Marvel presents: Captain Ludicrous

John Marvel, the Nevada Tax Commission member who helped the nation's worst governor get a lucrative and wholly unwarranted tax break, tells both the RJ and the RGJ that it's "ludicrous" to suggest that he or the governor did anything wrong.

Marvel then demonstrated that while he probably doesn't understand how to use the word ludicrous he certainly knows how to be ludicrous. It is perfectly appropriate, Marvel contended, for a member of the state Tax Commission who has authority over county assessors to seek a tax break for the governor (or himself, or his secretary, or...) from those same assessors.

"My job as an attorney has absolutely no rational basis or connection with respect to my position on the tax commission," Marvel told the RGJ, apparently working on the not unreasonable premise that people who would vote for Jim Gibbons are dumb enough to believe anything.

"I worked in my capacity solely as a lawyer. It did not even dawn on me to think of my position on the Tax Commission," Marvel told the RJ, perhaps hoping that people will think he wasn't pulling a fast one in his capacity as a full-on Gibbons crony but is merely magnificently obtuse.

Blind to irony, the man who calls allegations of wrongdoing ludicrous went on to deliver a patently ludicrous explanation to the RJ when asked how the governor's 40 acres could have possibly warranted the more than $5,700 in grazing fees that Gibbons was paid -- $700 more than the amount needed to trigger the agricultural designation that reduced the tax bill on the foo-foo Gibbons retirement ranchette from at least $2,000 (Elko County Assessor Joe Aguirre's original estimate was $5,000) to $40:

Marvel said the payments were for an entire year and the land was worth at least that much.

"It's been portrayed as nothing but a dirt pile," he said. "I would love for you to be able to see the lush native pasture, the clover and timothy growing in the sub-irrigated meadow, which is the majority of the property."

Shazam! Marvel may have a future career writing advertising copy for real estate developers selling second-home ranchettes to cityfolk.

But his pastoral musings on the lovely clover and timothy do absolutely nothing to counter the overwhelming evidence (including this Taxation Department bulletin on land values helpfully linked by Dave404 in the comment threads) that those 40 acres probably aren't worth $570 in annual grazing fees, let alone $5,700.

And since Gibbons only bought the property in August, how does the $5,700 reflect payments for an entire year, as Marvel -- and Gibbons -- contend? Either the payments were for five months, which makes the over-valuation even more grossly artificial and manipulated than is customarily reported. Or perhaps the payments cover a full year by counting five months of 2007 and seven months of 2008, in which case:

• Gibbons was actually paid less than half of $5,700 to lease his land in 2007, so he shouldn't have qualified for a tax break even if his 40 acres is as valuable for grazing as Gibbons says (which it isn't), and;
• Marvel's case that Gibbons deserved the tax break was offered up with even more arrogance and less regard for public appearance than previously thought.

In any event, neither Gibbons, Marvel nor any of the nation's worst governor's assorted minions and cronies have yet to produce a shred of evidence -- because in all likelihood there is none -- to dispute the obvious: Gibbons wasn't being paid for the value of his leases, he was being paid enough to trigger a tax break worth thousands of dollars, and the whole thing is a tawdry scam.

Meantime, because the opportunity so rarely presents itself, a Gleaner shout out to ... wait for it ... the RJ editorial page(!?!) for observing that:

...if those $5,700 worth of checks were ginned up to win the tax break -- not pursuant to any previously executed grazing lease -- fraud is a possibility, and fraud to avoid legitimate taxes is a crime.

Fraud? Crime? Oh my.

It's tempting to poke fun at the highly paid team of editorial writers at the state's largest media organization for finally arriving at the same conclusion reached by your lowly Gleaner eleven days earlier and repeated on occasion ever since (and no doubt the RJ's writers got the idea entirely on their own).

And inasmuch as the RJ has historically doubled as the Gibbons Apologist Newsletter, this whole realization that the nation's worst governor very well may be a lying venal crooked skanktard comes awfully late in the game.

But hey, better late than never.

Comments

[Michael Green]

I had never expected Republicans to bail on Gibbons because the party has a recent history of tolerating any amount of corruption as long as it is by a Republican--I refer you to George W. Bush, Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, Newt Gingrich, Rudy Giuliani, Dennis Hastert, Tom DeLay and, my personal favorite, John McCain.

But if even the R-J is bailing, it may be a sign.

By the way, I would like to direct your attention to today's R-J because the headline writers who are totally objective were in rare form. They referred to "Heller Challenger Reports Fund-Raising Total of $3,196," without mentioning that it is his primary challenger and not the one challenger the average reader would know about, Jill Derby--meaning the reader just might be left thinking the Democrat's cause is hopeless and the Republican is just fine. "Student retention effort at UNLV will cease in reclassification step" refers to eliminating the University College, not eliminating efforts to retain students--but if it makes higher education look bad, that's fine with the totally objective R-J editors. And the "In Brief" section notes "critics" of the proposed new history standards without mentioning that the R-J found one critic who happens to have, shall we say, some issues of his own. So, a friendly suggestion: let your subscription lapse, as I did, but, before you do, note who advertises in the R-J and inform them you will no longer support them until they drop the R-J and advertise in a real newspaper.

[Dave404]

Well presented, Gleaner!

It looks like this sort of thing is done with such regularity that just de minimis requirements need be met.

The R-J is on Gibbons' butt about this?! Wow.

[SparksNV]

Disgusting.............
1. Marvel seems to be totaly unaware of the meaning of the term "conflict of interest"..
2. The RGJ helped get this asshat Gibbons elected...noway am I willing to believe they are "on Gibbons butt"...
3. No way can "ethics" and Nevada Republican offials coexist.
4. Watching the "Ethics" Commission whitewash this will be an unbelieveable feat to behold.
5. The Governor, all his cronies and RJG
have absolutely no respect for the intelliene of "We the People". Sadly because a large portion of the people in Nevada don't deserve respect for intelligence. They voted for this Sleaze bag..

[Dave404]

Hey, if you think Governor Gibbons is getting off easy this year on taxes for that cow feeding property, take a look at next year's assessment! Twenty percent less!

That's right folks, for tax year 2008-09 the land is valued by the assessor at $1,565 and for tax year 2009-10 it's valued at $1,243. I guess even Gibbons "flat growth" government approach is too rich for the Governor's Elko land.
(How the hell is this land going down in value by 20%?)
gibbonsasessment

[d404]

Deed
elkorecorder

[Dave404]

Hmmm, Elko Recorder has no application on file for agricultural use from James Gibbons (it would be a "120" document; "app/agri use").

NRS 361A.120 section 5 requires the assessor to file the agriculture application within 10 days of its approval.

So if not approved, how a tax break?

[John Farley]

No matter what John Marvel said in his interview with the RJ and RGJ, lawyers in general are acutely sensitive to conflicts-of-interest. So of course he knows about it. He's just pretending that there's no issue.

[temujin... khan of the yakka mongols]

Dave 404..you slay me!!....Keep up the good work and research my fellow American.....

[Goldy]

Why would you hire a lawyer to save you $5,000? Every lawyer ever hired charges $5,000 just to pick his own nose. If Marvel was retained, those are the cancelled checks I would like to see. How much do you pay for a lawyer to help you save $5,000? Was there an in-kind?

[dave404]

Elko County Assessor Joe Aguirre says now that the residential assessment on Gibbons Elko property would have been just over $2,000. So Marvel went to bat to save Governor Gibbons some $1,960 with the agricultural assessment.

[CollegeStudent]

Huh, he kinda looks like his dad, only younger and, if possible, more ludicrous.
Also, I am not sure when the last time Marvel, Sr. could raise his arm above his head.

[Douglas Democrat]

Wait a minute, Sparks...the RGJ chose to endorse Dina Titus in 2006.

"Neither candidate can boast extensive executive experience. Both promise they'll be more hands-on during the legislative session.

However, Titus, who's served in the legislative leadership, has a more realistic view of how that can be accomplished and a better ability to get things done. She is the best candidate for governor." - Reno Gazette-Journal, October 26, 2006.

And trust me - I read the RGJ online every day and they are on him like a dog on a porterhouse, to the point that most Republicans who read it think they're in the Nevada Dems pocket.

[nvMojo]

Here's a nice article about Joe Aguirre, Elko County Assessor, who is retiring shortly. He really is a very decent man and has been scandal free in his elected office since 1990.

http://www.elkodaily.com/articles/2008/07/17/news/local_news/local1.txt