If you hadn’t heard (via news flash), Bob Loux has announced he will resign as head of the Nevada Agency on Nuclear Projects, which fights Yucca Mountain. He said he doesn’t want to be a distraction from the fight against the dump, and inasmuch as he stole money from the state and put it in his pocket gave himself and his staff big raises, he was distracting people. (See update, below.) So, good move, Bob.

(And, by the way, props to the Nevada Commission on Nuclear Projects. Ordinarily, when somebody is caught essentially embezzling severely abusing state funds, heads roll. police are called, handcuffs are applied and the perpetrator is dragged off to jail. (See update, below.) But those kindhearted souls on the commission’s board — read their names here — are allowing Loux to stay on until his replacement is found, which they think will take about six weeks. After that, he’ll retire with dignity and, one assumes, a full pension, which is so much better than spending the next six to 10 in a state prison! So, good move, commission.)

Anyway, Gov. Jim Gibbons took the opportunity to revel in some typical gubernatorial douchebaggery. Here’s his statement:

(Carson City, NV) – Governor Jim Gibbons was pleased to receive the announcement that the Nuclear Projections Commission had accepted the resignation of Robert Loux, Executive Director, at its meeting earlier today in Las Vegas.

“This action sends a strong message that fiscal accountability must be maintained. I thank the Commission members for meeting promptly to consider this matter, and I anticipate expedited recommendations of qualified replacement candidates from the Commission so Nevada will continue the fight against nuclear waste without delay.”

Governor Gibbons had requested Loux’s resignation earlier this month. Governor Gibbons also sent correspondence last week to Richard Bryan, Chair of the Commission requesting that the Commission remove Mr. Loux from his position.

Now, it’s true that Gibbons requested Loux’s resignation, on Sept. 10, as this Review-Journal story clearly shows. But that is not the whole truth: Gibbons on Sept. 9 said through his spokesman that Loux should simply pay the money back through monthly payroll deducations over the next 18 months. Far from wanting Loux out, Gibbons initially was proposing he stay for at least a year and half! Gibbons needed a whole day to realize that stealing is a violation worthy of somebody having to resign.

When will somebody (besides the guy who has bird-dogged this story from the start, Chuck Muth, realize that what Loux did is technically referred to in law books as “a felony” punishable by a sentence in “state prison”? Well, we’re not holding our breath on that one.

UPDATE: We’re told by somebody in the know that Loux had authorization, at least from previous Gov. Kenny Guinn, to allocate a lump-sum salary budget for his office as he saw fit, with oversight from state personnel and budget offices. However, that same permission was not sought or granted by Gibbons. Moreover, it was Loux’s allocation of raises well in excess of what other state workers were getting, as well as his boosting his own salary above even Gibbons’s, that raised enough ire to lead to his resignation.

We still can’t get past the obvious conflict of interest inherent in setting one’s own salary, however, even if Loux was acting within parameters established within the state system. If that’s not already illegal, then it should be.