Constable campaign winds up at Ethics Commission

Lisa Snedeker

Tuesday, Dec. 1, 1998 | 11:17 a.m.

The ballots have been counted and the campaign signs have been torn down, but the battle for the North Las Vegas Constable's office isn't over.

Former Republican candidate Steve Bergstrom, who lost his bid for the office to incumbent Democrat Herb Brown, said he filed a complaint with the state Ethics Commission in mid-November against Brown and his campaign manager, Mark Kincaid.

The commission is scheduled to hear the complaint about unethical campaign practices and rule on it at 9:30 a.m. Friday in the Legislative Counsel Bureau of the Sawyer State Office Building, 555 E. Washington Ave., suite 4406.

Bergstrom said the complaint centers around a derogatory flier Brown's camp distributed a few days before the election.

Brown countered the flier he mailed out was in response to a previous flier Bergstrom had distributed. Brown said the statistics about crime in Bergstrom's flier were inaccurate and the flier did not state any of Bergstrom's qualifications.

A spokesperson in the Ethics Commission office verified that in the complaint Bergstrom claims Brown misrepresented him -- a claim Brown denies. If found guilty of an ethics violation, Brown faces a fine of up to $10,000. If it is proven the flier was derogatory and distributed within 10 days of the election, the commission could impose a civil penalty of up to $30,000.

Bergstrom, on the other hand, could face a fine of up to $5,000 if it is determined he filed the complaint maliciously, according to the Ethics Commission spokesperson.

Any money collected from fines goes into the state's general fund.

The flier in question, which stated Brown's qualifications, had the word "none" in bold letters to describe Bergstrom's qualifications, education and training.

"He (Brown) could have used a scale or something to show he was more qualified," Bergstrom said. "But when they come flat out and say none, that's an outright lie.

"I want the people of North Las Vegas to know that they have been duped. I have a real passion for the Constitution and about rights and laws and I'm tired of them being abused."

According to the Clark County Elections Department, the only qualifications a candidate for constable must meet are: he must be at least 18 years old, have lived in the township for 30 days and kept the same party affiliation since Sept. 1, 1997.

Bergstrom, who said he met all the qualifications, added his education includes attending several college and that he has a background in law enforcement which includes POST-certified training in California.

"They (Brown and Kincaid) keep saying I was lying about my training but that's because they are talking about Nevada, not California," Bergstrom said. "I think there comes a time when someone needs to hold them accountable."

No one from California Police Officers Association could be reached to verify that Bergstrom served as an officer in Santa Rosa in the 1970s.

Brown, who has lived in North Las Vegas for 35 years, questioned what anyone knows about Bergstrom's past. Bergstrom moved to the city four years ago.

"Steve is saying that I had false information about him in my mailer but I just used his own flier in my response about the information I put in my mailer," Brown said. "It was based on a lack of information (about him) in his (Bergstrom) original flier."

Brown said that unlike Bergstrom, his original campaign brochure outlined his experience and qualifications for constable.

"He (Bergstrom) says in his complaint that I knew he had been a police officer in California," Brown said. "If you have been a police officer, normally you have something to show for it."

Brown said he is frustrated because he wants to put the campaign behind him and concentrate on running the constable's office.

"I don't need to deal with this, too," he said.

Kincaid could not be reached for comment.

This is not the first ethics complaint Bergstrom has filed over the constable position.

In July, he filed a complaint alleging Clark County Commissioner Mary Kincaid, who is Mark Kincaid's mother, made certain Brown landed the appointment despite knowing her son was working on Brown's election campaign for the post. Kincaid insisted she did not know her son would be running Brown's campaign and the Ethics Commission dismissed the complaint in August.

Brown was appointed over Bergstrom to the position by Clark County commissioners in May following the retirement of longtime constable Lou Tabat.