Next step in councilwoman’s ethics case days away

Diana Sahagun

Monday, April 16, 2001 | 11:35 a.m.

The Las Vegas Ethics Commission will determine Thursday if there is enough evidence to proceed with a full hearing into a complaint filed against City Councilwoman Lynette Boggs McDonald.

Resident Tim Lafferty filed the ethics complaint against the councilwoman in March over to a trip she took in 1999 that was paid for by Station Casinos.

In the complaint, Lafferty alleges the councilwoman violated the city's ethics laws when she failed to disclose her relationship with Station Casinos executives and classified the trip as a "political contribution."

Lafferty said he knows Mark Solomon, who ran against Boggs McDonald in this month's primary election. But he said Solomon did not ask him to file the complaint.

Boggs McDonald beat Solomon in the Ward 2 race with more than 70 percent of the vote.

Lafferty has also filed the same complaint to the state's Ethics Commission, which has not decided whether the complaint warrants a full hearing.

Boggs McDonald, who was appointed to the City Council in July 1999, reported among her campaign contributions last year one from Station Casinos for $2,256.22. According to the complaint, the contribution paid for Boggs McDonald and her husband to fly with Station executives in 1999 to Notre Dame on the gaming company's private jet.

Boggs McDonald classified it as a political contribution, not a gift.

According to the city's ethics code, had the councilwoman classified the contribution as a gift, she could not have accepted more than $250.

In addition, the complaint alleges Boggs McDonald did not disclose her friendship with Station Casinos executives when she voted in favor of two projects last year.

According to the complaint, Station appeared before the council in August, when council members approved plans for Ernie's Casino, a tavern at 1901 N. Rancho Drive. The approval was unanimous, according to the complaint.

In September the council approved Station's buyout of the Sante Fe hotel- casino.

Boggs McDonald has maintained she did nothing wrong and instructed her lawyer to ask for a hearing as soon as possible.