Public buildings for public use

Nevada secretary of state deputies made a common-sense compromise when they decided petition circulators can't necessarily be barred from Department of Motor Vehicle offices.

It may not have been the wisdom of Solomon, but the determination by Dean Heller's chief deputy, Renee Parker, and elections deputy, Ronda Moore, helped preserve both the rights of citizens and the sanity of state offices.

The issue came up when people trying to collect signatures on petitions to recall Gov. Kenny Guinn were told they couldn't be in a DMV office in Las Vegas. More than that, they said they were harrassed and threatened with arrest.

In the first place, such incidents need not get out of hand. We've been told of overbearing security in public buildings in Carson City a few times, and they're usually an overreaction.

In the Las Vegas incident earlier this month, the security officers were acting on a "blanket policy" that barred petition groups from being in the offices. So they ran off the petitioners.

The secretary of state's decision contained a nice piece of commentary as it rejected the DMV's claim officers were simply trying to clarify the process.

"This statement is disingenuous because we cannot imagine any circumstance where an order to vacate the premises under threat of arrest legitimately can be construed as a clarification of the process," the ruling states.

There can be no blanket policy, the ruling concluded, because there may be places where signature-gatherers can conduct an orderly campaign without disturbing DMV customers or staff.

That's exactly the kind of balance that must govern such determinations. People who work in state buildings must feel safe and comfortable, but they also need to remember they are public buildings. The public also shouldn't get hassled as they try to conduct business there. And petition-circulators should have access to lobby areas, for example, without overstepping their bounds.

Inherent conflicts of interest between a state workforce employed by a governor and a group trying to recall him need not devolve into unnecessary confrontations.