College regent objects to bad manners and accusations

ELKO - Reacting to a full day of acrimony Thursday, Regent Dorothy Gallagher opened Friday's regents meeting with a sharp rebuke for fellow Regent Steve Sisolak.

It was the prelude to another series of arguments among the board members who oversee Nevada's universities and community colleges, and Sisolak was at the center of most of them.

Sisolak spent a good share of Thursday criticizing University of Nevada, Reno President Joe Crowley over his handling of the school's newly opened fire center just west of Elko.

That was followed by a bitter complaint from Truckee Meadows Community College President John Richardson that Crowley, in contracting with the Bureau of Land Management, had broken an agreement not to compete with TMCC's fire center at Stead Airport in Reno.

Crowley explained that BLM advised his office the agency would not have conducted the proposed program at TMCC, so he did not see it as competitive with Richardson's campus.

Gallagher apologized to the people of Elko, where the regents were meeting, and the state.

"For this board to behave in this manner without a word of protest is inexcusable," she said.

Privately, several other members of the board also expressed dismay at the proceedings, and even Sisolak said he was surprised at the tone of Richardson's attack.

But Sisolak was the focus of Gallagher's remarks. She will no longer "sit meeting after meeting and listen to Steve Sisolak rant and rave," Gallagher said.

"For anybody on this board to be an agent of destruction rather than construction is unacceptable," she said.

Sisolak said his questions weren't intended to insult or embarrass anyone.

"And if one of the regents doesn't want to sit through the meetings," he said, "there's a door at the back. She can leave."

Board Chairwoman Jill Derby quickly brought the meeting back to the agenda, but it did little good. The first item was Henderson State College President Richard Moore's proposal to designate UNR instead of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas as sponsor for the new college.

Sisolak immediately protested, saying the Henderson college should ally with UNLV.

UNLV President Carol Harter chimed in saying Moore's request was "a surprise and a disappointment."

Regent Tom Kirkpatrick said he was "resentful" and that it's "ludicrous to think of UNR as a sponsoring institution" because of its distance from Henderson.

Regent Doug Hill tried to shut down the bickering, saying "I wonder if we're ever going to end this party, and I hope so, but it looks as though we are going to continue going down that road."

Sisolak again complained when interim chancellor Jane Nichols requested approval for a list of appointments while searches are conducted for empty posts from vice chancellor to vice presidents of several campuses.

He said he can't support them without a search, but Derby pointed out the appointments are to fill the jobs while the searches are done for permanent administrators. His complaint made no sense, Derby said.

A few minutes later, an undeterred Sisolak again complained when asked to hire Crowley as system lobbyist in the 2001 Legislature.

He asked whether there was a search to find the best candidate and whether the system needs a lobbyist. And he asked whether Crowley, who is retiring after serving as UNR president for 23 years, could lobby objectively for the entire system.

All but one of the various campus presidents gave Crowley a ringing endorsement for his experience, knowledge and credibility with the Legislature. They told the board the system needs his help this coming session.

In the end, Sisolak's was the only vote against hiring Crowley.