Ethics board gives city employees OK for council

Erin Neff

Friday, Nov. 5, 1999 | 11:10 a.m.

It may not look or smell right, but the Las Vegas Ethics Review Board found no legal basis Thursday to prohibit the appointment of city employees to seats on the City Council.

The board voted 4-1 on three different questions posed to it about whether city employees should be required to have a two-year cooling-off period before becoming council members.

"It may not be the law, but I don't think it passes the smell test as far as I'm concerned," said board member Eileen Brookman, the lone dissenter on all three votes.

Board Chairman Earle White Jr. was most confident in his statements that appointing city employees would not violate a city lobbying law and would not create an ethical violation.

"Maybe I'm dense, but I don't have a problem with a city employee becoming a City Councilman," White said. "At least you're getting somebody who knows something."

Mayor Oscar Goodman raised the issue Oct. 20 when Councilman Michael McDonald's two choices for the newly created council seats seemed on the verge of winning the appointments.

After Thursday's ethics ruling, Goodman said he would respect the review board's decision, but could not in his conscience vote for two city employees.

"I would not have asked for an ethics decision if I wasn't concerned about the appearance of impropriety," Goodman said.

Lawrence Weekly and Orlando Sanchez, McDonald's choices for the Ward 5 and 6 seats respectively, both work for the city.

McDonald said he was pleased the board ruled the same way City Attorney Brad Jerbic did at that Oct. 20 meeting when he told the council they could proceed with appointing Weekly and Sanchez.

"I'm happy the question has been answered and that there's no cloud hanging over the decision now," McDonald said.

But when the appointments are made -- now scheduled for Nov. 17 -- they likely won't be unanimous. Goodman still reportedly favors Planning Commissioner Michael Mack for the Ward 6 seat and has leaned toward Clark County mediation specialist Uri Clinton in Ward 5.

"I really don't care about unanimity," Goodman said about the upcoming vote to make the appointments. "I care about doing what's right."

The review board first considered whether a city code, requiring a two-year cooling-off period for ex-city employees before they can lobby the city, could be applied to the council appointments.

Once it decided that the code was not applicable, the board then considered whether "an appearance of impropriety" created an ethical violation.

"It, to me, appears very irregular and it stacks the deck," board member Linda Young said.

Young said she thought appointing two city employees would leave a bad perception in the community. However, she voted with the majority of the board that a bad appearance was not an ethical violation according to city code.

Weekly and Sanchez greeted Thursday's decision with relief.

"I feel glad that that part is over with," said Weekly, who works as Councilman Gary Reese's ward liaison. "Now we're at 13 days and counting."

Sanchez, the city's Building Services manager, said he was "probably the happiest person in the world" when he was informed of the board's decision.

"We have just one more hurdle to overcome and that's the 17th," Sanchez added.

Mack, whose campaign for the appointment in Ward 6 has been gaining momentum, said he thought the review board would rule the way it did.

"I still feel really good because of the support that has come out in my favor," Mack said. "I honestly think I'm the front-runner because of the neighborhood associations who've pledged support."