Mack is back in City Council seat

Diana Sahagun

Thursday, Aug. 2, 2001 | 10:54 a.m.

Las Vegas Councilman Michael Mack said the chair he occupies during City Council meetings will no longer be vacant.

Mack, during in a break between the morning and afternoon sessions of the first council meeting he has attended in a month, said he's back to stay.

During the past month Mack has made himself scarce around City Hall, although he has been busy dodging questions about his health, a lawsuit and two ethics complaints lodged against him.

Still, Mack said he has continued to work for his constituents.

Mack said he was diagnosed with "acute stress disorder" in early June. He said he has since learned to better deal with stress and, as a consequence, he will not miss council meetings or give the impression that he cannot fulfill his duties as a councilman.

Mack said he has listed his priorities, which include taking better care of himself, something he said he had kept on the back burner.

Although he said he would try to better balance his time in his roles as a business owner and father, Mack vowed to be equally diligent as a councilman.

Mack said he took the ethics accusations personally, resulting in the stress. In June he voted to deny a car dealership proposed for the northwest by John Staluppi Jr. Days later Mack disclosed that he had taken a $60,000 loan from a rival car dealer and asked for the item to be placed back on the agenda so that he could abstain from the vote.

Mack said as the questions about his behavior became more frequent he became very stressed. He worried that something was wrong with him physically.

"Someone might call it thin-skinned, but I care about what people say," he said. "I take things personally."

Some of the questions have centered around Mack's finances. He owes 12 people or corporations at least $5,000 each. Mack said he is asking the investors if he can release the amounts of the loans.