LV resident calls for ethics probe on McDonald

Erin Neff

Wednesday, Aug. 23, 2000 | 11:14 a.m.

Retired Las Vegas resident Bob Rose has asked both the state and local ethics commissions to look into City Councilman Michael McDonald's involvement with the Las Vegas Sportspark.

Already the subject of a Metro Police investigation, McDonald is accused of attempting to broker the sale of the financially troubled Sportspark to free his employers of a bad investment.

Now Rose is seeking the Nevada Ethics Commission's opinion as to whether McDonald broke any of the 10 provisions of the state's ethics law that Rose checked off on the complaint he filed. He filed a similar complaint with the Las Vegas Ethics Review Board.

Rose's complaint relies heavily on statements made during the Aug. 16 Las Vegas City Council meeting. At that meeting, McDonald recused himself from the debate about an audit of Sportspark, but he joined the discussion after one of the park's partners alleged he had tried to broker a sale.

Don Schlesinger, a minority partner in the facility, alleged McDonald toured Sportspark with his friend, Rick Rizzolo -- the owner of Crazy Horse Too strip club -- and Rizzolo's attorney, Dean Patti.

Shortly after that visit, Patti drew up a contract for the proposed sale of Sportspark to a third party. Sportspark's other partners, Larry Scheffler and Linda Fernandez, signed the contract, but Schlesinger did not.

Scheffler is McDonald's boss at Las Vegas Color Graphics, and Fernandez is Scheffler's business associate.

In addition to the transcript from the council meeting, Rose submitted the proposed contract, newspaper articles and a 1997 city memo about Sportspark. He also submitted a copy of Scheffler's deposition in a lawsuit involving a political mailer sent during McDonald's campaign and a copy of a suit filed in District Court related to a proposed expansion of Crazy Horse Too.

McDonald could not be reached for comment Tuesday.