Ethics Commission denies request to dismiss

Jeff Schweers

Friday, March 20, 1998 | 11:05 a.m.

The state Ethics Commission today denied a request to dismiss a complaint against Clark County Commission Chairwoman Yvonne Atkinson Gates.

The Ethics Commission also agreed to reconsider its earlier decision to dismiss a similar complaint against Commissioner Lorraine Hunt. The Ethics Commission will place the matter on its April agenda.

Gates asked that the allegations be dismissed on the same grounds as Hunt, saying that there was insufficient evidence that Gates used her position to help a former political consultant to get a concession at McCarran International Airport.

Ethics Chairwoman Mary Boetsch said, "Speaking for myself I cannot approve such a request," without hearing further evidence.

Helen Chisolm, an Ethics Commission member, said she was satisfied that she had heard enough testimony to be convinced that Gates committed no ethical violations.

Only Chisolm and Jud Allen voted to dismiss the charges, while Boestch, Joni Wines and R. Hal Smith voted against the motion. Wines agreed with Chisolm that if the Ethics Commission is going to hear all the scheduled testimony in Gates' case, "We need to re-open Hunt's case to be consistent."

A complaint filed against Gates alleged she used her position to help gain an airport concession for former campaign consultant Michael Chambliss and Democratic Party fund-raiser Judy Klein.

Klein was also named in separate complaints against Hunt and Commissioner Myrna Williams. Hunt's case was dismissed Wednesday. Williams' hearing was delayed until May along with a complaint against Commissioner Lance Malone.

Gates reiterated today that she lobbied nobody on behalf of either individual prior to the unanimous vote last Aug. 19. She also described her relationships with Chambliss and Klein as professional.

"I don't have many close personal friends," Gates told the panel.

Gates could have waited until May for her hearing, along with fellow commissioners Malone and Williams, but opted to address the claims against her this week.

Gates said she has known Chambliss for 17 years and paid him for campaign consulting work, but that their relationship was purely professional. Election records show Gates paid Chambliss $46,500 over three years prior to her 1996 re-election.

Chambliss also characterized the relationship as professional, but that it had become strained on her part since the ethics charges were filed. "I still support her," he said when asked why he spent two days at her January ethics hearings and handed out buttons in support of Gates.

At that hearing, Gates received a verbal reprimand for talking to casino owners about leasing space for a frozen daiquiri shop.