Tuesday, April 2, 1996 | 11:59 a.m.
Once again, the letter-writing activities of Rep. John Ensign, R-Nev., have gotten him into political hot water.
Ensign apologized Monday to Clark County commissioners for a letter urging their financial support of a local pregnancy counseling center founded by anti-abortion activist Ruth McGroarty.
"The purpose for the letter was not to step on anybody's toes or go against anybody's jurisdiction," Ensign said. "I just wanted them to make sure they got all the information on this program."
Ensign last apologized for writing a letter withdrawing his support of a proposed truck yard in Jean without disclosing his family interests in two casinos affected by the project.
Ensign sent commissioners a letter last week urging them to give $235,174 in federal Community Development Block Grant funding to Life Line Pregnancy Assistance Center.
Today the commissioners were to vote on how to spend $4.46 million of CDBG funds. A citizens' advisory committee made the recommendations from $18 million in requests.
Several commissioners were more put off by the tone of the letter than the project -- and said their decision is not affected by partisan politics or positions on abortion.
"The real issue is whether a federal official should exert that kind of power," Commissioner Erin Kenny said.
Chairwoman Yvonne Atkinson Gates said Ensign's letter puts the board "in a very awkward position, because he sits on key committees that approve CDBG funds. He says fund this and if you don't -- what's the implication?"
Ensign implied he would be more inclined to continue supporting the federal CDBG program if the board approved the Life Line request.
"I have committed to numerous officials in Nevada that I will do my best to ensure that CDBG is not cut and I have voted for appropriations bills which kept that commitment," Ensign wrote. "Accordingly, I wanted to make sure that my views are taken into account as this process moves forward."
Congressional records show Ensign voted March 7 against the majority on the most recent appropriations bill that included CDBG funding, and sat on two House Ways and Means subcommittees that let CDBG bills die without a hearing.
He did vote with the majority for an appropriations bill containing CDBG funding in December, but that bill was vetoed by President Clinton.
Life Line, a nonprofit group offering teen pregnancy counseling since 1973, had asked for $235,174 to start a jobs-training program for pregnant single mothers.
McGroarty said the program is not anti-abortion and that she is tired of having her views on abortion become an issue whenever she asks for funds, especially when Nevada has the highest teenage birth rate in the nation.
"I have to defend myself for being pro-life, this is strange," she said. "When I started Boys Town, they didn't ask me if I was pro-life. When I started St. Jude's Ranch, they didn't ask."
McGroarty said her program is supported by the Clark County School District, and last year received a one-time appropriation of $200,000 from the Legislature. That appropriation was a last-minute amendment pushed by Senate Majority Leader Bill Raggio, R-Reno.
Ensign said he wasn't trying to put any undue pressure on the commission to do the same, but spent three paragraphs criticizing the selection process as inaccurate and inconsistent.
Ensign's Southern Nevada director, Sonia Joya, has sat on the Life Line board since January.
County Community Resources Manager Douglas Bell defended the citizens' committee's recommendations. Bell said CDBG traditionally has been a bricks-and-mortar program, and that federal law allows only up to 15 percent to go to service programs such as Life Line.
Life Line's request would have used 35 percent of the county's total spending cap of $699,000 for public service programs, Bell said.
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