Goodman: Cops didn’t single out McDonald

Erin Neff

Friday, Oct. 27, 2000 | 11:28 a.m.

Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman doesn't agree with all of the spin coming from a council office down the floor from him.

In fact, Goodman said Thursday there's just no truth to allegations that Metro Police investigators were out to get Councilman Michael McDonald.

Earlier this week, both McDonald and his attorney, Richard Wright, publicly condemned Metro for the department's handling of a criminal probe into the councilman's behavior.

"The investigation that's taken place and the way Metro handled it is inconsistent with all other investigations, inconsistent with statutes," Wright said Tuesday on the Sun's "POV Vegas" television news program. "They have essentially singled him out for dissimilar treatment."

But Goodman sees it differently.

Goodman first asked Metro to step in late in July after news reports surfaced questioning the sudden appearance of a church with ties to Crazy Horse Too strip club owner Rick Rizzolo.

The church popped up in proximity to a building owned by political consultant Sig Rogich, and for a time thwarted efforts to have that building rezoned for a topless club.

When Goodman called Metro for assistance, he and City Manager Virginia Valentine asked detectives to examine whether any illegal activity occurred with respect to the church's opening. Neither Goodman nor Valentine even mentioned McDonald by name.

The second investigation was requested by Goodman during a live television broadcast of the Aug. 16 council meeting.

"We were listening to two diametrically opposed statements," Goodman said Thursday during his weekly press briefing.

Goodman said he watched as two of the partners for the troubled Las Vegas Sportspark told vastly different stories about a May visit by McDonald to the recreation center.

When McDonald joined the discussion to dispute the one claim, Goodman said he felt as though someone was lying.

"I felt that his reputation was being questioned, that his integrity was being questioned," Goodman said.

Goodman said he turned to McDonald and suggested a police investigation was the only way to get to the truth. McDonald agreed, offering a quick, "Right."

When police finished their work, they determined it was McDonald who lied about his visit to Sportspark. Police also determined McDonald attempted to block Rogich's zoning request.

But District Attorney Stewart Bell declined to prosecute, saying he didn't think police gave him enough evidence to gain a conviction.

Wright thinks the lack of prosecution shows Metro was trying to railroad McDonald due to a personal rift between McDonald, a former cop, and Sheriff Jerry Keller.

"If there's a vendetta, I don't know where it's coming from," Goodman said.

McDonald faces a Nov. 8 hearing before the city's Ethics Review Board, which has the power to remove McDonald from office if he is found guilty of ethics violations.