Jones joins the battle of Venice

Wednesday, April 21, 1999 | 10:17 a.m.

Las Vegas Mayor Jan Laverty Jones said late Tuesday she hopes gaming mogul Sheldon Adelson and Venice Mayor Massimo Cacciari will resolve their dispute over the Venetian megaresort.

"It's not good for Sheldon," Jones said. "He doesn't need this aggravation. And it's not good for us."

Jones said she will try to get Adelson and Cacciari "on the same page" before she leaves office in June.

"If there's anyway I can help facilitate a truce, it would be nice," Jones said.

She added the city's image isn't furthered by the international war of words.

Jones said she intended to respond to a letter she received Monday from Cacciari expressing his concerns about the Venetian.

Cacciari charged in the letter that the Venetian, gearing up to open at the end of the month, was violating the heritage and traditions of his historical city. He said he was conveying his unhappiness to Italy's foreign and cultural affairs ministers.

The Sun reported Tuesday that the letter was hand-delivered from Venice by Glen Arnodo, the political director of the Culinary Union.

Arnodo went to Venice last week to enlist the help of Cacciari and the Italian labor movement in the union's fight to organize Adelson's casino workers in Las Vegas.

Adelson on Monday called Arnodo's visit "harebrained" and a "laugh and a half."

He also charged that Cacciari and other Venice officials wanted him to contribute $300,000 to the city's cultural scene before they would give him their blessing on the $1.5 billion Venetian project.

Adelson called that an "unreasonable demand" that bordered on blackmail.

Arnodo said he went to Venice to inform city officials there that Adelson was using the city's name to "wage war on the workers of Las Vegas.

"What was clear to us is that the city officials we spoke to really view this as a ripoff of their city," Arnodo said.