6 April 20<strong>18</strong> Arrogance, Incompetence & Stupidity By: Dan Roberts / Roberts Rules “ You’re yelling at the wrong person” political editor Rana Goodman replied as I continued to raise my voice – and used other impolite adjectives. Naturally I apologized when I calmed down and realized that, once again, my Ladylove was correct, but our (my) collective frustration level was off-the-charts. As regular readers are aware, Rana’s Don(na) Quixote quest for guardianship justice has been non-stop. We believed her crusade turned the corner with the passage of our <strong>Vegas</strong> <strong>Voice</strong> reform laws and the creation of the Nevada Secretary of State guardian lockbox. Unfortunately, the bureaucrats and lawyers have taken over. Their arrogance, incompetence and outright stupidity are overwhelming. Let’s start with our solution to the scandal – a single page document signed by anyone who wanted to designate their choice for guardian should it become necessary. And then to “record” their decision so the judge can know if the person being “taken” (like a private guardian) is by someone of their choosing. Sounds simple. So, what happened? Our one-page form doubled and now requires such useless information as the last four digits of your social security number (why?) as well as your gender (again, why?). Then the guardianship form must be signed in front of two witnesses - and then everyone needed to do this in front of a notary. Ridiculous, right? At least The <strong>Vegas</strong> <strong>Voice</strong> was prepared for this. At our (so far) 13 guardianship seminars (all across the valley – from Centennial Hills to Laughlin) we not only provided the forms, but the two witnesses (thank you Sandy Lewis and Bill Caserta) and, with tremendous thanks and appreciation to Todd Bauman, free notary services. But what if you want to take the form to your bank for them to notarize it? Unbelievably Wells Fargo and Nevada State Bank refused to provide notary services for its customers. Its reasoning is based on the notary acknowledgment that: “I declare under penalty of perjury that the persons whose names are subscribed to this instrument appear to be of sound mind and under no duress, fraud or undue influence.” The banks’ “legal eagles” claim that since they are not (I’m not kidding) medical doctors or psychiatrists, they cannot make a determination whether the signers are of “sound mind.” The banks however, have no concerns in taking your money without regard to your mental capacity, but to notarize this form… And you wonder why people hate banks. Any rational, sane and sensible individual knows full well that the sentence in question is based solely on common sense. You know - that the person requesting such service was not “on crack” or chugging a sixpack or attached to someone pointing a gun at his/her head. But, wait, there’s more… We mentioned previously that Rana and I unconditionally cooperated with the Secretary of State to implement the lockbox protections. We offered suggestions, ideas, etc. and just smiled when officials gently patted us on our heads and advised that everything is under control. From incorrect “paper stock” to “it’s not our fault we can’t read what people wrote” to their disapproval and questioning of the guardianship forms submitted, we want to reiterate to this government agency the following: 1. We don’t work for the Secretary of State. The Secretary of State works for us. 2. The Secretary of State (as stated in the form) does not verify the accuracy of the executed contents and is not liable for any potential actions pertaining to the form. 3. The lockbox is simply a “storage facility” to hold the forms and will come into play only if there is a problem. 4. If there is a dispute regarding the form, it is up to the guardianship judge to determine its validity - not the Secretary of State; and last, but not least, 5. Just file the damn form and send the required confirmation back to the signer as promised (10-14 days, not 2-3 months). As Rana calmed me down (“here, have a doughnut”) I recognized that, sooner or later, the stupidity will end. But if you want “Exhibit A” as to why she is so obsessed with our non-profit <strong>Vegas</strong> <strong>Voice</strong> Elder Hub “4Rs” volunteer program, just remember – like cockroaches, the lawyers and bureaucrats are always there. 7