Wednesday, May 2, 2007 | 7:13 a.m.
Newly elected Clark County Commissioner Chris Giunchigliani ruffled feathers right from the start when she voted in January against giving a pay boost to Randy Walker, the powerful aviation director.
Her dissent didn't matter much, as Walker got the raise by a 6-1 vote. Some speculated at the time that Giunchigliani's vote was merely a bit of showmanship, an attempt to establish herself as the commission's independent thinker.
If that was the case, however, the show goes on. Giunchigliani's nay votes have been a consistent and marked contrast to the unanimity of the previous County Commission.
Moreover, Giunchigliani's intense questioning of county staff and the occasional concerns raised by fellow rookies Susan Brager and Lawrence Weekly have resulted in a subtly different kind of commission.
While in recent years commissioners typically got their questions answered during closed-door briefings from staff, Giunchigliani prefers to have those discussions on the floor of the Commission Chambers. Rather than a procession of what some saw as rubber-stamp votes, there is now more debate, discussion and dissent.
Since she joined the commission four months ago, individual commissioners have broken ranks with the majority 21 times during regular and zoning meetings, compared with eight instances during the same period last year. With eight no votes of her own, Giunchigliani already has cast as many dissenting votes this year as all commissioners combined during the same period last year.
The change has been met with mixed reactions.
Some say Giunchigliani needlessly embarrasses staff, and critics are wary of fissures forming among commissioners. Others, however, welcome the increased scrutiny, saying it challenges county staff to do better and makes government more transparent.
"She is different and that makes some staff less comfortable with her approach," said one county staffer, who, like others , spoke on condition of anonymity. "I think it makes staff aware they need to be thoughtful. There is an atmosphere that more information is required."
Others are concerned about less harmony on the board.
"One worry that I have is it seems like the real cohesiveness of the last board may be deteriorating somewhat," one longtime staffer said. "Healthy debate of ideas and policy directions - that's always a good thing. If it ends up degenerating into an ugly public debate that is a divisive influence in the community and gives a negative perception of the county itself, then I believe that's negative."
The concern is partly because dissent became a dirty word after the commissions of the late 1990s and early this decade. Much of the debate and backbiting of those days stemmed from votes that the FBI later found had been influenced by bribes. Four former commissioners are now serving or facing prison time on public corruption charges.
In the most recent years, there has been a strong shift in the other direction, a pendulum swing toward order, consistency and collegiality. Most have found the change agreeable, especially county staffers who were relieved to get consistent and clear policy direction from their supervisory board.
Giunchigliani is departing from that mode, saying good governance requires tough questions and a transparent, even if sometimes ugly, decision-making process.
While her colleagues don't necessarily question her motives, some are concerned about her means.
Compared with her predecessor, Myrna Williams, "she is much more adversarial," one commissioner said. "Staff doesn't understand what they've done to her."
Giunchigliani says she isn't trying to be adversarial.
"I never intend to embarrass staff," she said. "If staff can't answer the question adequately, then maybe they weren't prepped."
Part of the stylistic difference between her and other commissioners, she said, is that she served for 16 years in the Legislature, where lawmakers get an opportunity of only several months every two years to make decisions.
"I think in some ways I tend to ask a lot more questions," Giunchigliani said. "I kind of grew up in the very public realm of the Legislature."
Commissioner Tom Collins, who also served in the Assembly and often joins Giunchigliani in her dissent, said the increased level of public discussion and questioning of county staff is a good thing.
"I think we are getting away from doing things just because that's how grandma always did it," he said. "I think you are going to see a lot more open government activity with this board. The questions are being asked in public instead of being asked in their offices."
Giunchigliani's two fellow commission newcomers also have contributed to the changed atmosphere.
Weekly differs markedly from his predecessor, Yvonne Atkinson Gates.
Weekly holds no outside employment and considers his County Commission job a full-time one. He has attended all its major meetings since succeeding Atkinson Gates in March after she stepped down midterm to focus on private business interests. Atkinson Gates regularly missed commission meetings, earning a reputation for absenteeism and tardiness.
Weekly's accessibility has been noticeable, Commission Chairman Rory Reid said.
"He is a presence on the sixth floor," Reid said, referring to the commission's offices. "He is there all the time."
Brager also has brought a new perspective to the commission. As a real estate agent and former School Board member, she is accustomed to dealing with the kind of complex issues commissioners routinely face, her colleagues say.
Those who observe the commission closely also have noticed a change in the level of discourse with the addition of the three new commissioners.
"There is a significant level of thoughtfulness that exists on the part of the new commissioners," Steve Wark, a Republican political consultant, said. "I think that's a noticeable difference. There is a level of consciousness that hasn't been there for a while."
What remains to be seen is whether some of that will fade as the new members become more familiar with the issues and commissioners iron out style wrinkles.
"I think right now they are just figuring each other out," said Billy Vassiliadis, chief executive of R&R Partners, an advertising and public affairs firm.
Dan Hart, a Democratic campaign consultant, agreed.
"Is it just a meshing of style or is it a meshing of philosophies?" he said. "I don't think we can answer that yet."
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