Panel to pursue action vs. building division

Adrienne Packer

Monday, Sept. 20, 1999 | 11:02 a.m.

The Nevada Ethics Commission will go forward with a just and sufficient cause hearing on a complaint launched in July against the Clark County Building Department.

Members of the building division are accused of violating a state ethics law that says public employees cannot use government time or equipment to benefit their own personal or financial interests.

Robert Bony, counsel for the Ethics Commission, said a date for the hearing has not been set.

Las Vegas resident Robert Rose filed the complaint in July after former building inspector Marcus McAnally Jr. said that during work hours, inspectors made fliers for International Conference of Building Officials (ICBO) events and also solicited funds from companies the county regulates.

The Ethics Commission will look into whether inspectors on the job ran copies of fund-raising sign-up sheets and announcements for ICBO golf tournaments.

The ICBO is a nonprofit organization that holds seminars and conferences to update workers in the construction industry of new codes. While developers and contractors belong to the group, most of its members include building inspectors.

McAnally, who was fired from the county last spring and indicted on 13 counts of falsifying inspections, said that during staff meetings managers in the building division directed inspectors to collect money for the events.

Employees often collected the funds while inspecting new projects.

Companies that pitched in for golf tournaments paid $260 per foursome and firms that donated to a seminar on building codes paid anywhere between $500 and $1,500. McAnally claims that inspectors raised about $21,000 mostly through on-the-job solicitations.