Station Casinos exec with role in flier fiasco resigns

Adrienne Packer

Monday, Oct. 16, 2000 | 11:28 a.m.

Station Casinos executive Mark Brown, who was fined for his role in a political flier that violated state campaign laws, said this morning that his decision to resign has little to do with the well-publicized investigation.

Brown said that the primary reason he is leaving the company is to re-establish a private government affairs consulting business that he has operated in the past.

"I'm an entrepreneur at heart," Brown said. "This gives me an opportunity to wipe the slate clean and concentrate on my consulting business and my commitment to nonprofit activities."

The vice president of the gaming company's government affairs teamed up with political consultant Tom Skancke earlier this year to design a mailer attacking Clark County Commissioner Lance Malone.

Brown and Skancke were each fined $5,000 because the flier -- which told Malone's constituents the commissioner cannot be trusted -- did not identify who paid for it, a violation of state campaign laws.

Station Casinos also paid the Gaming Control Board $475,000 to settle a second complaint about the unlawful flier.

Brown said Frank Fertitta III, Station Casinos' president and chief executive officer, has been supportive of him during the investigation into the Malone flier and his decision was not directly related to the matter.

However, he added that he has learned from his mistakes and does not believe they will haunt him in his business venture.

"If anything, I'm wiser and more seasoned," Brown said. "I'm very comfortable with who I am and the relationships I have in this community."

In a prepared statement released this morning, Fertitta confirmed his support of Brown's performance with Station.

"Mark Brown has made significant contributions to our company and was a tremendous asset to the senior management team," the statement says. "It is his personal decision to leave, and we have the utmost respect for Mark and his decision."

Brown's controversial political mailer was created after Malone's now-infamous decision to go back on his word to Station Casinos and vote in favor of a competing neighborhood casino in Spring Valley.