Columnist Jeff German: Expect action on Frontier spy charges

Saturday, Jan. 11, 1997 | 11:59 a.m.

LAWMEN are starting to dig deeper into the growing spy scandal at the Frontier hotel-casino, as more whistleblowers surface.

The State Gaming Control Board is stepping up its investigation, coordinating efforts with the FBI, which is hot on the case.

FBI agents are said to be interested in allegations the Frontier unlawfully wiretapped its own phone lines during the five-year Culinary Union strike.

Some former Frontier employees who saw the wiretapping equipment in the hotel's basement phone room already have talked to authorities.

Another one surfaced last week.

Bill Uhouse, a former Frontier security sergeant, went public with more wiretapping details and a slew of other eavesdropping allegations that apparently took place amid a wave of paranoia over the bitter strike.

Uhouse once served as a supervisor to Wayne Legare, who headed a secret spy squad at the Frontier from 1991 to 1995. Legare first raised the spying allegations in a SUN story a month ago.

Uhouse last week shook things up again, when he charged that the Strip resort went as far as planting hidden video cameras and microphones in hotel rooms to monitor guests it thought were sympathetic to the union.

The Control Board is trying to determine whether the spying accusations -- that include playing dirty tricks on strikers and planting bugs and cameras throughout the hotel -- violate gaming regulations.

SUN reports on the allegations have prompted a slew of ex-Frontier employees to contact the board.

More are expected to step forward.

Those following the story say there's no shortage of ex-Frontier security officers who have guilty consciences about the incredible goings on at the hotel.

The Frontier is owned by Margaret Elardi and her two sons, Tom and John. The family, which has friends in high places, has denied wrongdoing, but refused to respond to the brunt of the allegations.

At the Metro Police Department, the action is picking up, as well.

Last week, striking Culinary Union workers forced the department's hand by filing 75 criminal complaints against the Frontier related to the spying allegations.

Sheriff Jerry Keller had previously indicated he wouldn't look into the charges unless complaints were filed.

Union leaders were reluctant to go to police because past complaints were not investigated.

Gov. Bob Miller, meanwhile, also addressed the subject for the first time since the story broke Dec. 11.

Miller said he was "very concerned" about the barrage of allegations being reported.

"If there are violations, they need to take appropriate action," the governor said.

A month after the story surfaced, appropriate action is starting to take place.

* Las Vegas Constable Bob Nolen knew his latest order barring deputies from carrying weapons on the job wouldn't go over well with the troops.

But it didn't stop him from giving his deputies a Christmas present that any peace officer wouldn't wish on his worst enemy in the business.

The weapons ban was handed down in two Dec. 23 memos Nolen issued.

"As most of you know," Nolen wrote in one memo, "I have always questioned the need for deputy constables to carry weapons while performing their official duties. I have always felt that you should walk away from any situation long before the need to use or even brandish a weapon occurs.

"Most of you recall me saying many times that there are no papers that come into our office that are important enough for any one of you or any citizen to get hurt over."

Nolen, just re-elected in November, said he likely would continue to "agonize over this issue."

Then, he concluded: "I know that some of you will not agree with this policy, however I do expect you to comply with it."

For Nolen, a well-connected former city councilman, the memo has become the latest round in an ongoing labor dispute within his office.

Within the past year, Nolen has been conducting a purge of deputies and staffers who have voiced concerns about his employment practices.

In return, he has been the subject of a state ethics complaint into alleged abuses of authority and has been forced to fend off another state probe into accusations he's been trying to derail an organizing drive of deputy constables.

For some deputies, the weapons issue is the worst possible development out of the labor strife at the constable's office.

Carrying weapons has always been a sensitive subject for the deputies.

They have a history of running into sticky situations while serving notices of evictions and seizures of property to uncooperative citizens.

Sometimes, drawing or even having a gun visible at their side is the best way to ensure their safety and the well-being of the public.

So it came as no surprise, when Dave Burress, president of the Las Vegas Constables Association, was quick to voice his concerns in a letter to the group's lawyer.

"Nolen knows how important the issue of weapons is with this membership and has made no attempt to meet with the membership to discuss this," Burress wrote. "He has now placed their lives in danger for no other reason than to eliminate their peace officer status ..."

Burress, one of those fired in Nolen's purge last year, went on to charge that "Nolen has no concept of what this job entails."

Veteran North Las Vegas Constable Lou Tabat, president of the National Constables Association, wasn't so kind.

"Bob Nolen should be dismissed from his office at the earliest possible moment," he said. "He is not inept, but he is a detriment to all deputy constables and to the Justice Court system."

Stay tuned.

* Attorney General Frankie Sue Del Papa has been wooing support from top labor leaders for a possible Democratic bid for governor in 1998.

But she isn't getting the response she wants.

That's because labor bosses are high on Republican Kenny Guinn, who also has been seeking their support.

Nevada AFL-CIO boss Blackie Evans, who recently met separately with Del Papa and Guinn, is said to be among those impressed with the Las Vegas Republican.

Guinn already has locked up the Democratic fund-raising machine and has persuaded Gov. Miller's top political adviser, Billy Vassiliadis, to join his team.

Del Papa's candidacy looks bleaker as each day passes.

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