Columnist Jon Ralston: Freshly squeezed Rogich left without juice

Wednesday, March 1, 2000 | 9:42 a.m.

Jon Ralston, who publishes the Ralston Report, writes a column for the Sun on Sundays and Wednesdays. Ralston can be reached at 870-7997 or through e-mail at ralston@vegas.com

This one has all the elements -- and then some -- of a good, old-fashioned Las Vegas political brawl: A big name. Lots of lobbying. Questions of ethics. Questions of juice. And just for good measure, sex.

Two weeks from today the Las Vegas City Council is scheduled to consider whether to overrule a unanimous Planning Commission denial of consultant extraordinaire Sig Rogich's application that ultimately will convert his original R&R Advertising offices into a topless nightclub.

You might think the story here is how Rogich is using his political juice to reverse the Planning Commission's decision and a city planning department's recommendation of denial. But that doesn't begin to, ahem, strip away what's really happening here. The true tale, cobbled together from interviews with numerous insiders, is this:

Last year Rogich submitted an application for a liquor license and a special use permit for a "bar and adult entertainment" facility where his old R&R Advertising offices now stand, near an industrial area close to Interstate 15. Perhaps realizing the sensitivity, Rogich soon afterward sent a letter saying the application should have been "only for a bar/nightclub." But his intent all along has been to get the license and use permit and sell to one of a half-dozen adult entertainment business suitors. He is adamant now in saying that he wants no part of the topless business, that he wants to take the money and run. Fine.

Problem is a couple of weeks ago the planning folks, amid concerns that the application violated a 1,500-foot rule of distance between taverns, scotched the idea. There also is a problem with another pending topless joint application a short distance (555 feet) away from the Rogich complex, which city staffers think should be first in line but which the spinmeister's team says does not have legal standing because its license lapsed last year.

The lobbying began after the planning decision, with representatives of the other proposed establishment, Camilio's Ballroom, vying with Rogich's lobbying armada -- his estimable lieutenant, Lee Haney, one of the best lawyer-lobbyists in Las Vegas, Mark Fiorentino and consultant Bubba Grimes. Hardly a fair fight, eh? This is a story as old as Las Vegas. Juice will out. Ah, not so fast. The problem for Rogich is one of those council folks he is close to, Michael McDonald, and Mayor Oscar Goodman. And if both of them are against you at City Hall, it's quite problematic.

McDonald, who is facing an ethics investigation because of his ties to Silver State Disposal, claims he will abstain because Rogich is a friend and sometime political counselor. Say again? So what about the other votes McDonald has cast in favor of Silver State and other Rogich clients?

McDonald insists he is abstaining because of the ethics cloud hanging over him and that he "is being held to different standards than anyone else. It's taking me out of every issue." Now where have I heard this before?

What's most interesting is that Stewart Avenue insiders -- and Rogich's advocacy team -- are convinced McDonald is lobbying against the project inside City Hall. McDonald bristles at such a suggestion, but one City Hall source with direct knowledge said, "Michael is fighting it."

But why? Isn't Rogich a friend? The speculation, not surprisingly, is that McDonald is fronting for another friend, Rick Rizzolo, a topless bar entrepreneur who might see the Rogich deal as competition. It's always difficult to choose between friends.

As for Goodman, he and Gary Reese were visited Monday by Haney, Fiorentino, Grimes and Bob Forbuss, who works with Rogich. But sources say that His Honor is skeptical of the Rogich application, and he revels in thumbing his nose at the city's high-profile political consultants.

With Reese, a McDonald ally whose district encompasses the area, also expressing "mixed feelings" about the project and its proximity to a boxing gym and proposed child care facility, Rogich may be in trouble.

Rogich may benefit because his potential competitor's application is delayed by a Metro investigation that may require out-of-state background checks. But Rogich's problem here is not as much on the substance as it is on the politics. Sig Rogich a victim of politics? Now this story really does have everything.