Flier mystery coming to court

Adrienne Packer

Friday, March 17, 2000 | 12:07 p.m.

The mystery surrounding an unsigned and unflattering flier delivered to Clark County Commissioner Lance Malone's constituents last week will likely unfold Thursday in District Court.

On March 11, Malone filed a lawsuit that states because the mailers do not say who paid for them, the distributors violated Nevada election laws.

The flier informs residents in the northwest that the first-term commissioner is not trustworthy and that he favors major campaign contributors. It shows a caricature of Malone with money stuffed into his pockets.

The attack stems from Malone's decision in January to vote for a controversial casino project in southwest Las Vegas. Malone promised Station Casinos he would not support the proposed hotel-casino because it was too close to homes.

Malone changed his mind at the last minute and was the vote Triple Five Development needed to move forward with its plans.

Passkey Systems, the mass-mailing company that distributed the fliers, is expected to appear at the hearing scheduled for 1 p.m. in District Judge Michael Cherry's courtroom.

Passkey has denied Malone's attorney, Don Campbell, access to records that show who paid for the mailer.

Neither Campbell nor Malone will say who they believe is responsible for the attack, but have hinted that the culprit might be Station Casinos. Two former FBI agents are investigating the case for Campbell.

Earlier this week, Spring Valley residents denied having anything to do with the flier and the focus of the probe zeroed in on Station Casinos.

A process server who interrupted a meeting Wednesday to subpoena Station Casinos executive Mark Brown was escorted out by security. Sources said the process server was successful on Thursday and Brown is also expected to appear at Friday's hearing.