Church’s illegal paperwork discovered

Erin Neff

Friday, July 21, 2000 | 11:16 a.m.

A controversial church whose location prevented the owners of a planned strip club from getting a permit filed its formation certificate in an apparent violation of state law.

The document enabling the church to open -- formally called a "certificate of business fictitious firm name" -- was filed March 31 with the Clark County clerk. It was notarized by the minister's father -- a violation of state law.

Annette Marie Patterson filed the name of her business -- the Universal Church for Life Enhancement -- with her father, Bart Rizzolo, acting as notary. Patterson is the sister of Rick Rizzolo, who owns a strip club that would be in competition with the proposed business.

The apparent state law violation comes as an investigation within City Hall probes the circumstances that led to the church's opening and location.

"A notary public may not perform a notarial act if: the person whose signature is to be acknowledged or sworn to is a relative of the notary public by marriage or consanguinity," according to Nevada Revised Statute 240.065(c).

The Nevada secretary of state's office said a violation of that law carries a fine of $200 and possible invalidation of the document in question. A notary can also face a fine up to $2,000 and loss of license for "neglect of duty" deemed willful.

Patterson's church opened just two days before a City Council vote on a tavern license for political consultant Sig Rogich's former office building.

When the council approved the tavern license, no public mention was made of the church, although some in City Hall were aware it had opened. Zoning laws prohibit taverns or topless clubs from opening within 1,000 feet of a church.

Patterson is comptroller at Crazy Horse Too, where her brother, Rick Rizzolo, is the majority owner. Their father, Bart Rizzolo, is a 5 percent owner of the adult business.

Patterson has been accused of opening the church to block Rogich's attempt to get a tavern license or to block any future owners of the building from getting a special-use permit to open a topless club.

That's what happened in early July when Ali and Hassan Davari applied for a permit to open The Boardroom, a planned strip club, at Rogich's old building.

City planners denied the application based on the building's proximity, just 219 feet, from the church.

After media reports about the church's location and the suspicious nature of its opening, Patterson announced Tuesday that she would be moving her church.

Patterson said Thursday she was not aware she, or her father, had violated any state law with the notarized document.

"I'm a notary also, and I was under the assumption that if you had a different last name it was OK," Patterson said.

Ironically, Clark County recently changed its requirements for fictitious firm name filings. Such applications are no longer required to be notarized.

Steve Stein, an attorney representing the Davari brothers, said the notary issue will not affect his clients' efforts to get the use permit.

"The church is moving, and the city has already decided to reconsider the application," Stein said. "I don't see any other impediments."

The Davari brothers are in the process of buying the building from Rogich.

Meanwhile, the timing of the church's opening is still being investigated at City Hall amid allegations that some staff members and elected officials helped make the church a zoning issue.

An employee in the city attorney's office said he saw a file related to the original Rogich vote in the planning department. When the deputy city attorney asked for the file later, one of the current planning employees told him he had shredded the file, according to several city employees familiar with the investigation.

City Councilman Michael McDonald, who is a longtime friend of Rick Rizzolo's, has also been eyed in the investigation. Sources say McDonald phoned the city attorney's office several days before the council vote on the tavern license to inquire whether the church posed a zoning conflict.

One source in the city attorney's office said McDonald's office phoned about the church before the church even opened.

McDonald was not present for the subsequent tavern license vote that pitted the interests of his friend, Rizzolo, against those of his political adviser, Rogich.

"I had nothing to do with the church," McDonald said this week. "That's between the two big guys (Rizzolo and Rogich). I let them figure it out."

Patterson insists her church is legitimate, although it is not registered with the state as a nonprofit organization.

City of Henderson business licensing records show Patterson as operator of the Well Being Institute -- an Internet and mail order company that sells cassettes, books, bath and body products and crystals.

Patterson, who lists herself as both a reverend and a doctor on her county business form, is not registered with the secretary of state's office to perform marriages -- a key function of many churches.

But she steadfastly claims her church is legitimate for its 16 members and blames media attention for forcing her to move.

"Our last service is Sunday," Patterson said. "We were just building a following and now I have to move."

Patterson said she has not yet determined where she will move.

"I have to wait for the dust to settle," she said.