Ethics charges dismissed

Wednesday, June 21, 2000 | 10:50 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- A state Ethics Commission panel has dismissed a complaint against state Human Resources Director Charlotte Crawford, who was accused of giving an exclusive multimillion-dollar state contract to a mental health program in which her one-time boyfriend works.

The panel, in a decision dated June 13, said there was "no just and sufficient reason" to render an opinion.

Ken Rohrs, executive director of the Ethics Commission, said Tuesday there was "no merit" to the case.

"There's a rumor no one takes credit for," said Rohrs, who said he followed up on the allegations. "There is nothing there."

Rohrs said that the state's contract with Mojave was entered into before Crawford was director. But it has been renewed under her administration.

"I feel I had no ethical violations, and the commission supported that," Crawford said.

But Las Vegas attorney Hamilton Moore, who filed the charges, called the panel decision a "travesty of justice." He said Rohrs failed to conduct an adequate investigation into the case.

Moore had sought in a civil suit to question Crawford about the alleged relationship with Dr. Charles Mahakian, medical director at the Mojave Mental Health Center, but was stopped by a discovery judge.

He complained there was no hearing in which to question Crawford under oath if the allegations about her approving contracts for Mahakian were true.

"It's a travesty of justice that the governor sanctions this misconduct," he said.

When the complaint was filed, Crawford denied any impropriety.

"I do not have direct supervision over him (Mahakian)," she said. "I do not now or have I ever referred clients personally. I have no responsibility over Mojave."

The Mojave center is operated by the Nevada Family Practice Resident Program under the University of Nevada Medical School. At the direction of the Legislature, Crawford had been examining a possible expansion of Mojave to Northern Nevada.

Mahakian has an unblemished record in Nevada, according to the state Board of Medical Examiners, which oversees physicians. But he agreed in 1997 not to renew his license in California after being charged with sexual misconduct and gross negligence in an incident that took place about 20 years ago.

The Mahakian-Crawford relationship was investigated once before by the state attorney general's office in the early 1990s. Mahakian was working in California and was employed on a contract with the mental health system in Nevada.

The state gave him a cell phone on which he placed hundreds of personal long-distance calls to Crawford from California. Records show there were as many as six calls a day to Crawford at her home.

Mahakian later reimbursed the state several thousand dollars. There was no wrongdoing found on Crawford's part.