At a November 6 meeting, County Commissioners debated the financial impact on the County of hiring outside lawyers to supplement the County’s in-house legal staff. The meeting provided the elected representative for District B to opine on a host of unrelated topics, providing the public a rare glimpse into how Tom Collins sees The Big Picture of Clark County in 2007.  Here is a verbatim transcript of his comments to his fellow Commissioners:

 

I LOVE THIS LONG DISCUSSION ON JUSTICE BY BUDGET.

 

YOU KNOW IT HAS GOT TO FIT INTO OUR BUDGET AND NO NEW TAXES.

I THINK WE'RE PIECING THIS THING. THERE IS UNINTENDED CONSEQUENCES.

 

Collins is frustrated that he can’t raise taxes at will, believing that the government that works best is the government with the biggest bank account. Tom just cannot see the value of having government do what every citizen must do: operate successfully with the money that’s in their bank account. For Tom, he’d raise your taxes again and again.    

 

THERE'S A CASE A FEW YEARS AGO IN NORTHERN CENTRAL NEVADA. THE GUY IN THE HIGHWAY KILLS THE HIGHWAY PATROLMAN. WE WILL BREAK THAT COUNTY'S BUDGET IF WE TRY THAT GUY IN OUR DISTRICT COURT. THAT'S NOT BEEN BUT A FEW YEARS AGO. SO WE HAD TO FINE HIM A MILLION DOLLARS. THAT'S WHERE THAT NUMBER. THAT'S FOR THE LEGAL GUY.

 

In a stretch even for Tom Collins, he is suggesting Clark County is one lawsuit away from insolvency. Passing off hyperbole as fact is a way of life for Tom Collins.

 

THAT'S NOT THE WHOLE, THE COURT, AND THE JURY, AND THE INVESTIGATIONS AND ALL OF THE LIGHT BULBS AND THE CHAIRS AND EVERYTHING ELSE.

WE'RE LOOKING AT HIRING SOMEONE WHETHER THEY ARE $10,000 BECAUSE SOME DAY HE WILL MAKE $200,000 AND WE CAN'T HIRE ANYONE AT 25, BECAUSE THE GUY RETIRED MADE 50, UNTIL WE PAY THIS OFF.

 

Incomprehensible “voodoo economics” but he’s just warming up . . .

 

WHETHER IT IS MORE COPS-- THE FACT THAT CONSTRUCTION IS DOWN, THERE'S MORE PEOPLE STEALING WIRE BECAUSE IT IS $2 AN HOUR. WE CAN'T CONTROL THE INTERNATIONAL COST OF COPPER. SO WE'VE GOT $3 OR $4 MILLION REPLACING THAT TO KEEP THE STREET LIGHTS ON.  

 

Commercial construction projects are employing thousands, contrary to Collins’ claim. While homebuilding is down, there is no link between copper thefts and unemployed construction personnel. Local police instead suggest meth users steal copper to fund their drug addiction.

 

THE LEGISLATURE PASSES LAW, THE JUDICIAL COMMITTEE FOR FOUR TERMS AND SPECIAL SESSIONS, WE DID THINGS.

 

WE PASSED AN ORDINANCE ON ANIMALS PRETTY SOON THERE IS GOING TO BE A LAW THAT PIT BULLS HAVE THEIR TEETH PULLED AND ROOSTERS WITH MORE THAN THREE QUARTER INCH SPURS WILL HAVE TO HAVE A BOOT.

 

ALL OF THESE LITTLE THINGS, IT SEEMS LIKE THEY'RE SO IRRELEVANT, ADD UP.

 

You sense Tom has had an epiphany; a light bulb goes off as he realizes more laws necessitates having more lawyers to prosecute offenders.  

 

AND WE'RE NOT -- I DON'T THINK WE'RE LOOKING AT A WHOLE PRESENTATION.

PART OF THESE THINGS I THINK ARE GOOD IDEAS. I THINK SOME OF THE THINGS -- WHAT'S THE DIFFERENCE IN PLEA BARGAINS FROM 1980 TO TODAY. WHAT'S THE DIFFERENCE IN CASES THE DISTRICT ATTORNEY DECLINES TO PROSECUTE FROM 1990 TO TODAY. HOW MANY WARRANTS? HOW MANY OVERCROWDED BEDS WE HAVE IN THE JAILS?

 

WE'RE STILL NOT ADDRESSING THE PROBLEMS.

 

WE'RE ALLOWING BUSINESSES TO COME IN AND OPEN UP SHOP AND WE HAVE A DEFICIT.

 

Surely, Collins doesn’t believe expanded economic growth creates budget deficits. If he does, it’s time for new blood on the County Commission. Collins is now on the record for not wanting more businesses to come and prosper in the Las Vegas Valley.  

 

THIS IS A MUCH BIGGER ISSUE THAN -- YOU KNOW WHETHER WE'RE THROWING A GUY IN JAIL FOR SIX MONTHS FOR A $500 FINE OR SIX MONTH FINE OR LETTING HIM OUT, BECAUSE WE DON'T HAVE ANY ROOM IN OUR JAIL.  SO THEY CONTINUE TO REPEAT THE CRIMES.

 

Collins’ “get tough on crime” initiative is to build more jails . . .

 

IT TAKES US -- YOU KNOW HOW MANY CASES ARE DROPPED THAT SHOULD BE PROSECUTED.

 

WHO’S MAKING THOSE DECISIONS?

 

. . . then within seconds, he blasts the legal system for not putting more criminals behind bars — true “pretzel logic”.

 

HOW MANY COURT RULINGS HAVE CAUSED US TO HAVE TO NOW CHANGE WHAT WE'RE DOING IN OUR COURT SYSTEM AND OUR COUNTY PROCESS RIGHT HERE IN THIS ROOM.

 

Collins is frustrated at having to make laws which conform to the Constitution and legal precedent. It would be so much easier if he were King ruling through royal edicts over a feudal colony instead of muddling along as a County Commissioner.

 

AND THE REOCCURRING THING I HEAR THE MOST IN THE LAST HOUR AND A HALF ALMOST IS JUSTICE BY BUDGET. DOES IT FIT OUR BUDGET.  CAN WE AFFORD TO DO THIS OR THAT?

 

THAT'S NOT THE POINT. THE POINT IS JUSTICE FOR EVERYONE IN THIS COUNTRY OR AT LEAST CLARK COUNTY. AND SO -- WE NEED TO BE -- I THINK REFOCUS ON THE FACT THAT -- THERE'S MORE PEOPLE WHO LIVE HERE. WE NEED MORE LAWYERS. THERE'S MORE ROADS. WE NEED MORE PEOPLE TO FIX ROADS.

THERE'S MORE -- DOG FIGHTS AND CHICKEN FIGHTS AND CAR ACCIDENTS AND SO, WE NEED MORE STOP SIGNS AND TRAFFIC LIGHTS. WE NEED TO ADDRESS THE WHOLE THING ABOUT IT. SO -- WHETHER WE HIRE ANOTHER LAWYER, CONTRACT LAWYER OR IN-HOUSE LAWYER, WE NEED TO BUILD MORE COURTHOUSES.  WE NEED MORE JUDGES.

 

Sustained growth of Clark County requires additional governance. It is as if Collins wishes he could turn back time to when the County was less populated and therefore, there was less demand for government services. Of course, he advocates more services then bemoans paying for them. Someday, Collins will realize you can’t have your cake and eat it, too.

 

WE'RE GOING TO CONTINUE TO GO AROUND AND AROUND AND AROUND WITH THIS THING, AS LONG AS WE DO JUSTICE BY GOVERNMENT.

 

True to Tom, it’s always a complaint and never a solution offered up.

 

I JUST WANT TO SAY THAT, BECAUSE -- WE'RE DECIDING WHETHER OR NOT WE WILL LET THE PUBLIC DEFENDERS OFFICE OR THE COURTS OR THE DISTRICT ATTORNEYS OFFICE OPERATE IT -- WE WANT YOU TO DO THE BEST JOB YOU CAN, BUT THIS IS ALL YOU CAN SPEND. IT IS LIKE LOADING UP THE KIDS AND PLANNING ON A TRIP TO ILLINOIS WITH ONLY THREE TIRES ON YOUR CAR. I THINK THAT'S HOW WE'RE RUNNING.

 

It’s not at all like that, Tom. Bureaucrats sing one song: we need more money! The art of governance is the careful orchestration of priorities and allocating resources accordingly.  Squeaky wheels abound, funds are limited, so deal with it, Tom. Tell us you have a solution . . .

 

SO -- SO -- IF WE GOT TO START PRINTING OUR OWN MONEY OR SOMETHING -- WE GOT TO DO SOMETHING DIFFERENT.

 

How innovative: print our own money “or something”.

 

WE HAVE TO QUIT ALLOWING BUSINESSES THAT DON'T PROVIDE INSURANCE WHILE WE HAVE A DEFICIT AT UNC.

 

Again, businesses are part of the problem, not staff mismanagement and inept decision making at UMC. Clearly, Tom is not a friend of business owners.

 

WE HAVE TO CLOSE BUSINESSES THAT BREAK THE LAW AND PUT PEOPLE IN JAIL IF WE ARE GOING TO LOWER CRIME IN THIS COMMUNITY.

 

WE'RE NOT GOING TO DO THAT, IF WE DON'T HAVE MORE ATTORNEYS IN MORE COURTS DOING AN EFFICIENT JOB AND A MORE RESPONSIBLE COMMUNITY.

 

That’s the ticket, Tom: get tough on white collar crime. Rounding up the crooked businessmen with those larceny-inclined out-of-work construction trades people will make Clark County the envy of the world, since all crime will cease, thanks to the leadership of the elected representative from District B. Citizens, it’s time for a change on the County Commission, obviously.

 

IF WE HAVE THIS NO NEW TAXES PLEDGE, WE WILL NOT FUND EDUCATION ADEQUATELY SO THEY WILL LEARN TO MAKE A QUICKER BUCK STEALING SOMETHING.

 

Frighteningly, Tom believes criminals abound because government doesn’t spend enough on schools. The loop is closed — no taxes to fund schools (a State and Federal funding dilemma mismanaged for years by Collins and his cronies in the State Legislature) so citizens turn to crime. So the source of the County’s ills isn’t really crooked businesspeople, or that more laws that need prosecution, or there are too few jail cells and courthouses, and generally the County does “justice by budget”, eh, Tom? It’s that we are not educating the citizens adequately. Thanks for drilling down the the core issue.

 

SO -- I'VE SAID MY THING. THANK YOU.

 

Mr. Collins full “speech” appears on pages 78-80 of the meeting’s Nov. 6 transcript; the full transcript of all County Commission meetings is on the web at:  http://www.co.clark.nv.us/Public_communications/BCC_Minutes.htm