Hetty Chang reporting
On Monday, state controller Kim Wallin announced the hiring of her own stimulus funds officer even though the governor already has one in place.
Nevada's share of the stimulus funding is $2.2 billion.
Do we need two people in charge of it? Politics may have something to do with it.
We met the man put in charge by Governor Jim Gibbons back in September. Nevada's stimulus czar is Charles Harvey. So when Democrat Kim Wallin announced that she had hired her own stimulus officer eyebrows were raised. We spoke to Wallin Monday.
"She (new controller Mary Keating) just had a huge, broad background of knowledge and she was one of the most qualified people I interviewed."
Keating will report to Wallin. Her role as ARRA Reporting and Accountability Officer is to ensure that Nevada accurately reports the use of stimulus funds to the federal government.
The job description is similar to the job currently held by Harvey.
Wallin, however, insists the two positions are not the same. "It's a check and balances (situation)," Wallin said.
Wallin also insists there are no politics involved in Keating's hiring. Keating used to be in charge of auditing the governor's office. She filed a lawsuit against Governor Gibbons claiming she was unfairly let go by Gibbons.
Also in August, Gibbons and Wallin grappled over whose office would be in charge of stimulus funds. Both parties say they've moved on.
"We are focused on what the federal law requires," said Gibbons. "We've got our ARRA administrator in place. If the controller wants to make reports back to the federal government, that's within their decision to do. I don't think it interferes. The decisions about where the money is spent - how much - is all given to the governor office, not to the legislature and not to the controller."
"At the end of the day, it's not about who has what position," Wallin said. "It's about working together and getting the money out on the streets and getting jobs for Nevadans."
Of the $2.2 billion Nevada is expected to receive, Harvey says the state has gotten about $1 billion. Further, as of last week, Harvey says the state has spent about $800 million.
