Group names Gibbons one of nation's worst governors

The watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington has named Jim Gibbons one of the nation's worst governors.

CREW put Gibbons on a list of 11 governors criticized as "the nation's most incompetent and unethical governors."

"I don't think it even dignifies a response," Gibbons said Wednesday, adding that the allegations cited in the CREW report "have been proven by the FBI to be false."

CREW cited allegations Gibbons accepted illegal contributions in 2006 while running for governor. He was admonished for accepting one corporate contribution.

It also mentioned allegations he took cash and gifts including a Caribbean cruise from Warren Trepp of eTreppid Technologies in Reno in exchange for helping Trepp secure defense contracts. The federal investigation into those allegations was dropped, according to Gibbons, and he was cleared of any wrongdoing.

The report also points to the lawsuit by a Las Vegas cocktail waitress who said Gibbons threatened to sexually assault her in a parking garage. No criminal charges were filed in that case. It cites reports he text-messaged a woman 867 times in a six-week period, racking up $130 in charges on his state cell phone. Gibbons paid the state for those messages.

Gibbons said the report is an attempt to bring up issues that have been long since disposed of and get them back in the media before his primary election.

Asked if they would affect his re-election bid, he said, "I think the voters know who I am, what I stand for."

"All these tiny allegations and stories that are out there have nothing to do with my ability to govern the state of Nevada," he said.

Bill Richardson of New Mexico, Louisiana's Bobby Jindal, South Carolina's Mark Sanford and California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger also made the list, which can be found at www.worstgovernors

.org.

"There has been a great deal of focus on the ethics of Congress over the past few years," said CREW Director Melanie Sloan. "But CREW's report shows that state governments are not immune to ethics problems. Too often, whether in Washington, D.C., or in South Dakota, our country's political leaders are more focused on what's best for the favored few, rather than on improving the lives of Americans."

CREW is a nonprofit watchdog group that focuses on public officials in Washington, D.C.