No Mo' "Vegas 911!"?

So it finally happened. After a series of threats, they finally did it. Yesterday, Clark County Commissioners voted unanimously to abolish the Las Vegas Township Constable's Office in 2015.

Barring a legal decision to the contrary, the Las Vegas Township Constable’s Office will be abolished in 2015.

The Clark County Commission, after two hours of discussion at their meeting Tuesday, voted unanimously to abolish the office, effective when the term of the current elected constable, John Bonaventura, expires in January 2015. [...]

The primary job of the office is to enforce evictions and serve civil documents such as subpoenas, property liens, court summonses and wage garnishments filed in Las Vegas Township.

Although commissioners have not determined how the duties of the office would be divided among other agencies, most of them likely will fall to the sheriff's civil process section. [...]

Commissioner Chris Giunchigliani said the decision to abolish the office this time around stems from an effort to provide services more efficiently.

“The office in my mind is no longer necessary. We have a sheriff’s office that can handle it. We have private sector folks that can do it,” she said.

In recent years, the Las Vegas Constable's Office (and especially Constable John Bonaventura himself) has been making news for all the wrong reasons. Sexual harassment allegations, a DUI arrest, meddling in the Steven Brooks scandal, and even a reality TV audition video (??!!) have created some embarrassing headlines. And the Clark County Commission wants no more of it.

However, this story is far from over. Bonaventura is now suing to halt this planned abolition of his office. A hearing has been set for April 30.

And this isn't even the only effort to abolish the Las Vegas Constable's Office. On Monday, State Senate Minority Leader Michael Roberson (R-Attention) dropped SB 294, which abolishes the office and shifts duties to the Sheriff's Office as soon as the bill becomes law. So there's also that.

And something's telling me this melodrama won't be going away any time soon. Bonaventura seems to like his current gig, so he doesn't want it to be pulled away so soon. Yet Clark County Commissioners are tired of the scandalicious headlines, and the recent news has made them question the very necessity of the Constable's Office. Even certain Nevada legislators want to elbow their way into this story.

In the mean time, we're just wondering when we can expect local law enforcement that our communities can trust. Let us know when that happens.

Some 411 on "Vegas 911!"

Back in January, and just as the Steven Brooks scandal began kicking into high gear, a sideshow to the media circus' main event emerged when Las Vegas Township Constable John Bonaventura agreed to "provide security" for Brooks when he first returned to Carson City. But wait, how could do he do that? And why was he injecting himself into the Brooks affair?

Bonaventura claimed he was filling a void in law enforcement. Others, however, claimed that he was just trying to settle a score with political rival and Assembly Speaker Marilyn Kirkpatrick (D-North Las Vegas). And since then, more questions have arisen on the very necessity of the Constable's Office.

As of late, the Las Vegas Constable's Office has been in the news for all the wrong reasons. We already mentioned the Brooks scandal above. John Bonaventura was arrested on a drunk driving charge last month, though Clark County DA later decided to drop the charge. Last year, Bonaventura faced sexual harassment allegations. And of course, there was the "Reno 911!"-esque reality TV audition in 2011.

Yikes. There's been a whole lot of drama at that office. So what is it actually responsible for? Here's the condensed Wikipedia version of an explanation.

Constables are elected peace officers who have statewide powers similar to sheriffs, marshals and police officers, as per NRS 289.150 , but in practice some constables maintain a relatively low profile in the law enforcement community. Constables and their deputies must be Nevada POST certified category 1 or category 2 within 1 year of being sworn in, in order to keep their peace officer status. [...]

The primary duties of constables are to act as a civil enforcement agency. This includes the service in minor civil cases in the Justice Courts of subpoenas, evictions, summons, vehicle and property liens, and wage garnishments, and also enforcing vehicle registration laws.

This is why Kirkpatrick and other state legislators are considering legislation to clarify the role of constables. Meanwhile, Clark County Commissioners are considering abolishing the Las Vegas Township Constable's Office altogether. After all, why have this office do tasks that Metro and other local law enforcement agencies can easily take on?

Commissioner Chris Giunchigliani proposed the ordinance.

"The ordinance that I plan to bring says that the office is redundant, it's no longer working in the way that we believe it should and therefore we need to abolish it, and in two years, we still have an opportunity to look at that."

That, in turn, has led to this.

Bonaventura filed a lawsuit Wednesday against the commissioners in an attempt to prevent them from taking action to abolish his position. A hearing is scheduled for Monday, one day before the commissioners were set to discuss eliminating his job.

In the lawsuit, Bonaventura is seeking to challenge the constitutionality of the commissioners' attempt to abolish the constable’s office. The lawsuit alleges that his office has been subject to questionable acts, such as the county taking $2 million of the constable funds without public notice, agenda or vote.

And that, in turn, has led to this.

Clark County officials have demanded that Constable John Bonaventura outline why he hired lawyers for more than $30,000 or be held personally liable for the expense.

The letter [...] essentially says Bonaventura may have broken the law, needs to pay up or the district attorney will be involved.

And this is all over a supplementary law enforcement agency best known for serving foreclosure notices... And jumping deep into scandals.

Frankly, I'm still trying to wrap my head around this. How did John Bonaventura win elected office (again)? Does Clark County still need constables for law enforcement? And may it finally be time to overhaul and update our law enforcement framework?

Perhaps John Bonaventura is serving a useful purpose. With his wild antics, he's highlighting this problem. It's become more difficult for County Commissioners and state legislators to just sweep this embarrassing series of incidents under the rug. Something must be done.

So what will be done? That will be up to Clark County Commissioners. They should just know that should they decide to shift current constable duties to local police departments, the police departments must be better trained in constituent services.

(What About) The Real Issues Behind the Steven Brooks Scandal?

Surprise, surprise... Or not.

As expected, tensions rose in Carson City as scandal plagued Assembly Member Steven Brooks (D-North Las Vegas) returned to the Legislature. Interestingly, it didn't last long. Nonetheless, he made a grand exit!



All of a sudden, this serious case of a potentially dangerous situation erupting in the Nevada Legislature seems to be turning into Nevada Government's own sordid "reality TV" affair. No really, this happened.

Brooks, carrying a cane, wearing dark sunglasses and covering his head with a beige hood, was whisked by police into the Legislative Building and ushered into a closed conference room on the first floor of the building. As legislative staff attempted to divert reporters, Brooks was escorted out of the building after his meeting with police.

Brooks uttered a muffled "No comment," before flashing the peace sign to pursuing reporters.

At least he and Assembly Speaker Marilyn Kirkpatrick (D-North Las Vegas) were not in the same room today. He ultimately declined to participate in the Assembly Ways & Means hearing that he had originally planned to attend. Instead, he found another way to snub Kirkpatrick.

In another twist to the emerging story, the Clark County Constable's Office sent a deputy with Brooks to provide him personal protection while in Carson City. Constable John Bonaventura has a political rivalry with Kirkpatrick, who is sponsoring legislation to change how the constable's office governed. Bonaventura has been a controversial figure who proposed a reality television show based on his office.

Brooks' lawyer Mitchell Posin confirmed the constable's office offered Brooks personal protection.

"I haven't heard of it either, but this is apparently something they do," Posin said. "It was offered."

Brooks had earlier sought protection from legislative police, worried that a fugitive gang member was after him. Posin said the constable was there to protect him from both gang members and Kirkpatrick.

"Very likely both," Posin said when asked from whom Brooks needed protection.

Now this is really starting to resemble a circus... Albeit a fairly scary circus. I'll become even more frightened if Bravo, TLC, and/or VH1 camera crews are soon seen in Carson City. No wonder why some legislators have become increasingly irritated by the media fixation on the Steven Brooks scandal.

So what are we to do? And what should the "mainstream media" do? There's a reason why I've been trying to focus more on the real public policy problems revealed in this scandal.

But the extent of that anger wasn’t clear until Saturday afternoon, when Atkinson answered his phone and received a warning from “a person close to Brooks” that the assemblyman was looking to hurt Kirkpatrick.

The call so alarmed Atkinson that he called Kirkpatrick, who immediately dialed the police.

According to the police report, Kirkpatrick said Atkinson sent her a text message indicating that "no one else should feel safe around Brooks" and that if Brooks were to show up to the first legislative session, he "would find a way to keep him out of the building." [...]

Brooks’ wife, Ada Brooks, told police the handgun belonged to “one of Steven’s friends who owned a security company.”

Ada Brooks also said that during the past few months, her husband's mental health “has been getting worse and she is worried about him.” Kirkpatrick told police Brooks had been released from Seven Hills Behavioral Center the night before.

As I've been saying here since yesterday, this should make both our legislators and our members of Congress think more about the state of mental health care and the many cracks in current gun laws. (Desert Beacon reported earlier today on some G-O-TEA legislators' latest proposal to crack Nevada's already flimsy gun laws even more.) Again, there are real public policy issues that should come to the forefront now.

But will they? Or will it all be overshadowed by bizarre theatrics and media speculation over personal rivalries?