MUTH’S TRUTHS

How much more of this will Nevada Republican leaders take before they finally say, “Enough!”?

Back in January, then-GOP Chairman Paul Adams resigned under pressure; pressure from a handful of party leaders led by then-Vice Chairman Paul Willis, not from the new Republican governor who had bigger things to worry about with the spendaholic Legislature about to come back into session.

As a result of the coup, Willis became the acting head of the Nevada GOP. The party’s bylaws required that Willis call a special meeting of the party’s Central Committee for the purpose of filling the vacancy, meaning by the end of March:

“During a vacancy in the office of State Chairman, the Vice-Chairman will exercise the powers and perform the duties of Chairman, and shall call a Special Meeting of the NRCC within 60 days, to elect the new Chairman.”

It’s right there, in black-and-white. But Willis, apparently desiring to drag out his 15 minutes of fame, ignored the bylaws and refused to schedule such a meeting, opting instead to postpone the election until the next regularly scheduled meeting at the end of April.

Worse, Adams’ replacement has been pre-ordained by consensus from the governor on down; a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to put someone in charge of the party operation with credentials up the wazoo: conservative former state Sen. Sue Lowden, a woman with a gaming and banking background, connections to the major donor community and experience working in the mainstream media.

As the Legislature convened and the Democrats began to beat up on Gov. Gibbons and the Republican agenda unmercifully, it was critical to get Mrs. Lowden into the game as quickly as possible. Especially since the party was broke. And the party’s bylaws specifically allowed for its Executive Committee to do just that:

“The duties of the Executive Committee shall be…(B.) To hear and resolve party controversies subject to review by the NRCC.”

The Executive Committee could have very easily and quickly convened an emergency meeting to resolve this vacancy controversy in the midst of the party’s dire financial situation, in the midst of a legislative session under a new Republican governor that only occurs (mercifully) once every two years, and in the midst of a media barrage attacking not just the governor, but the party’s overall agenda.

The Executive Committee could have brought Mrs. Lowden into the game under any number of different scenarios. They could have named her the “interim chairwoman,” subject to an official vote of the Central Committee at the next regularly-scheduled meeting. They could have hired her as the party’s Executive Director for $1 a year. They could have named her the party’s Chief Executive Officer or even the party Chief Financial Officer. The even could have simply made her Willis’ “Deputy Chairman” the way the Ohio GOP did in a similar situation last month.

All Willis had to do was call the meeting. Willis refused. Lowden remains on the bench.

Indeed, the governor’s office called Willis two weeks ago and told him to call me to discuss this matter and find a way to resolve the problem. I’ve been sitting by the phone waiting for his call ever since. But Willis has opted to blow off the governor’s request.

And then there’s the mess acting-Chairman Willis created over this whole GOP presidential caucus deal. He was against it, then for it, then against it, then for it, then against it…and finally came down firmly neither for or against it.

Fortunately, on Friday night - thanks entirely to the leadership of Sue Lowden herself, even though Willis still has her cooling her heels in the wings - the Executive Committee heard and resolved this particular controversy in a special meeting by voting unofficially to move the caucus up next year to January 19th with the Democrats. The decision is still subject to review by the Central Committee next month.

It’s one thing to block the incoming party chair from getting started right away; and it’s one thing to waste valuable time screwing around with moving up the presidential caucus; but this morning’s explosive column about Willis’ relationship with a brothel owner in Pahrump by Las Vegas Review Journal columnist John L. Smith should be the straw that breaks this camel’s back.

Let me first state, unequivocally, that there’s been no indictment or conviction of Willis himself in the controversy…and he might be guilty of nothing more than being the friend of a brothel owner. But that’s not the standard in politics. In politics, it’s the perception that counts. And, oh, what a perception THIS is!

As Smith reveals today, Nye County brothel owner Joe Richards “is under federal indictment for wire fraud in connection with his alleged attempt to bribe a commissioner named Candice Trummel.” Willis helped elect Trummel and Trummel, who apparently turned state’s witness against Richards, tried to sway Willis while he was a local commissioner. In addition, there have been accusations that Richards paid Willis and Willis may himself be under an active investigation over a land deal that would have benefited Richards tremendously.

“Asked to describe the nature of his friendship with the brothel owner,” writes Smith, “Willis repeatedly denied receiving compensation from Richards. He did, however, admit the two have traded favors.”

“I do things for friends,” Willis told Smith. “Friends do things for me. I don’t know if you call that compensation. When a friend’s wronged, I would stick up for a friend and vice versa, and … it would never effect my judgment on the community.”

If that doesn’t sound like a scene right out of The Sopranos, I don’t know what does. Badda-boom, badda-bing, make the cash register ring.

Again, there might be absolutely, positively nothing here from a legal standpoint. But it’s the POLITICS that’s the problem, especially with Willis being the party’s acting head and chief lightning rod. As Smith notes, “No matter how innocent their friendship might be, it stacks up as an embarrassment that promises to reverberate nationally for the GOP. Not all of America will embrace the concept of legalized whorehouses, brothel zoning and friendships between pimps and political players.”

Enough is enough. The Democrats have a six month jump on Nevada Republicans in getting their presidential caucus organized. The state GOP is rudderless and taking on water, all while going broke and mounting no opposition to the Democrats’ agenda during the bi-annual legislative session. And now, all people and the press are going to be talking about is the Nevada GOP chairman’s relationship with a brothel owner and whether or not he’s going to be indicted.

It’s WAY past time for Willis to step aside. And if he won’t do so voluntarily, it’s WAY past time for the Executive Committee fulfill its oversight responsibilities to step in get control of this situation. It’s darned-near criminal ineptitude for the party’s leaders to sit around and watch this controversy continue to fester without resolving it once and for all.

In fact, considering how badly the Executive Committee has completely and totally botched the party’s operations since January, if they don’t immediately force Willis out and get Sue Lowden in, perhaps it’s time for the party’s elected officials to call on every one of them to resign themselves and put into place a new, competent Executive Committee to save this sinking ship.

With Friday’s decision to move the GOP presidential caucus up to second-in-the-nation, the national media will soon begin examining the Nevada Republican Party with a magnifying glass. But even a blind man can see the potential for embarrassment once they, not to mention the Democrats, get hold of this “The Chairman and the Brothel Owner” story. It might not be “fair” to Mr. Willis, who hasn’t even been charged with anything yet, but it is political reality.

As Spock famously said in The Wrath of Khan, “The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few…or the one.”

For the good of the party, acting Chairman Willis needs to resign. Immediately.

Posted on March 25th, 2007 by Chuck Muth
Filed under: Nevada