Ethics panel drops Kincaid’s case

Adrienne Packer

Friday, April 6, 2001 | 10:57 a.m.

The state Ethics Commission's review panel, muscling through a quagmire of intertwining cases against Clark County officials, weeded out two Thursday, leaving three to resolve.

Panel members excused Clark County Commissioner Mary Kincaid Chauncey from a complaint filed by former county worker Gene Smith. They also dismissed Smith's case against county parks chief Chester Broderick.

Whether the full commission will investigate any of the remaining cases Smith filed won't be known for weeks. But Smith sees a trend.

"I think they're blowing them off because they're too lazy to investigate them," Smith said Thursday.

Aside from Kincaid Chauncey and Broderick, Smith filed ethics complaints against county General Services Director Earl Hawkes, former facilities boss Bill Barrett and facilities manager Joe Luera.

Smith's initial ethics complaint against Clark County Commissioner Erin Kenny prompted the others.

The complaint against Kenny, which says the commissioner urged him and facilities carpenter Bradd Banaszak to break into the Government Center to find documents damaging to Kincaid, will be heard by the full ethics board April 19.

Accusations made in the complaint, which was submitted to the commission in November, sparked the review panel's interest in Kincaid Chauncey's close relationship with Barrett.

In his affidavit against Kenny, Smith said Kenny wanted documents that showed Barrett worked on Kincaid's campaign on county time using government equipment. The affidavit also says Barrett and his work crew helped Kincaid move her flower shop.

The ethics panel dismissed Smith's complaint against Kincaid Chauncey, but its recommendation that the full commission investigate her relationship with Barrett has yet to be ruled upon.

Polly Hamilton, executive director of the Ethics Commission, declined comment Thursday.

"With any complaint on which the panel has yet to sit, I wouldn't be able to confirm or deny," Hamilton said.

The panel cited insufficient evidence in its decision not to have the full board conduct a hearing on the complaints against Kincaid and Broderick.

A spokeswoman for the Ethics Commission said Thursday that it found insufficient evidence to back the case and that Gene Smith's complaint was vague.

"I knew there was nothing to it," said Kincaid, who was at legislative sessions in Carson City when the panel announced its ruling.

Gene Smith said his complaints outlined wrongdoing by employees and offered a list of witnesses that could support his claims. But, he said, not all the witnesses were called.

Gene Smith's ethics complaint against Broderick claims the parks chief was initially hired as a painter in the facilities division, but his primary task was to dig up dirt on Kenny's opponents. Smith alleges that, in exchange for his campaign work, Broderick, a former Boston police detective, was promised a promotion.

In his cases that have yet to be considered, Gene Smith claims Hawks had work done on his home using county material, Luera stole county equipment and Barrett enlisted employees to work on elected officials' campaigns while on duty.

Sun reporter

Cy Ryan contributed to this story.