Malone attorney vows revenge over mailer

Adrienne Packer

Monday, March 13, 2000 | 11:27 a.m.

An attorney for Clark County Commissioner Lance Malone vowed to identify the party responsible for a bruising mailer accusing Malone of being influenced by major campaign contributors.

Don Campbell filed a lawsuit Friday against unknown parties and Passkey Systems, a mass-mailing company that distributed the flier. The mailer violates state law because it does not say who funded it, Campbell said.

Malone and his lawyer said they will conduct an investigation that will be similar to a grand jury inquiry.

"This will be a whole lot easier than most; there are fingerprints all over this," Campbell said. "They will tell us who the author is or be charged with perjury."

Malone's controversial Spring Valley casino vote triggered the attack. After promising competing casino companies and residents that he would oppose Triple Five Development's project, he became the vote that pushed the casino through.

Campbell said he will subpoena Passkey's records to determine who paid for the mailer, which showed a caricature of Malone with money stuffed into his pockets and shoes and the words "No, Yes, No, $$, oh, OK I'll vote for that."

Passkey has refused to release the information.

"It's an absurd and erroneous claim that the information is confidential under state law," Campbell said. "They are required to disclose it."

Malone is seeking compensatory damages in excess of $10,000, punitive damages to be determined by state law and attorney's fees on two counts.

While Campbell wouldn't discuss who specifically paid for the mailer, he hinted that a casino company could be involved. Station Casinos executives have made it clear they want Malone out of office after the commissioner burned them on the Spring Valley casino vote.

Campbell said if a gaming corporation funded the flier, it broke the law and could lose its gaming license.

Nevada Gaming Control Board chairman Steve DuCharme said all state licensees are held to laws of each jurisdiction.

"Any violation of federal, state and local laws subject them to discipline action by Nevada gaming regulators," DuCharme said. "The spectrum of sanctions for disciplinary action run from no action to include fines and or revocation of licenses."

But sources close to the board said if a gaming company paid for the flier, it is extremely unlikely it would receive anything more than a small fine.

If the mailer was funded by a Spring Valley resident, it is exempt from campaign laws, according to state Deputy Secretary for Elections Pamela Crowell.

The state law says exemptions include "a natural person who acts independently and not in cooperation with or pursuant to any direction from a business or social organization, nongovernmental legal entity or government entity."

Campbell said he doubts the flier was funded by a resident because the cost of printing and mailing it exceeded $40,000.

The mailer is the second printed assault that lambasts the commissioner for his last-hour change of heart.

On Feb. 11, full-page advertisements ridiculing Malone appeared in Southern Nevada newspapers. The ad, which said it was paid for by Spring Valley residents, used the same Malone quote that appears on the mailer: "All an elected official has sometimes is his word -- and this time I'll have to back off my word."

Malone, who was kept silent by his attorney, said Friday that he simply wants to face his critics.

"When someone sends out a negative, anonymous flier and then runs and hides, they are a coward," said Malone, who is running for his second term on the commission. "I think these cowards need to come out and face me."

Adrienne Packer covers county government for the Sun. She can be reached at (702) 259-2310 or by e-mail at adrienne@lasvegassun.com.