Official pursues penalty in flier case

Monday, Sept. 11, 2000 | 11:25 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- Secretary of State Dean Heller moved today to discipline a Station Casinos executive and a political consultant for allegedly distributing an illegal anonymous political campaign flier.

The flier was designed to damage the reputation of Clark County Commissioner Lance Malone, who was defeated in the primary election last week.

Heller asked Attorney General Frankie Sue Del Papa to file a civil lawsuit against Station Vice President Mark Brown and consultant Tom Skancke. If successful, the suit could result in a $5,000 penalty for each.

Heller acted after Brown and Skancke refused to sign a consent agreement that acknowledged the law had been violated.

The agreement called for the two to each pay a $5,000 fine. It also set as a condition that the two would cooperate in any investigation of others involved in the anonymous flier.

Heller had been negotiating with the two Las Vegas men for more than two weeks to settle the issue without going to court. He set Friday as the deadline for Brown and Skancke to agree to the settlement, but they declined.

"As the state's chief election officer, it is my duty to enforce Nevada election law," Heller said.

"Public trust in the electoral process depends upon it. Nevada voters have a right to know who is financing campaign material. Anonymous political literature that seeks only to damage an individual's character threatens the integrity of the electoral process," he said.

Brown and Skancke maintained this is a Freedom of Speech issue. Skancke said prosecution of this case would be premature until a federal court decides the American Civil Liberties Union lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the law.

Skancke said the proposed consent agreement would have forced him to sign away his constitutional rights.

"I'm not willing to do that," he said. "I believe it (the law) is unconstitutional. I'm going to fight for Freedom of Speech and our constitutional rights."

Station Casinos issued a statement for Brown, saying it would not pay the fine. Its position "is that political speech is among the most cherished freedoms addressed by the U.S. Constitution and must be staunchly defended," it said.

Jack Taylor, director of corporate public relations for Station, said that "until that legal challenge is concluded, we believe it would be both premature and improper for us to pay the fine. We will remain in communications with Secretary of State Heller's staff as well as the attorney general's office as we monitor the progress of this important constitutional case."

Malone could not be reached for comment this morning.

Brown and Skancke allegedly put together the flier to discredit Malone after he changed his mind and voted for a casino in Spring Valley, which was opposed by Station Casinos, where Brown is executive vice president of government affairs.

Skancke is paid by Station Casinos $5,000 a month to handle public relations.

The flier had a caricature of Malone with the headline "You Just Can't Trust Malone," and detailed his stand on neighborhood casinos.

Nevada law requires election literature to contain the names and addresses of the people who publish it. Heller said an exception is allowed if the material is financed by an individual.

Federal prosecutors and the Clark County district attorney's office have declined to bring criminal charges.

The state Gaming Control Board filed a complaint last month against Station Casinos, accusing it of failing to supervise Brown. That complaint could result in a fine of up to $600,000 against the gaming company. The company has yet to respond.

The gaming complaint said Brown and Skancke devised the flier. Brown committed Station Casinos to helping fund it, and Skancke contributed $5,000 of his money.

Brown, according to the gaming complaint, hired James Severson for $500 to draw a political caricature of Malone showing the commissioner awash in cash. Skancke contracted with a group to design and prepare the flier. Passkey Systems was hired to distribute the flier that was mailed to 39,000 residents in Malone's district in March.

The gaming complaint said Brown lied to his bosses that he was not involved in the anonymous campaign material. It said he threatened Malone with a FBI investigation and further political mailers if Malone did not withdraw a suit the commissioner filed to learn who was behind the political material.

Brown is now seeking approval of state gaming regulators to be licensed as an officer in Station Casinos.

Heller said his investigation narrowed to Brown and Skancke. Brown admitted to the violations and indicated Station Casinos paid for the publication, Heller said

Heller said, "We concluded that the persons providing services, i.e., the creative agency, the printer, the mailing house, etc., should not be pursued beyond providing such evidence as they possessed, since their function was strictly to provide a service."