks for training, saying he would pick up the tab personally. He arranged a free hotel room and ended up getting reimbursed, including for expenses of the hotel room for which he didn't pay.
"He (Bowles) is playing fast and loose with the rules," said Lightfoot, who calls Bowles lazy. The clerk-treasurer shows up in the office on the average of two days a week, Lightfoot said.
Bowles countered, "In the last month, I haven't been motivated and I have not put my nose to the grindstone." But before that, he said, he put in many overtime hours.
This has been the "most anxiety-inducing 101 days of my life," Bowles said, referring to the time since the intent of recall was filed.
On the election ballot, Bowles has listed 14 of his office's accomplishments, including increasing investment income, correcting inaccurate room-tax reports, collecting payment on leases at the industrial park that have not been collected for more than four years, and taking over the duties of the state Department of Motor Vehicles for registration without additional staff.
Lightfoot said Bowles is taking credit for things accomplished in prior administrations or items that were mandated by county auditors. He said only two of the accomplishments should be credited to Bowles.
The recall committee gathered 843 signatures when 625 were needed. The election will be conducted by Secretary of State Dean Heller's office because Bowles is the local election officer.
In the general election last month, the electronic machines broke down and the ballots had to be counted by hand. Heller's office will have an official counting board on call, in case there's a malfunction with the machines that tally the vote.
With all the criticism, Bowles said, "I know how Kathryn Ferguson felt," referring to the Clark County registrar of voters who also has had problems with recent elections. He said she is the "election expert," not Heller, and he said he wrote Ferguson a letter within the last year, praising her work.
Bowles said former County Clerk Marlene Bunch, whom he defeated in 1994, is behind the recall movement, and that some of the staff he inherited may be more loyal to her than to him.
When he took office, Bowles said, he told the staff he was "very flexible. ... I'm not a clock watcher. Just give me eight hours. I was probably too kind."
He said he was erroneously accused of threatening one worker's job when he disciplined her.
Bowles said he has already apologized in public for some of his mistakes and has "taken his lumps." He feels he is subject to "triple jeopardy" -- the investigation by the attorney general's office, the Ethics Commission accusations and now the recall election.
Business in Mineral County has ground to a halt during the charges and countercharges, he said.
"Everybody wants to trade insults," he said. "There will be no winners here."
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