Atkinson Gates expected ethics panel to appeal

Adrienne Packer

Monday, Sept. 20, 1999 | 11:12 a.m.

The Nevada Ethics Commission will appeal a Washoe County District judge's decision to overturn its ruling that Clark County Commissioner Yvonne Atkinson Gates used her position to help friends land lucrative airport contracts.

Friday's decision was hardly a surprise considering Gov. Kenny Guinn's own legal counsel had publicly knocked Washoe County District Judge Jerome Polaha's decision. But perhaps least astonished was Atkinson Gates herself.

"I'm not surprised," Atkinson Gates said. "They've been on the hunt the last two years. But I do have faith in the court system."

Louis Ling, the Ethics Commission's counsel who was replaced by attorney Robert Bony in February, appeared before the panel during Friday's hearing and called Polaha's Sept. 13 ruling a "vulnerable order."

Ling represented the ethics board when Atkinson Gates was accused of using her position to help acquaintances Michael Chambliss and Judy Klein secure the valued concession contracts at McCarran International Airport's D concourse.

Atkinson Gates had voted for Chambliss, a friend of 17 years who worked on her campaign, and Klein, who raised thousands of dollars for the campaign, without disclosing her relationships with the two.

The ethics panel members believed that because Atkinson Gates recommended Klein and Chambliss for the concession contracts, they had a distinct advantage over the other 66 people who applied for 13 vacant concession spaces reserved for Disadvantaged Business Enterprises.

Atkinson Gates' attorney Daniel Polsenberg successfully convinced Polaha that many of the state's ethics laws were unconstitutionally vague. And while the law says elected officials cannot use their position to help themselves, family members or business partners, it does not specifically address friends.

He also argued that Atkinson Gates' casual relationship with Chambliss and Klein doesn't resemble the types of relationships outlined in the law. On Friday Ling and Ethics Commission Chairman Bill Bible said they believe the law does extend to friendships. They agreed that by appealing Polaha's decision to the Supreme Court, a clearer definition will result.

Ling said that as a result of a previous ethics case that was taken to the Supreme Court, the court passed down a "road map" that was to assist District Court judges make decisions on ethics laws.

"I don't think Judge Polaha stuck to that road map," Ling said.

Polsenberg has noted that the 1999 Legislature, which spent weeks revamping ethics laws, still did not insert language that extends "unwarranted privileges" to personal relationships like friendships.

The question arises in the wording of the law, which says politicians cannot extend privileges to themselves, their family members, business partners "or any other person."

Atkinson Gates and fellow Clark County Commissioner Lance Malone were found in violation of ethics laws in June 1998 after they recommended the names of acquaintances for the concession contracts. Malone has said repeatedly that he made a mistake and he chose not to fight the Ethics Commission's findings.