Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

Herrera is coming of age

He was viewed by many as a young savior who could salvage a Clark County Commission tarnished by ethical blunders and petty conflicts.

Dario Herrera already had experience in high-profile politics as a state assemblyman, and voters were hopeful his background and his youthful energy would inject new life into the state's most powerful board.

It was a little more than a year ago when the sharp-dressed, smooth-talking Herrera convinced 59 percent of the voters in District G that his age -- 25 -- wouldn't hinder his ability to serve.

He had enthusiastic and boisterous supporters. Younger residents were thrilled to have representation on the commission, and he was immediately embraced by the Las Vegas Valley's growing Hispanic community.

"Dario's got a whole lot more on his shoulders than the others do," said Craig Walton, a UNLV ethics professor who closely watches local politics. "A lot more people need him more than they need the other commissioners.

"Caucasians aren't desperately yearning for a voice; Hispanics have had a shaky time obtaining a voice."

Filling that void might seem like an overwhelming undertaking for the average 25-year-old. But compared to Herrera's upbringing, the pressure of being the first Hispanic commissioner and youngest board member was nothing.

When Herrera was 2, his father walked out on the family. Growing up in Florida, Herrera was a star athlete in high school, playing basketball, football and baseball while holding down an after-school job and helping his mother raise his two siblings.

He left Miami in 1991 with dreams of playing for UNLV's football team, but it didn't take long before politics captured his attention.

Three years later, Herrera was then-Gov. Bob Miller's campaign coordinator. And in 1996, he was elected to the Nevada Assembly.

Herrera's meteoric rise to the commission doesn't surprise Miller.

During Miller's campaign, Herrera worked with students which resulted in the highest student participation rate ever. Then Herrera moved on and took on other campaign responsibilities.

"He has some natural leadership abilities; people listen to him and follow him," Miller said. "During the campaign he was effectively leading people who were older than him because he was getting things done. That has characterized his whole career."

Today, Herrera has his own plush office on the sixth floor of the Clark County Government Center. He has the political rhetoric. He has the charming smile. And he even has intimidation tactics -- Herrera's desk chair towers over the sunken guest chairs.

But he also has goals. As a commissioner, Herrera promised to restore faith in the board and the political system. He firmly believes he has done just that.

"Anyone who has dealt with me can say, 'He was honest and open-minded, he was fair and dealt with the issue in a pragmatic way,' " Herrera said.

While it might be too soon to determine whether Herrera truly has restored residents' confidence in the board, he did fulfill his two primary campaign promises during his first year.

Two new Metro police substations are planned in his district -- which includes a portion of the Las Vegas Strip and McCarran International Airport -- where previously there were none.

He also launched an after-school program for middle school students to keep teenagers with free time out of trouble. The Edge, which is similar to the Safe Key program for elementary students, has been deemed a success in two schools.

But whether Herrera has fulfilled everyone's expectations depends on who is asked. Colleagues delicately say Herrera has served the community well, although none can pinpoint specific projects he has accomplished.

"I think he's a fine commissioner," said Clark County Commission Chairman Bruce Woodbury. "He's bright, he does his homework and he has a consensus-building attitude."

Perhaps the best example of Herrera's ability to find a consensus among a diverse collection of interest groups is when the county created the controversial civilian police review board ordinance.

Woodbury, a 20-year veteran of the board, said trying to hammer out a compromise between groups that included the American Civil Liberties Union, police and residents who don't trust police -- was an unenviable task.

"In the end all of those parties, while not liking every aspect of it, felt it was a fair agreement and (Herrera) helped achieve that consensus," Woodbury said.

Despite the high marks given to Herrera by his colleagues, his limited time on the board has not been without criticism.

Eight months into his term, Herrera orchestrated a behind-the-scenes effort to oust Clark County Manager Dale Askew from office. Firmly believing he was backed by his colleagues, Herrera went public with his pronouncement.

His trial balloon crashed to the ground with a resounding thud.

Only one commissioner, Erin Kenny, was willing to back Herrera publicly. He was slammed by residents who called the move "reckless." He was ridiculed by political writers who reminded Herrera of the "Golden Rule" for county politics -- learn to count to four, the number of votes required for a majority on the seven-person board.

Herrera's timing was also questioned. When Herrera appeared on the television news calling for Askew's resignation, the county manager was on vacation.

"Dario hadn't been in this position; he had been strictly legislative before," Woodbury said. "The commission is not only legislative, but it's quasi-judicial and you also have the county manager to answer to you.

"The administrative side is new to Dario. This issue developed momentum on its own and it proved to be embarrassing to everyone."

Commissioner Lance Malone, who Herrera claimed supported Askew's ouster, said communication is the entire board's downfall and the Askew fiasco was a prime example of its weakness.

"That's where the communication could have been better," Malone said. "(Dario) should have communicated his frustrations to Dale and he didn't."

Looking back, Herrera admits he could have handled the situation better. But he believes he deserves credit for sharing his opinion, however controversial, with his constituents.

"I've been criticized for the way I handled the Dale Askew thing," Herrera said. "But my going public with my feelings has improved our relationship."

Herrera has also been knocked for his demeanor and actions during board meetings, behavior that has been chalked up by some as immaturity and by others as sheer arrogance.

For example, Herrera infuriated Desert Inn Estates homeowners during an ongoing debate about whether a privately funded monorail should be built near their homes. Herrera told his colleagues that worrying about the "minutia" would only bog down the process.

Residents, angry for being dismissed as minutia, accused the commissioner of being bought by the hotel companies proposing the system -- MGM Grand and the Hilton.

When it was reported Herrera received $70,000 from the casinos during his campaign, he corrected the figure and said with a faint smile: "It was more like $150,000."

He then defended his decision to vote in favor of the monorail by saying he received an equally large sum of campaign contributions from casinos that opposed the project.

Herrera has reiterated throughout the year that he uses his own discretion when determining whether he has a conflict of interest. Sometimes he votes, sometimes he doesn't.

He voted to accept Southwest Ambulance's application for a franchise, even though American Medical Response officials trying to keep hold of their Clark County monopoly had earlier rejected Herrera's offer to represent them through his public relations firm Massmedia Inc.

Yet, Herrera abstained from voting on a union-supported ordinance written to keep nonunion Wal-Mart from building a Supercenter store in the valley. Herrera explained that a client of his firm is a developer who leases space to union-organized grocery stores.

Unlike Woodbury, who abstained but sat through the heated debate, Herrera vanished during the public hearing.

Walton, who has built a reputation for lambasting elected officials for their ethical indiscretions, praised Herrera for his prudence.

"He is in a delicate position because the guy who works for Massmedia spells his name the same as the county commissioner," Walton said. "He has tried to be pretty circumspect over there."

Where Herrera's "insensitivities" have been exposed, Walton said, is with the social company he tends to keep.

Like several other elected officials in Las Vegas, Herrera has developed a friendship, for example, with Silver State Disposal President Steve Kalish. Herrera and his wife spent time during the Fourth of July weekend with Kalish at his vacation home in California.

A month earlier, Herrera and the rest of the board had voted to grant Silver State a 15-year contract extension worth roughly $1.5 billion.

Herrera admitted the contract extension was unusual because the garbage company's existing agreement wasn't scheduled to expire until 2001.

"We did the best thing we could do to protect the public," Herrera said.

Forming friendships with community powerhouses whose companies the board regulates not only presents conflicts of interest, but the relationships can leave elected officials in awkward positions.

Walton cited a recent accident in which two Silver State employees were killed when their truck plunged into a ravine. Silver State workers have publicly claimed the truck's brakes were faulty and the company failed to fix them.

The Nevada Highway Patrol is currently investigating the accident.

Another mover-and-shaker who has close relationships with elected officials, including Herrera, is developer Billy Walters. Earlier this month, Walters was indicted on money laundering charges.

"Herrera's got to create more space between himself and the lobbyists; he's got to see himself charged with protecting the public," Walton said. "If what Herrera wants to do is introduce a clean tone of representation, he'll have to consider this distance problem very hard."

One of Herrera's harshest critics is Brian Alvarez, a fellow board member with the Hispanics in Politics organization.

The 25-year-old Alvarez said he once considered Herrera his mentor because of his youth and interest in serving Nevada residents.

In fact, the UNLV activist said, he has been tagged by the Hispanic community as the next Dario Herrera, a label at one time he was honored to carry. But now Alvarez scoffs at Herrera's campaign promise to be local government's much-needed liaison to the Hispanic community.

"Now I don't want to be tagged as another Dario because I'm not someone who will lose touch with my community," Alvarez said. "He's one of the most important and prominent Hispanics in our community and he's nowhere to be seen."

Alvarez said the commissioner, who was elected to the Hispanics in Politics board, hasn't attended a board of directors meeting in seven months.

Herrera said between his work as commissioner, his partnership with Massmedia -- which he accepted at the beginning of his term -- and law classes at UNLV, he doesn't have time to serve on the board.

"You can't be everywhere you want to be, but I do represent the Hispanic community," Herrera said. "Other boards don't expect me to make meetings, they expect me to raise money."

Even Herrera's critics agree he is capable of raising funds and selling himself to the community. The question is: Will Herrera live up to all the expectations the entire community has placed on him?

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