Aide defended by councilman

Denise Cardinal

Friday, July 18, 1997 | 9:16 a.m.

Michael McDonald might be the only Las Vegas city councilman who needs someone to watch his back.

McDonald refers to his executive assistant, Rick Henry, as his personal "bodyguard," according to City Hall sources. Henry, 33, a lifetime friend of the councilman and former stunt man, makes $51,240 a year from the city and has openly told people he's prepared to "take a bullet for Mike," sources said.

Henry is one of three McDonald aides, while all other council members have two.

McDonald denies that Henry acts as a bodyguard, although there are several similarities between the two that seem to be on purpose, perhaps to confuse any potential attackers.

For instance, McDonald, a part-time councilman and full-time bicycle cop for Metro Police, carries a handgun in his waistband.

So does Henry, who has a concealed weapons permit to carry a 10 mm Glock semiautomatic handgun. The two often wear the same shade of suits to work. McDonald just started growing a goatee and so did Henry, and both are about the same height.

Henry contends that any similarities are a coincidence.

"We both wear suits all the time, is there anything wrong with that?" Henry said. "Councilman McDonald is about 220 pounds. He can definitely take care of himself."

McDonald doesn't make any excuses for hiring a friend.

"It has nothing to do with him looking like me," McDonald said. "I need someone to watch my back.

"The city charter says that we can hire as many assistants as we see fit. I think you're going to see a lot of the other council members getting another assistant. The only difference is that I'm up front. Instead of having an assistant and having him paid from the redevelopment agency budget, I try to make everything up front."

Trusted employees are essential, he said, because of all the dirty tricks that are played on the 10th floor of City Hall. Disappearing phone messages and stolen files are just some of the problems he says he's had since taking office two years ago.

And carrying a gun is part of being a police officer, even though there are armed city marshals at every council meeting. Not to mention that he receives death threats -- as a councilman and an officer.

However, County Commissioner Lance Malone, also a Metro officer, doesn't wear a gun to commission meetings because he "doesn't feel threatened here at the county."

"One thing we're taught is target isolation and target identification," Malone said. "If someone came into a meeting with a knife, if I had to pull out my gun, I would be endangering a lot of other lives. It's a personal preference and my preference is not to wear mine for fear of endangering my colleagues."

McDonald's colleagues, however, aren't necessarily threatened by Mike's gun.

"Guns don't bother me," said Councilman Gary Reese, who received death threats after pushing a controversial day laborers ordinance. "I'm probably going to get a concealed weapons permit myself."

As the new mayor pro tem and board member of the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, McDonald has stepped into the political spotlight -- and possibly on the toes of longer-serving council members.

SUN REPORTER Cathy Scott contributed to this report.