Attorney says mayor should have disclosed loans

Wednesday, June 10, 1998 | 11:46 a.m.

Jones said the loans have nothing to do with her, since she and her husband, Richard Schuetz, have separate finances.

Attorney Marc Gordon said Jones should have revealed that a real estate company in which her husband is involved received loans from trusts controlled by Boyd Gaming Corp. executives William Boyd and Perry Whitt.

Boyd founded and Whitt is a director of BankWest, which lobbied to defeat the restaurant. Nick's Fishmarket would have been in front of the bank on West Sahara near Interstate 15.

The city council voted 5-0 to reject the plan. Jones said the restaurant is the wrong project for that corner.

Gordon said he may file a complaint against Jones with the state Ethics Commission. Jones is a Democratic candidate for governor.

Schuetz said the loans were made around May 28, the day Jones filed a financial disclosure statement listing them. The council voted 5-0 on May 26 to deny Gordon's application for a special use permit to build the restaurant.

Jones said she was not required to disclose the loans before voting against the restaurant, adding that she and Schuetz, who were married in January, rarely discuss their business dealings.

The loans, she said, have "nothing to do with me. I have no interest in it, no money in it. I don't know anything about it. ... (Schuetz) and I have totally separate finances that are covered by very extensive prenuptials."

State ethics law says elected officials shall not vote on matters in which their judgment would be affected by a gift or loan.

Jones went on to attack Gordon.

"All his allegations are not going to make (the restaurant) appropriate and all he's doing is making himself look small," Jones said. "It's just the wrong project for that corner and if he needs a real estate deal to make a profit, that's not my problem."

"I'm not getting personal," Gordon responded. The mayor's accusation "doesn't change the fact she should have disclosed."

Jones said the council "absolutely will not" schedule another hearing on the restaurant.

Gordon, in a lawsuit filed shortly after the vote, also is seeking to have the council's vote overturned in Clark County District Court. He claims his application would have been routinely approved if not for BankWest's influential board of directors.

City staff had recommended that the project be approved, saying their concerns about traffic and parking had been resolved. Nick's Fishmarket would have opened at 5 p.m. daily, after the bank closed.

But BankWest, which signed a lease last year acknowledging a restaurant would be built, opposed the project. It said the project would impede the view of the bank and hinder customers.

The council sided with BankWest. Jones argued that the restaurant would be too big for the space in front of BankWest, although the project's size fell within city regulations.