Majority (of one) rules in council

Ed Koch and Erin Neff

Tuesday, Oct. 13, 1998 | 11:10 a.m.

When the Clark County Commission recently had its numbers reduced to less than half for a controversial vote, questions arose about whether potential conflicts of interest outweigh the responsibility of a majority to cast votes on important issues.

The Las Vegas City Council went beyond that Monday when Mayor Jan Laverty Jones stood as a board of one in approving rezoning for a downtown property.

The vote was 1-0 with four abstentions to grant the zoning change from R-3 (medium density residential) to R-4 (high density residential) at 320 N. 9th St. for 16 low-income apartments to be built by Catholic Charities of Southern Nevada.

The four councilmen abstained because of an indirect conflict of interest. The councilmen recently were represented in an ethics case by Harold Morse of the law firm of Morse & Mowbray. Morse's partner, John Mowbray, serves on the board of Catholic Charities of Southern Nevada.

Under Nevada law, a board is reduced in size for a particular vote when any of its members are forced to abstain from voting because of potential conflicts of interest. Therefore, the quorum also shrinks -- if necessary down to a lone board member.

"I really like this - do you guys (fellow council members) have to come back?" Jones joked, after what might have been the first time in city history that a single elected official was required to vote on an issue.

Not all of the council members, however, thought the situation was particularly funny.

"One last editorial comment before I leave - (we need) some kind of legislative relief because right now our hands are tied," Councilman Larry Brown said. "Right now we cannot vote on a simple matter."

The four councilmen then walked off the dais, leaving Jones to hear the matter by her lonesome.

Several members of the City Council and County Commission have appeared before the state Ethics Commission during the last year to answer questions concerning potential ethics violations.

Three county commissioners were accused of helping friends attempt to get concessionaire businesses at McCarran International Airport. Chairwoman Yvonne Atkinson Gates was found to have committed that violation.

Likewise, Jones and Councilman Gary Reese also were accused of helping friends in unrelated cases. Jones was cleared in a matter involving her husband's partnership in a venture. Reese, who was represented by Morse, was found to have committed such a violation.

Similar charges were dropped against Brown and fellow councilmen Arnie Adamsen and Michael McDonald, who were at the time represented by Morse.

Both Reese and Gates are appealing the Ethics Commission findings.

In the wake of the airport concessionaire incident, three county commissioners recently abstained from voting on a 27-hole championship golf course near McCarran because of friendships with some or all of the applicants -- each of whom was a high-powered local business or political figure. A fourth commissioner abstained for other reasons, leaving just three members to decide who got the contract.

The issue at Monday's council meeting was pretty cut and dry except that the apartment complex proposal did not feature adequate parking -- just 16 spaces where 31 are required.

However, Catholic Charities officials said the 16 spaces would be adequate because the tenants will be poor people, many of whom cannot afford cars. A number of them will take public buses or walk to nearby jobs.

The two-story stucco apartments will feature porches, patios and some landscaping.