Miller criticizes timing of ethics decision

Erin Neff

Monday, April 26, 1999 | 10:51 a.m.

City Council candidate Steve Miller claims a state Ethics Commission opinion released earlier this month that calls his actions "harassing" was timed only to hurt his political candidacy.

The official opinion, handed down April 12, stems from a Sept. 17 commission ruling that found that Miller filed ethics complaints against Mayor Jan Laverty Jones to hurt her when she was running for governor.

The Sept. 17 ruling included an admonishment for filing a frivolous complaint and a $2,500 fine. However, the official opinion from that hearing was not completed until April 12 because of the commission's small staff, according to commission Chairwoman Mary Boetsch.

Boetsch said Deputy Attorney General Louis Ling, who had been assigned to the commission, took a long time to complete the opinion.

She discounted any attempt by the commission to harm Miller politically just weeks before the May 4 primary. Miller, a former city councilman, faces four opponents -- including incumbent Michael McDonald -- for the Ward 1 seat.

In a fiery letter to Boetsch, Miller wrote, "I will place your stupid 'opinion' in the closest appropriate receptacle and pull the handle."

He has repeatedly vowed not to pay the fine.

Boetsch said failure to pay the fine by April 30 will result in referral to the Clark County district attorney's office for possible prosecution.

Miller's fine stems from a complaint he filed against Jones regarding a March 1997 speech she gave in Detroit touting the benefits of gaming. Detroit had been considering applications for casinos from four companies, including Circus Circus Enterprises and Mirage Resorts -- both of which Jones owned stock in.

MGM Grand Inc. and Circus Circus were eventually selected by Detroit officials to build casinos.

In its Sept. 17 ruling, the commission criticized Miller for his lack of evidence and his filing of the complaint 17 months after Jones' speech but when she was in the midst of gubernatorial campaign against eventual winner Kenny Guinn.

The commission opinion states "This Commission will not be used as a weapon to further anyone's political aims."