The Nevada “Power Rangers”: Pete Ernaut

and the Harry Reid Land Deal

by Richard Disney

A saying in Nevada could go something like this; “Governors come and go, but the Power Rangers stay the same.” In our look at the four most powerful people in Nevada, we examine the fourth “Power Ranger” of the series, Pete Ernaut. It is no surprise that Pete is also affiliated with his colleagues at R&R Partners Inc., which is the most powerful “political factory” in Nevada. In few other places does one find a company that does advertising, public relations, government affairs, campaign consulting and lobbying all under one roof. Once you see the areas of activity combined within R&R Partners Inc., you can see why they have unsurpassed power in their ability to influence the state government and beyond.

Concentration of power should be worrisome to most Nevadans who value independence from government influence. Some people again may be reading this and saying “so what?” The reason is that all citizens with a desire for fair and transparent government should always be concerned with the centralization of power. In Nevada, power is centralized much more than most people realize. Four is a very small number of people to control this state.

Pete Ernaut is the consummate “good ‘ol boy” in his friendly demeanor and down home way with words. Pete led the campaign to elect Nevada Governor Kenny Guinn and served as Guinn’s chief of staff during his first term. Pete moved over to help Senator John Ensign get elected and Pete solidified his position as a kingmaker. Ernaut proclaims being a proud Republican but like the rest of the Nevada “Power Rangers”, he will join Democrat and liberal causes when considered advantageous to the growth and consolidation of power by Pete and his colleagues.

We are seeing a lot of news activity lately having to do with dubious sweetheart land deals and the Nevada Power Rangers. The Associated Press (AP) broke the news yesterday about Senator Harry Reid’s “$1.1 million dollar windfall on a Las Vegas land sale even though he hadn't personally owned the property for three years.”  This is noteworthy especially because of the drumbeat of accusations leveled by Reid against Republican lawmakers about having a “culture of corruption.” It appears that Harry Reid is throwing stones while trying to carefully avoid hitting his own glass house. The Reid land deal is casting more light on his activities and profit in helping Nevada “Power Ranger” Harvey Whittemore secure extremely preferential treatment in the rezoning and acquisition of the huge property development in the new Coyote Springs, Nevada area. I found it interesting but not surprising to see another one of the four “Power Rangers”, Billy Vassiliadis being interviewed while sitting in a beautifully developed area of Whittemore’s Coyote Springs this week. It is a very small club of only four so the chances are good that all four will share in the giant profits brought about by Harry Reid’s considerable political influence.

Another part of the controversy developing around Harry Reid’s land deal maneuvering is a matter of ethics. According to the AP, “Senate ethics rules require lawmakers to disclose on their annual ethics report all transactions involving investment properties _ regardless of profit or loss _ and to report any ownership stake in companies.” It seems that declaring the $1.1 million dollars pocketed by Reid for the afore mentioned land deal wasn’t included in the required declaration. These land deal schemes are reminiscent of Bill and Hillary Clinton’s Whitewater land scandal. Perhaps we should label the developing scandal involving Harry Reid the Brown Desert Land Scandal. There must be some substance to the accusations against Reid as indicated by his response to questions posed by an AP reporter. The normally verbose Senator Reid, “hung up the phone when questioned about the deal during an AP interview last week.” The story is continuing to develop today as Reid claimed during a Las Vegas news conference that, “Everything I did was transparent.” If Reid’s statement is accurate, the brewing Brown Desert controversy would not have seen the light of day. For more information on the developing story go to http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/R/REID_LAND_WINDFALL?SITE=PASTR&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT.

Harry Reid Photo link: http://hosted.ap.org/photos/E/ef0ff181-4c90-4661-8192-f0290c53b66a-big.jpg.

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