McDonald, Arberry to face ethics board

Erin Neff

Wednesday, Oct. 18, 2000 | 10:49 a.m.

The Las Vegas Ethics Review Board will have its highest-profile meeting in years Thursday as it mulls the political futures of two of the best-known elected officials.

But before the review board considers complaints against City Councilman Michael McDonald and state Assemblyman Morse Arberry, it will vote to hire an outside attorney to help the appointed members through their legal responsibilities.

The new lawyer was requested by review board Chairman Earle White Jr., who was frustrated at the advice given by Deputy City Attorney Larry Bettis the last time to board met to consider the McDonald complaint.

During that meeting, Bettis told the board they couldn't accept the complaint -- filed by resident Bob Rose -- because it had not been notarized.

White then asked for an outside attorney because he said Bettis cannot legally represent facts in a case against a councilman at the same time his job duties require him to represent the city and council.

After an attorney is hired, the ethics board will again consider whether Rose has presented enough evidence to hold a full-scale hearing into allegations McDonald has misused his office by attempting to broker the sale of Las Vegas Sportspark.

The complaint also asks whether McDonald violated any ethics laws by working behind-the-scenes to block a zoning matter involving a proposed adult business and a controversial church that opened suspiciously nearby.

If the Las Vegas Ethics Review Board determines they have sufficient evidence to hold a full hearing, McDonald's political future could be in jeopardy. If the board finds McDonald violated any ethics provisions, he will be required to step down from the council.

In the Arberry matter, the ethics review board will determine whether enough evidence exists to hold a full hearing into allegations Arberry helped push through a project that granted money to a friend's project and could benefit his fiancee's mortgage company.

North Las Vegas resident John Hortas filed the complaint against Assemblyman Arberry, who is also deputy director of the city's Neighborhood Services department.

In 1999, Arberry voted on an appropriations bill, first in his committee and then in the full Assembly, that granted $2.8 million to a West Las Vegas housing project called Whispering Timbers.

The grant came from the state to the city before going to Community Development Programs Center of Nevada, the company developing Whispering Timbers. Frank Hawkins, a friend of Arberry's, is president of the development company.

At the time of the vote, Arberry was chief executive officer of Sahara Mortgage Co., an alternate lender for the Whispering Timbers project.

After the Sun detailed the 1999 vote and Arberry's involvement in Sahara Mortgage, he resigned. But Arberry's fiancee, Virgie Vincent, is still president of Sahara Mortgage.

Both Arberry and Vincent are listed as co-tenants of a $1 million home on Canyon Springs Drive. Arberry also has a home on Virginia City Avenue.