Rose is a name growing familiar in ethics cases

Erin Neff

Monday, March 29, 1999 | 10:59 a.m.

Robert Rose, 71, is a veteran of two wars, a self-taught Mercedes Benz mechanic, a retired construction superintendent and an inveterate follower of local government issues.

Seven times he has filed complaints with the Ethics Commission.

Two of his complaints triggered the biggest and most controversial decisions in the commission's history.

He filed the complaint against then-County Commission Chairwoman Yvonne Atkinson Gates over her conversations with casino owners about opening a frozen daiquiri business. The Ethics Commission found that Gates had indeed violated the state ethics law, triggering one of the biggest local stories of 1998.

Rose also filed complaints against County Commissioners Lorraine Hunt, Myrna Williams, Lance Malone and Gates regarding their failure to disclose relationships with applicants to operate businesses at McCarran International Airport.

Gates was cited for not disclosing relationships with applicants Michael Chambliss, her campaign consultant, and with Judy Klein, a political supporter, before voting to give them concessions.

Malone was cited for failing to disclose that applicant Gay Reber was a longtime friend of his wife. Williams was cleared. The Ethics Commission ruled that no evidence could be presented against Hunt.

The airport concession ruling led the Clark County Commission to create a task force on ethics, which reported back in January with suggestions for reforming the way concessions are awarded.

So what motivates the ethics complaints by Rose, who became battle-hardened with the U.S. Navy in World War II and with the Air Force in Korea?

"All I want to do is improve the process," Rose said. "If that gets me called names, so be it. I am just one jerk out of many that should be doing this."

Several years ago, Rose said, he grew increasingly angry with what he perceived as a constant abuse of power by public officials. He called the Ethics Commission to find out how he could complain.

"They sent me the forms and the laws and that's as simple as it was," Rose said. "I figured if I can find out, you can bring the light of day to the rest of the public."

Rose said he acts independently, discussing the cases he intends to file only with his wife and occasionally Craig Walton, program coordinator for UNLV's Ethics and Policy Studies Department.

"We'd be much better off if there were 400 or 500 citizens who were able to do what he does," Walton said.

Rose laughed and agreed: "There should be 1,000 Robert Roses," he said.

After moving to Las Vegas in 1980 with his wife, Rose began to brush up on local issues by reading newspapers and attending meetings.

Rose's most recent complaint to the Ethics Commission followed his reading of a Dec. 6 New York Times article in which Gates talked about using the resources of Mirage Resorts to inform constituents by telephone of community meetings. He claimed the practice presents a conflict because Mirage Resorts regularly appears before the County Commission on zoning issues.

The Ethics Commission dismissed the complaint after finding that Rose did not have sufficient evidence to prove a conflict.

"It was harassment," Gates said of that complaint. "There was no evidence, and he wasted everybody's time."

But Rose denies the charge. "I have not harassed Miss Gates," Rose said. "I mean no malice or anything toward anybody. It's just that the status quo here has been the same so long, it boggles the mind.

"I'm very concerned about the type of representation we have. It's just something in me."