McDonald case goes to District Court

Erin Neff

Friday, Dec. 22, 2000 | 10:38 a.m.

Las Vegas City Councilman Michael McDonald will get the day in court he says he needs to paint a different light on his ethics troubles.

But no jury of his peers will be ruling on whether McDonald broke any laws. Instead, an Eighth Judicial District Court judge will decide whether McDonald's actions constituted malfeasance and thus, grounds for removal from office.

On Thursday the city's Ethics Review Board unanimously decided to petition District Court for a summary civil judgment for the councilman's removal from office.

State law provides for such a proceeding for any public official "who refuses or neglects to perform any official act in the manner and form prescribed by law, or who is guilty of any malpractice or malfeasance in office."

Frank Cremen, the review board's special counsel, told the panel he believed he had enough evidence to convict McDonald of a misdemeanor crime in the city's Municipal Court for his attempts to broker the sale of Las Vegas Sportspark to benefit his employer.

But Cremen also told the board a better option would be petitioning District Court for removal from office.

"I think that is the superior procedure to follow," Cremen said.

Now a District Court judge must determine whether McDonald's behavior "is so egregious to warrant removal," Cremen added.

As board vice president Robert Fleming motioned to follow Cremen's advice, McDonald sat red-faced, swallowing hard and blinking his eyes repeatedly.

After the short hearing he vowed to fight his removal from office to the "highest court in the land."

"We get a chance to tell our side," McDonald said.

After butting heads with review board Chairman Earle White Jr. during a November hearing, McDonald's attorney, Richard Wright, said he was "happy to get to a different forum."

During November's 12-hour hearing, Wright asked in vain for evidence Metro Police discussed and was outspoken in his criticism of the administrative process, which left him without the ability to subpoena witnesses.

"They called it an evidentiary hearing, and he would ask for the evidence and they wouldn't give it to him," McDonald said.

Wright said he didn't see how the review board could determine that McDonald's actions merited removal from office.

"That it warrants taking him away from the citizens who elected him at (the review board's) fiat is mind boggling," Wright said. "Their procedures just offend me."

Mayor Oscar Goodman said early Thursday he thought the best outcome for McDonald would be in some type of forum where due process would prevail.

Cremen said he will file the petition in District Court the first week in January. The court must act on the petition within 30 days of its filing.

In November the ethics review board determined McDonald violated city ethics laws when he repeatedly called colleagues and asked them to support the city's purchase of the beleaguered Las Vegas Sportspark.

City Manager Virginia Valentine, Mayor Oscar Goodman and City Councilman Larry Brown all testified McDonald repeatedly discussed the Sportspark matter with them or set up meetings between city officials and his boss, Larry Scheffler, a minority owner of Sportspark.

The ethics board also determined McDonald broke the law when he worked behind-the-scenes to try to stop political consultant Sig Rogich from getting a tavern license.

McDonald asked city employees to conduct additional distance measurements of Rogich's building to other uses that could have prevented the licensing.

But Cremen said he did not think he had enough evidence against McDonald in that case to prove him guilty beyond a reasonable doubt if a criminal complaint were filed in Municipal Court.

When McDonald goes to District Court, Wright said Cremen will again have to prove that McDonald violated ethics laws and would then have to prove the action warranted removal from office.

McDonald faces another complaint about the Sportspark and Rogich license matter before the Nevada Ethics Commission in February. The state commission has the power to initiate impeachment proceedings.

Last week a citizen recall effort to force a special election to remove McDonald from office failed to get enough signatures. Some supporters of the recall say they will likely launch another effort in January.