Ethics panel clears campaign manager

Diana Sahagun

Friday, March 24, 2000 | 10:57 a.m.

The Nevada Ethics Commission has ruled that political campaign manager Mark Kincaid did not mislead the commission while testifying about a campaign flier he distributed in 1998.

The yearlong battle surrounding Steve Bergstrom, Kincaid and North Las Vegas Constable Herb Brown came to an end Thursday with commission members voting 3-1 in favor of Kincaid, with one member abstaining due to conflicts of interest.

The complaint against Kincaid occurred while he was campaign manager for Brown, who defeated Bergstrom in the November 1998 election.

In January 1999 the commission imposed a $10,000 fine against Brown for a statement in a campaign flier, sent just days before the November election, claiming Bergstrom was not qualified for the position.

The flier claimed Brown was "the only qualified candidate for North Las Vegas constable," and that Bergstrom had no education or training for the post.

Bergstrom also filed a complaint against Kincaid for distributing the flier.

Commissioners found the flier misleading by not stating that Bergstrom was a former police officer or that he had completed 400 hours of law-enforcement training. It also implied that police officer certified training was required for the position when it is not.

The issue involving Kincaid was whether he knew the information was false when he sent out the flier. In prior testimony Kincaid said he did not know Bergstom was a police officer until 10 days before the flier was sent.

During Thursday's hearing Bergstrom said he had a witness who could testify that Kincaid knew at least one year before the election that Bergstrom was a police officer.

But the commission did not subpoena the witness or allow him to testify.

"I feel very inadequate being here without my primary witness," Bergstrom told the members.

Bergstrom maintains that when he asked Kincaid to stop the mailing, Kincaid told him the flier had already been sent out Oct. 28 and that he could not stop it.

Bergstrom said the flier was not sent out through bulk mail until the following day and that Kinkaid's testimony was false -- that he could have stopped the mailing when Bergstrom informed him the claims were inaccurate.

"On the 28th, if he had any concerns whatsoever ... it's reasonable ... that Kincaid could have called and said, 'Hey, hold off, until we get verification,' " Bergstrom said. "My whole campaign I spent two years working on was dissolved."

Kincaid told the commissioners that he believed the mail was gone once it was dropped off at the North Las Vegas Post Office.

Commissioner William Flangas cast the lone dissenting vote, saying there were still some "loose ends" in the matter.

Bergstrom angrily said the commission did not allow him to present his star witness, which would have shown Kinkaid's prior statements were false.

Brown is still appealing his fine to the courts.

Diana Sahagun covers North Las Vegas for the Sun. She can be reached at (702) 259-2320 or by e-mail at diana@lasvegassun.com.