Mayor had sought slot license for mall

Denise Cardinal

Wednesday, Feb. 18, 1998 | 10:26 a.m.

Despite calling for a ban on all neighborhood gaming in her State of the City address last week, Las Vegas Mayor Jan Laverty Jones is half-owner of a strip mall in a residential neighborhood that will have slot machines.

The strip mall is on Durango Drive and Desert Inn Road, and falls just outside of the city limits. Tenants in the mall include a tavern and convenience store, both of which will have slot machines.

Jones applied for a restricted gaming license for the tavern from the Gaming Control Board in 1996. But she wrote the board on Tuesday afternoon, asking that it be withdrawn.

Jones, as landlord of the property, said she would only receive a flat fee from the tenants and would not get any percentage of gaming revenues.

Her ordinance, which is being drafted by City Attorney Brad Jerbic, would phase out existing slot and video poker machines from the city's convenience and grocery stores while prohibiting new ones from being installed. Existing machines would be eliminated over a period of time, allowing for store operators to recoup their investment in the equipment, and for slot route operators to have time to adjust to a change in revenue.

Local convenience store owners aren't happy with the proposed ban, and contend that taking the machines out could lead to them going out of business. This is a problem that Jones might have to deal with if Clark County also enforces a ban. The mayor is encouraging the county commissioners to follow her lead. Commission Chairwoman Yvonne Atkinson Gates has said the ban is worth considering.

The ordinance might be introduced to the City Council as soon as the next meeting on Feb. 23.