Columnist Jon Ralston: Probe strikes fear into City Hall

Saturday, Oct. 7, 2000 | 2:43 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 by e-mail at ralston@vegas.com

IN POLITICS, the question arises whenever an elected official gets into serious trouble. Now, the murmuring has begun about Las Vegas Councilman Michael McDonald, the subject of police and ethics probes: Is he dead?

The answer actually is simpler than you might think: Yes. If.

That is, if everyone with information tells the truth, McDonald is through as an elected official. If not, if memories get hazy, he could survive. This goes to the heart of the kinds of emotions McDonald evokes at City Hall and the unwritten code of the fraternity of elected officials. McDonald is feared and loathed down on Stewart Avenue by some of his colleagues and staffers -- and if trepidation triumphs, craven behavior will follow. Add in the locker-room mentality of the 10th floor at City Hall -- a microcosm of the "there but for the grace of God go I" mentality in elected officialdom -- and the cops and ethics investigators have their work cut out.

Don't misunderstand. Plenty of evidence provided to Metro, which will be passed onto the ethics panels unless it is sealed by a grand jury proceeding, is damning. How damning? Here's some of what is known, according to interviews with knowledgeable insiders:

But what will Goodman, who has been tight-lipped, say if asked under oath? What about Malone?

There's more, too. At least one other councilman had conversations with McDonald about Sportspark, sources confirm, but will the fear factor kick in? High-level staffers also know of McDonald's obvious activism on Sportspark -- but Metro investigators have told people they have been astounded how scared city folks are of McDonald.

Remember, too, that more than half the council is on the ballot next year. Some of his colleagues fret that McDonald and his aide-de-camp, Rick Henry, can do electoral damage to them. Truth is often the first casualty when politicians are frightened.

The ethics of McDonald's behavior are clear; whether a violation will be found is up to the panelists at the city and state level. The cops also think a crime was committed, but the final call on charges will be made by District Attorney Stew Bell, probably this week.

Is McDonald dead? Oh, yes. But only if everyone involved tells the truth, thus displaying a trait not often found in the world of government: courage.