Editorial: Revealing political intrigue

Thursday, Aug. 24, 2000 | 9:30 a.m.

The gaming industry is the lifeblood of this city's economy, so it is only natural that the industry is a major player in local politics. There are times, however, when that legitimate political participation degenerates into something entirely different, crossing the line of propriety. A case in point is a smear campaign led by Mark Brown, a Station Casinos executive, against Clark County Commissioner Lance Malone.

The genesis of this affair was the Clark County Commission's controversial decision in January to rezone land that cleared the way for a Station Casinos competitor, Boyd Gaming, to build a neighborhood casino in Spring Valley. Brown was angered because Malone had flip-flopped on the issue. Malone initially had told Station Casinos he would vote against Boyd, but then at the last minute reversed himself.

In a complaint filed Monday, the state Gaming Control Board alleges that in retaliation Brown launched a secret campaign to punish Malone, who is running for re-election. The Gaming Control Board is seeking a fine of as much as $600,000 against Station Casinos for not adequately supervising Brown.

The Gaming Control Board contends that Brown circulated an anonymous mailer that impugned the commissioner's honesty. The "You Just Can't Trust Lance Malone" mailer was sent in March to 39,000 residents in Malone's district. Meanwhile, Brown also met with Malone and threatened him with political retaliation -- and even an FBI investigation -- if Malone didn't end his lawsuit seeking to learn who was behind the anonymous campaign mailer. According to the Gaming Control Board, not only did Brown later lie to his bosses at Station Casinos regarding his efforts to tarnish Malone's reputation, but he lied to the FBI about his involvement as well.

On March 17 Brown was questioned by two agents from the FBI's Las Vegas office about what he knew regarding the mailer. At first Brown told the agents he thought labor unions may have been involved. Then later he tried to blame Tom Skancke, a public relations consultant who was on retainer for Station Casinos, saying Skancke was the only one involved. Brown, according to the Gaming Control Board complaint, also lied to the FBI agents about a March 11 meeting he had with Malone, in which Brown tried to use the threat of a possible FBI investigation to get Malone to forgo his lawsuit against him. It was only after the FBI dropped a bombshell on Brown -- that Malone had secretly tape recorded their March 11 meeting -- that Brown finally admitted he had threatened Malone.

The district attorney's office and the U.S. attorney's office determined that Brown's actions did not merit prosecution. But the secretary of state's office still is reviewing whether Brown ran afoul of a state law that requires political mailings to disclose who paid for them. While there is a school of thought that this law violates free speech, nonetheless it is the law.

Whatever happens to Brown and Station Casinos as a result of these investigations, the irony is that Brown's actions have resulted in the resurrection of Malone, who only a short time ago was a walking political corpse. Now Malone can portray himself as a victim. Of course that same "victim" doesn't point out that he was more than willing, prior to the controversy, to take $120,000 in contributions donated and raised by Station Casinos.

In the final analysis, while the pure nastiness displayed in this matter isn't the norm for local government, the actions by all involved will add to the public's cynicism regarding politics.