Date: February 12, 2012
URL: http://www.rgj.com/article/20120212/NEWS/302120049/Wit-work-made-lobbyist-Harvey-Whittemore-an-institution
Wit and work made lobbyist, Harvey Whittemore, 'an institution'
---------------------------------------------------------------
Sporting his signature goatee and easy smile, Harvey Whittemore
schmoozed, bullied and sweet-talked his way for decades through the
Nevada Legislature representing old-guard casino owners, tobacco
companies and other top-dollar clients. It was how he built his
reputation as one of the most influential and successful players in
Nevada politics, land development and business.
Today, Whittemore has lost most of everything he owned, hasn't worked
as a paid lobbyist since 2005, no longer works at a powerhouse Nevada
law firm and is embroiled in a nasty and very public legal battle with
his former land-development business partners - a battle that could
threaten his ability to practice law and continue as a prodigious
philanthropist if the allegations in the suit against him prove true.
Whittemore's former partners at Wingfield Nevada Group - Tom Seeno and
Albert Seeno Jr. - have sued Whittemore, saying he used his
smooth-talking, sleight-of-hand tactics to steal millions from the
Wingfield company. Whittemore shot back with his own lawsuit claiming
the Seenos threatened to kill him and his family if he didn't follow
their orders and sign over his assets. 'Annette and I have a deep and
abiding faith in the justice system,' Whittemore said in an interview,
referring to his wife. 'And we believe the truth will come out, and
these matters will be resolved favorably for us.'
As these wealthy power brokers duke it out in court filings, their
legal cases are exposing the inner-workings of the very rich -
combined, their net worth has totaled billions - and could damage
family and business relationships that go back decades.
Nevada's business environment is like working in a small town where
everyone knows or is related to everyone else, many say, and
Whittemore's connections to Tom and Albert Seeno have reached way
beyond their company contracts. Whittemore's son is married to the
daughter of the Seenos' partner at the Peppermill Resort Spa Casino,
Bill Paganetti. And Whittemore's law firm and his sister defended the
Seenos when the Nevada Gaming Control Board was investigating the
brothers in 2004, their lawyer said.
Former state Sen. Bill Raggio, R-Reno, said he first met Whittemore in
the 1970s while he worked the halls at the Legislature for a list of
high-profile clients. Raggio said he doesn't believe the allegations
against Whittemore and said the lobbyist built his reputation through
hard work and honesty. 'He was extremely hardworking and dedicated,'
Raggio said of Whittemore during the height of his lobbying days.
'When others went home, Harvey would still be there. Everybody knew
Harvey. He was everywhere at once. I would be very surprised if what I
read in the lawsuit is true,' Raggio said. 'I have no doubt he will
survive. He's fighting back. We all have to reserve judgment.'
Pete Ernaut, president of R&R Partners, a powerful Nevada political
consulting firm, said Whittemore was 'an institution' in the Nevada
Legislature for more than 20 years, and used his charm, wit and
intelligence to guide legislation through the process that served his
clients and helped Nevada grow. 'I think that most folks who spent
time with Harvey would say he is a smart lobbyist,' Ernaut said. 'He
is also very gregarious and personable. The combination of those two
things made him very successful.'
But Steven Miller, vice president for policy at the Nevada Policy
Research Institute, said Whittemore used his power to manipulate the
legislative process to benefit himself and his clients by using
hardball tactics and making backroom deals. 'Smuggling
special-interest items into Nevada law appears to be Whittemore's main
stock and trade - usually deployed in behalf of the interests that
hire him,' Miller wrote in the Nevada Journal in 1997. Miller said
Whittemore was 'the preeminent lobbyist - the major juice guy.' He
said Whittemore followed a pattern set by another Nevada
super-lobbyist, Jim Joyce: They helped people get elected and then
collected on favors once they were in the Legislature.
Bill crafter
Whittemore was born in Carson City, went to school in Washoe County
and earned his undergraduate degree from the University of Nevada,
Reno. When Whittemore graduated from Arizona State University with a
law degree, he went straight to work for one of Nevada's most
influential and politically connected law firms: Lionel, Sawyer and
Collins.
Former Nevada Gov. Grant Sawyer guided Whittemore in his early days,
Ernaut said. 'Grant Sawyer propelled his career,' Ernaut said. 'Grant
was the driving force behind him becoming a lobbyist and representing
their clients. Lionel Sawyer was a powerful institution and Harvey
enhanced the stature of the firm.' Whittemore was an attorney with
Lionel, Sawyer and Collins during his entire lobbying career, Ernaut
said, and represented some of the most coveted clients in the state.
The list included the Nevada Resort Association, comprising of all the
major, old-guard casinos, including Harrahs, MGM and Caesars.
Whittemore said he returned to Nevada after clerking for the New
Hampshire Supreme Court and joined the law firm in December 1978. He
said he never lobbied full time at the Legislature - it only meets
every other year for a few months. But he worked full time at the
firm, practicing administrative law and land-use planning. 'I'm just a
lawyer,' Whittemore said. 'The fact that I've had some successes as a
legislative advocate I attribute to the fact that I trained as a good
lawyer.' Like lawyers, lobbyists present cases, he said. 'The only
difference between legislative work and trial work is matters are
brought up on a daily basis,' he said. 'We did a good job at preparing
documentation (on bills). We brought an expertise and sophistication
to that area of practice that continues today.'
Raggio said the title of lobbyist has earned a bad name in recent
years, with some of the national stories about Washington, D.C., power
brokers who took in millions at the expense of many. 'Lobbyists are
indispensable to the legislative process,' Raggio said. 'The
legislative body could not function without lobbyists. They represent
the public and private sector and provide essential information on the
bills. Harvey became an outstanding lobbyist,' Raggio said. 'He was
forthright and would never mislead you. If you asked him for both
sides of an issue, he would truthfully answer. I never found him to be
dishonest.'
While Whittemore is praised as a super-lobbyist who spent years in the
Nevada Legislature securing breaks, deals and millions for his
clients, he is also criticized as a self-serving manipulator who
sometimes stood in the way of the little guy. In 1997, when lawmakers
were tackling a bill that sought to deregulate electric power in
Nevada, Whittemore slipped an amendment on to the bill that protected
large taxi and limousine companies - Whittemore's clients - from small
entrepreneurs, said Deb Simpson, who was working at the time with a
public-interest law firm called the Institute for Justice. At the time
Whittemore represented Bell Limo, Bell Trans and Presidential
Limousine and Whittlesea Blue Cab in Las Vegas; and Checker Taxi in
Reno. Simpson said Whittemore was known as a lobbyist who supported
regulations that kept small businesses out to protect his clients. 'He
was certainly well-connected and effective for the people he
represented,' Simpson said.
Piergate
Whittemore also was criticized for sometimes pushing measures or
amendments that benefited his close, wealthy friends and himself. In
what was dubbed by the media as 'piergate,' Whittemore helped to
insert an amendment into a bill during the 1999 legislative session
that would allow him and his neighbors at the exclusive Lake Tahoe
community of Glenbrook to build a $500,000 private pier next to an
already existing community pier - a plan that was opposed by the
Glenbrook Homeowners Association and the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency.
The beach was protected by longtime easements, but Whittemore's
amendment said those easements could be ignored by pier and dock
builders as long as they secured a permit from the Nevada Natural
Resources Department, according to news reports and hearing
transcripts. Bob Hicks, a Reno lawyer who owned a home at Glenbrook,
told lawmakers during hearings on the bill that he bought his home
knowing the property was subject to regulations designed to protect
the Glenbrook community, and said the Whittemore measure 'smacks of
special interests and power politics.'
The measure passed the Senate, but when it moved to the Assembly,
Assemblywoman Barbara Buckley, D-Las Vegas, shut it down saying she
'won't tolerate any special deals, including a private Tahoe pier for
a prominent lobbyist,' according to news reports. Whittemore said
media reports of what happened with that bill were not accurate. 'It
was simply not true,' he said. 'The reports were highly inflammatory.
I was representing a client. I had no personal interest in it.'
Whittemore has since lost his Glenbrook home. He signed it over to Tom
Seeno to help pay off part of his debt, according to Seeno lawyer Kent
Robison.
The rise and fall
By early in 2000, Whittemore had built the Wingfield Nevada Group into
one of the largest land development companies in Nevada, thanks to a
strong friendship and business association with David Loeb and his
wife, Heidi, the original founders of the Wingfield Springs community
in Sparks, according to Whittemore's lawsuit. Harvey and his wife,
Annette, bought an interest in Loeb Enterprises, which owned and
developed the Red Hawk Resort and Wingfield Springs. The Whittemores
soon became the owners of entities that purchased the property and
water rights in the Coyote Springs valley north of Las Vegas, his
lawsuit said. The Loebs invested in Whittemore's businesses and
Whittemore and Loeb bought Coyote Springs in 1998.
Through research, surveys and with the support of U.S. Sen. Harry
Reid, D-Nev., Whittemore worked his way through numerous regulatory
road blocks at the Coyote Springs project, where he envisioned
building almost 160,000 homes. He also took on as a tenant to the
property an alternative energy company called BrightSource, also
backed by Reid. It planned to build a solar thermal power plant on the
property and send electricity back to California.
Prior to David Loeb's death in 2003, Whittemore said the Loebs gave
him the right to buy their interests in Red Hawk and Coyote Springs.
When Whittemore completed the purchases, the Whittemores combined all
of their holdings into the Wingfield Nevada Group. Soon after Loeb
died, Tom Seeno bought one half interest in the new Wingfield group,
and several years later, Albert Jr. came on board. The three men each
owned a third of the group, Whittemore said in the lawsuit.
Whittemore's involvement with Wingfield is now the subject of
competing lawsuits. Whittemore's lawsuit against the Seenos seeks
about $180 million in damages from the Seenos, but the cases could
take years to resolve. Whittemore and his lawyer declined to discuss
any matters related to the Wingfield group or the lawsuit. 'We're not
going to try this case in the press,' said his lawyer, Dan Bowen.
After decades of building businesses and numerous successes,
Whittemore claimed in 2011 that 'he was insolvent' and had liquidated
all of his business and personal assets, including three homes and his
vehicles, according to testimony by Steven Prevost in a civil case
filed by Bank of the West, which said Whittemore owed more than $1.7
million on a $5 million loan. Whittemore is also being sued by City
National Bank over a $1.8 million loan that he has failed to repay.
Whittemore said his life 'comes down to three things: faith, family
and friends.'
He grew up in a hard-working family: his father made $25,000 a year as
an educator and his mother was a homemaker. He has worked with
integrity and ethically throughout his life, he said. 'My peers
recognize that I have a very good grasp of the areas I practice in,'
he said. 'And I have a strong faith in God.'
--------
(c) 2012 Reno Gazette Journal
---------------------------------------------
Send posts to CO-CURE@listserv.nodak.edu
Unsubscribe at http://www.co-cure.org/unsub.htm
Select list topic options at http://www.co-cure.org/topics.htm
---------------------------------------------
Co-Cure's purpose is to provide information from across the spectrum of
opinion concerning medical, research and political aspects of ME/CFS and/or
FMS. We take no position on the validity of any specific scientific or
political opinion expressed in Co-Cure posts, and we urge readers to
research the various opinions available before assuming any one
interpretation is definitive. The Co-Cure website <www.co-cure.org> has a
link to our complete archive of posts as well as articles of central
importance to the issues of our community.
---------------------------------------------
