State ponders penalty for flier attacking Malone

Monday, April 24, 2000 | 11:18 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- Top executives in the Secretary of State's office will meet Tuesday to decide what action, if any, will be taken on the disclosure by Station Casinos and its lobbyist that they were behind an anonymous political flier criticizing Clark County Commissioner Lance Malone.

Pamela Crowell, deputy secretary of state for elections, said today she would confer with Chief Deputy Don Reis on "what direction to take" in the case. The office could impose fines of up to $5,000.

Station Casinos and lobbyist Tom Skancke admitted Friday that they were involved in the printing and distribution of an anonymous and possibly illegal flier that criticized Malone for his vote allowing a rival casino to build in a southwest Las Vegas neighborhood.

Skancke, owner and president of a lobbying company in Las Vegas, said he "coordinated a campaign, which included the production and publication of the 'You Just Can't Trust Lance Malone' mailer on behalf of myself and others." Skancke lobbied on behalf of Stations Casino in the 1999 Legislature.

Skancke identified the others as the Howard Hughes Corp. and George Maloof, owner of the Fiesta hotel-casino.

Station Casinos, through its director of corporate public relations, Jack Taylor, issued a statement Friday also saying it "participated " in the campaign to discredit Malone.

Neither Skancke nor Stations offered any apology. Skancke said Malone violated the public trust "and many of us felt the public should know." He said the flier was distributed anonymously "out of fear of retribution" from Malone, who has "tremendous power."

Station said, "As a community leader, we have a responsibility to speak out on issues, that, in our opinion, impact our company, our employees or the citizens of Clark County. In the future, our company's response to such issues will be expressed in a more direct manner."

Station owns five casinos in Clark County and two others out of state.

Malone could not be reached for comment Friday or this morning.

Malone initially said he would vote against an application by the Boyd Group to build a neighborhood casino in Spring Valley. Then he changed his mind and voted for it. Shortly after that the anonymous flier appeared noting Malone's earlier opposition to the project.

The document said, "Then he (Malone) took over $100,000 from companies that support more neighborhood casinos. And guess what? Commissioner Lance Malone went back on his word and voted for another new casino in an existing neighborhood."

The flier was printed by Passkey Systems Inc., which refused to divulge who paid for the work. Malone complained that a Nevada law requires campaign materials must identify who pays for the work. He filed suit in District Court in Las Vegas in an effort to smoke out the names behind the criticism.

Malone then dropped his suit, saying he did not want to cloud an investigation by the federal grand jury into the incident. Although the Clark County Commission approved the project, the decision was overruled by a state gaming review panel.

Secretary of State Dean Heller, as chief election officer, then tried to get Passkey Systems to reveal the names, saying a violation of the law may have been committed.

Passkey Systems, through its lawyer John Boyer, Thursday said it would not identify anybody unless there was a court order.

Heller, according to a spokeswoman, is examining whether the law has been violated in printing and distributing the anonymous literature and if penalties should be imposed.

Skancke said he has watched Malone "through his attorneys, attempt to intimidate my friends, associates, clients and citizens of Clark County," to learn the authors of the campaign material.

"I believe he deliberately sought to stop his political critics from speaking out against his voting record," Skancke said. "Many Clark County residents were surprised and appalled by Commissioner Malone's decision to change his vote that would have ultimately damaged the quality of life for so many Spring Valley residents. The citizens were outraged and so was I."

The names were kept off the publication, Skancke said, because, "As a small businessman, I quite simply sought to protect myself, my clients and my company from any future intimidation Commissioner Malone may have planned."

Skancke complained Malone has tried to divert attention away from his flip-flop position and has made an effort to impede free speech. He said he had the right to speak out and "that my right of free political speech should not only be practiced but should be vigorously defended."

Station Casinos said Malone's turnaround "prompted us to participate in a campaign to increase awareness of his voting record on this and other matters.

"Station Casinos, Inc.'s position on neighborhood casinos is clear. We have supported and vigorously defended SB 208, which regulates the location of neighborhood casinos. Our support of that law was the reason we declined the opportunity to purchase the Spring Valley casino site when it was offered to us."

The American Civil Liberties Union in Nevada has stepped into the controversy, filing a suit in federal court in Las Vegas, claiming the law to require disclosure of the name of the person is invalid.

Cy Ryan covers state government for the Sun. He can be reached at (775) 687-5032.