Gates resigns from business ventures amid controversy

Wednesday, Oct. 8, 1997 | 10:46 a.m.

"I strongly believe that my conduct relating to this business and my responsibilities as a county commissioner has been proper and appropriate," Gates said in a statement.

Gates said she is also relinquishing ownership interests in her business ventures.

In May, Gates asked the state Ethics Commission if she should vote on items pertaining to the MGM Grand, where she and her partner Ed Nigro were working on a lease for their frozen daiquiri business, Fat Tuesday's.

As a county commissioner, Gates is asked to vote on zoning, licensing and other items related to MGM Grand and other Strip resorts.

After news reports last week that Gates has sought similar leases with at least four other casino companies, she requested a second opinion on the appropriateness of her business venture. She claimed that conversations she had with casino executives other than those with MGM Grand were made in passing and should not be considered business solicitations.

The Ethics Commission was scheduled to conduct a hearing on the matter Nov. 13 or 14, but Gates is withdrawing her request for the opinion since she will no longer be involved with the business.

Meanwhile, Gates said earlier Wednesday she was not aware of any need to disclose her relationship or abstain from voting on matters involving those who worked on her re-election campaign.

In August, Gates voted to approve airport concession leases for Michael Chambliss, a political consultant whom she paid $46,500 during her 1994 and 1996 campaigns. She did not disclose her relationship with Chambliss when she made a motion, then cast her vote approving the leases.

Gates said she was not aware she had to disclose her relationships to campaign workers who might later appear before the commission.

"If I had to disclose everybody who gave me a campaign donation and whoever did anything for my campaign, then I would never be able to vote on anything," Gates said. "That is not just for me but for everyone."

Gates said she thought she only had to disclose business relationships.

Gates said the bulk of Chambliss' pay was for stepping in to run the Democratic Party's get-out-the-vote television campaign last October while Gates was in Texas having a tumor removed from her leg.

Chambliss is a senior planner in the city of Las Vegas' neighborhood outreach program.

"It was all open, advertised and competitive," Sam Ingalls, business administrator for the county's Aviation Department, said of the bidding process.

Craig Walton, an ethics professor at UNLV, called Gates' vote in August a "blatant conflict of interest." He said she should have disclosed her connection with Chambliss and abstained on the item.

"In my heart and in my mind, I know that I have always conducted my personal and public life to gain and preserve the public trust," Gates said in the statement.