Editorial: Operators should be accessible

Tuesday, Aug. 15, 2000 | 9:54 a.m.

A private-public partnership, which resulted in the creation of a sports complex in the northwest part of the valley, sadly is mired in a dispute just one year after the facility opened. Philip Cheng, a senior internal auditor for the city of Las Vegas, claims in a draft report that the government has been denied access to information and other financial records by Sportspark, the private operators of the city-owned land, which includes softball fields and an ice rink.

As the Sun's Erin Neff reported Monday, the auditor's initial findings are that Sportspark owes its lender $5 million this month and it also is negligent in paying its property taxes. In addition, Cheng contends that Sportspark broke its agreement with the city not only when it changed fees at the facility without the city's consent but also when it didn't disclose Sportspark had a new financial partner. The new 6 percent owner of Sportspark, Larry Scheffler, also employs Las Vegas City Councilman Michael McDonald at the company Scheffler runs, Las Vegas Color Graphics.

In response to the auditor's assertions, Don Schlesinger, who has a 36 percent stake in the company, contends that the city actually owes the property taxes since the government owns the land. For that matter, Schlesinger predicts the final audit will not find that the company denied the city access to its records.

The bottom line is that Sportspark should be forthcoming about its operations, acknowledging that public-private ventures are two-way streets. Sportspark executives should remember it was the city that made this arrangement possible in the first place by allowing private operation of a public facility.