Sue Morrow: Vaughn Smith's treasure trove of views

Carson City's Vaughn Smith is a soft-spoken, diminutive 89-year-old, but that doesn't mean he doesn't speak his mind.

The Iowa native came to the capital city from Reno in 1955 and served as clerk-treasurer from 1971 to 1979.

Talking about politics and city issues with Smith has always been insightful and interesting, but until now I had never delved in to his experiences related to his two terms in the job.

When he came into office - the clerk-treasurer's post was later changed to clerk-recorder - punch-card ballots went in to use for the city's elections. Smith said he considers them far superior to the current touch-screen machines in use today.

"It's much easier to stuff the ballot with the touch screen," he said. "That's a matter of technology, and I don't want to describe it for fear somebody will do it."

Smith recalled a disputed election between Paul Laxalt, former Nevada governor, and Harry Reid, now the Senate majority leader, for the U.S. Senate. There was a difference of about 70 votes, and Laxalt won after Smith's office did a recount of the punch-card ballots.

"Both sides applauded our conduction of the recount and said it was very fair and well done," Smith recalled.

He said one of the first things he did when he went in to office was clean out the voter registration list, which included people who lived in Washoe, Lyon and Douglas counties and who weren't eligible to vote in Carson City. The confusion, he said, stemmed from the U.S. Postal Service giving those people Carson City mailing addresses.

Many of those removed from the voter registration rolls complained, Smith said. It didn't help that the parents of one of the members of the Board of Supervisors lived at Lake Tahoe and were among the many found ineligible to vote here.

From then on, "I forever had problems dealing with that particular supervisor," he said.

Although elected city offices are nonpartisan, Democrat Smith said the mayors and supervisors during his tenure were mostly registered Republicans. This resulted in problems during his terms, he said, including his unsuccessful efforts to change the clerk-treasurer's title changed to clerk-recorder, which had more similar duties than that of treasurer. This change came only after his Republican challenger knocked Smith out of office when he ran for a third term, he said.

Smith said he beat his first opponent by a slim 19 votes, but the man didn't ask for a recount, saying Smith had won "fair and square." Smith's barber congratulated him but admonished, "Now don't rock the boat, and you can stay there (in office) as long as you want."

That warning, which proved to be prophetic, went unheeded.

On the advice of the district attorney, Smith refused to sign a check covering for the Republican mayor's wife's expenses to accompany her husband to a conference in Hawaii. The recorder did the same thing - city checks had to be signed by both officials - but it was Smith who took the heat, he said, because the recorder insisted that Smith notify the city manager of the decision.

Smith said he garnered more than 60 percent of the votes in his first re-election bid and lost the next one by 300 votes to a Republican. He blames that outcome on partisan politics and smears.

There was no trace of bitterness in Smith's voice or demeanor as he discussed his obstacles in office and at the ballot box. Rather, he chose to expound on what he considers his accomplishments. In addition to removing ineligible voters from the list, Smith replaced obsolete programs including the "pen and ink" voter registration list with computerized lists. Smith said he and the city assessor improved procedures for property tax collection, resulting in significant added revenue. He also invested unallocated city funds in interest-bearing CDs, reaping many thousands of dollars for the city, he said.

As a staunch Democrat, Smith attended Saturday's caucus in Carson City. But, in his usual candid manner, he said he disapproved of that method to select a presidential candidate. A caucus, he said, unlike a primary election, doesn't allow enough people to vote because they have to appear at a certain time on a certain date and there's no opportunity for an absentee ballot.

"It seems like the party you're registered in is trying to control everything and leave everybody else out," he said. "It just doesn't feel democratic to me."

As I said, Vaughn Smith can be counted on to speak his mind.

• Sue Morrow is a longtime journalist and member of the Nevada Newspaper Hall of Fame. She can be reached at soozymorrow@yahoo.com.