The jobs of Clark County commissioners, shown here seated on the dais, would become mandatory full-time positions under a bill the state Senate will consider Monday.
Saturday, April 11, 2009 | 2 a.m.
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A bill to make Clark County commissioner a full-time job is poised to take another step forward Monday.
Senate Bill 11, approved by the Senate Government Affairs Committee, comes before the Senate for consideration of an amendment approved by the committee. The bill will then will be ready for final passage.
The legislation states that a Clark County commissioner “shall devote his entire time and attention to the business of his office and shall not pursue any other business or occupation or hold any other office of profit.”
The prohibition would take effect after the upcoming election cycle for each commission seat.
The bill would also allow the commission to set its own salaries. The Legislature now limits salary increases for commissioners. The current base salary of $73,971 will rise to $76,930 on July 1.
Sen. Terry Care, D-Las Vegas, who sponsored the bill, has argued that overseeing Clark County requires the elected officials’ full-time attention. The county budget, at $5.9 billion, is larger than the state’s, and the commission has authority over McCarran International Airport, Metro Police, parks, University Medical Center and water, Care has noted.
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Assemblyman James Ohrenschall should consider a side job doing stand-up comedy.
The Las Vegas Democrat has drafted a bill, Assembly Bill 163, to allow energy efficient vehicles to use Clark County’s HOV lanes, which are now reserved for vehicles carrying more than one passenger.
Before a vote on the Assembly floor Friday, veteran Assemblyman John Carpenter, R-Elko, stood and announced that he couldn’t wait to bring his fuel-efficient mules to Las Vegas and ride them in the HOV lanes.
“Mules on the I-15,” Assembly Speaker Barbara Buckley mulled.
Ohrenschall stood. “Your mules might be energy efficient,” he told Carpenter, “but they’re not zero-emission.”
The bill passed unanimously — and without a rimshot sounding.
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Gov. Jim Gibbons will spend part of his Easter Sunday on the steps of the Governor’s Mansion distributing decorated eggs to children.
About 5,000 eggs have been prepared for the event, featuring Gibbons’ name, but not that of his estranged wife Dawn.
The couple is in the midst of an acrimonious divorce.
Last year 2,000 children visited the mansion on Easter to receive eggs and to have their pictures taken with Gibbons.
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