Goodman questions need for city ethics board

Diana Sahagun

Thursday, April 19, 2001 | 11 a.m.

Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman is questioning the need for the city's ethics board and has asked the city manager to determine whether it should be dissolved or revamped.

His remarks Wednesday came on the eve of today's ethics board hearing in which Councilwoman Lynette Boggs McDonald was to go through the process that Goodman on many occasions has called flawed.

Goodman has frequently criticized the city's ethics board, most recently in February when he and three City Council members appeared before it. He argues that there may not be a need for both a city ethics board and state Ethics Commission -- especially if they have different rules.

On Wednesday he directed City Manager Virginia Valentine to meet with legal counsel and City Council members to determine their feelings on the city's board and how to make it more effective or possibly abandon it.

"We've all had experience with the city's Ethics Review Board, and I feel there may be some inconsistency in how the state and the city handles ethics matters," Goodman said.

Under rules governing the city's ethics board, anyone can file an ethics complaint and it will result in a preliminary hearing. It was argued by Goodman that the complaint lodged against him and the other council members in February was frivolous and should not have resulted in a hearing. That complaint was ultimately dismissed.

Unlike the state Ethics Commission, the city has no screening process to determine if complaints should move forward to a preliminary hearing.

At the state level, a two-member panel of the Ethics Commission decides whether a complaint should be forwarded to the full panel. The complaint is not released publicly by the commission unless it moves forward to a hearing or is dismissed.

Goodman also argues that the Ethics Review Board doesn't allow for cross-examination of witnesses and council members can't present evidence.

Goodman has argued that had he been able to cross-examine his accuser, resident F. Victor Palermo, he could have proved the complaint was politically motivated.