RENO " A public feud between two top Nevada GOP elected officials escalated Saturday when Lt. Gov. Brian Krolicki refuted Gov. Jim Gibbons' charges that he went on a state-sanctioned trip to China for fun instead of promoting tourism.
Gibbons touched off the latest round of feuding when he urged Krolicki, who is chairman of the Nevada Commission on Tourism, to turn his attention to tourism markets closer to home in an effort to save taxpayer dollars during the recession.
"Governor Gibbons has learned that during a state-sponsored trip to China, (Krolicki) spent his time on pursuits unrelated to promoting tourism in Nevada, such as sightseeing and shopping, and did not attend scheduled meetings," said a statement issued after business hours Friday by Dan Burns, Gibbons' spokesman.
The statement did not elaborate, and both Burns and Josh Hicks, Gibbons' chief of staff, did not return phone messages seeking comment Saturday.
Krolicki on Saturday defended the 10-day trip he took in June with 14 Nevada business leaders, saying no taxpayer dollars were involved.
"My work ethic couldn't have been any stronger," he told The Associated Press. "It was a trip filled with work, but certainly there was an opportunity to grab a present for a child or look at Chinese architecture. You're going to do a little of that as well."
Krolicki declined to provide a copy of the trip itinerary.
Krolicki, who's considering a 2010 race against Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., said he was dismayed by the governor's criticism of him.
"I don't want to follow the governor downward in this conversation," he said. "I don't find it productive."
In a statement issued Saturday, the tourism commission said the business leaders paid their own way and their companies were assessed a fee that paid Krolicki's expenses in exchange for obtaining access to Chinese officials at commission-arranged meetings.
Krolicki's predecessor, former Lt. Gov. Lorraine Hunt-Bono, said she took similar trip to China, but her travel was paid by the state.
Hunt-Bono, now a member of the tourism commission, declined to comment on the flap between the two GOP officials.
The statement included a defense of Krolicki by Karen Chen, the tourism commission's chief representative in China.
Chen said Krolicki had hardly any time to rest during his busy schedule, let alone go sightseeing. She arranged the itinerary for the group and accompanied Krolicki on all meetings with high-ranking Chinese and U.S. officials.
"He had a lot of meetings to do and he absolutely attended all the meetings and interviews we set up for him from morning until night," Chen said.
Gibbons, whose approval ratings have dropped following a budget crunch and a string of personal difficulties, launched his criticism of Krolicki earlier in the week after the tourism commission rejected the governor's pick for its executive director.
Gibbons also accused Krolicki of lying when he said the application of appointee Kirk Montero was received too late to be considered. Krolicki stands by the statement.
Tourism commission members said Monday they'll continue with their efforts to find a new executive director based on advice from the state attorney general that Nevada law requires the governor to appoint one of the three finalists recommended by the panel.
The commission is still vetting candidates and hadn't forwarded its recommendations when the governor named Montero on Christmas Eve.
Eric Herzik, a political science professor at the University of Nevada, Reno, said the flap hurts both Gibbons and Krolicki as well as the GOP.
"It doesn't make either one of them look good," he said. "I can't figure out why the governor went after Brian Krolicki. The Republican Party is fractured in so many ways and this adds a new fault line."
Herzik said Krolicki is hurt more by the sniping because of his Dec. 3 indictment on charges stemming from his management of a college savings program while serving as state treasurer. Krolicki pleaded not guilty Tuesday to four felony charges.
"Krolicki is now getting hit by both sides," Herzik said.
In 2004, Nevada became the first non-nation to win approval from the Chinese government to open a tourism office there and advertise directly to the Chinese public.