Ethics Commission to reopen case involving LV councilman

Erin Neff

Tuesday, Jan. 4, 2000 | 9:35 a.m.

The state Ethics Commission will reopen an inquiry into an official vote cast last year by Las Vegas Councilman Michael McDonald.

The commission will meet in Las Vegas on Jan. 20 to determine whether new information presented by McDonald foe Steve Miller has merit.

In an initial meeting last year the commission dismissed a request for an opinion about whether McDonald properly disclosed his friendships with Silver State Disposal Services executives.

Miller had alleged McDonald should have disclosed his friendships with Silver State President Steve Kalish and the company's attorney Robert Groesbeck and his relationship with one the company's employees prior to a July 12, 1999, vote granting Silver State an extension to its exclusive franchise agreement.

When the commission dismissed the matter, McDonald and his attorney, Louis Palazzo, argued that McDonald was not dating the employee, Jennifer Simich, at the time of the vote.

McDonald and Palazzo told the Ethics Commission that the relationship with Simich was not a romantic one when the vote was taken last July.

Simich and McDonald have been seen in public -- before and after the vote -- holding hands, embracing and kissing. A published photo of the couple prompted Miller to amend his original opinion request.

Miller plans to attend the Jan. 20 hearing at the Sawyer State Office Building. He was not at the previous Ethics Commission hearing on the McDonald matter. That hearing was held in Carson City.