Editorial: Put an end to conflicts of interest

Friday, Feb. 9, 2001 | 9:49 a.m.

The Las Vegas City Council was right Wednesday to postpone a decision on whether to promote Deputy Planning Director Bob Genzer into the department's top slot. Questions arose after it was revealed that Genzer has had a business relationship with a prominent builder, Randy Black. Members of the City Council said they want to determine whether Genzer's investment in a land deal with Black violates the city's ethics code.

The land investment is in the city of Mesquite, and no one so far has suggested that Genzer's relationship has resulted in him making decisions that have benefited the firm he has a minority interest in. For that matter, Genzer, a 27-year employee of the city's Planning and Development Department, listed the land deal in a city-mandated disclosure form. Despite the openness, the fact is the deal doesn't instill public confidence. This doesn't end with only Genzer, though. It also has come to light that other City Hall employees have similar business relationships with developers or engineering firms.

So what should be done? It's not enough for these City Hall employees to simply abstain when making decisions about developers or engineering firms where they have a financial relationship. The best policy is to issue a blanket prohibition on outside deals that could be construed in any way to be a conflict of interest -- disclosure is not enough.

Government employees should not be engaged in business deals with an industry that they regulate or oversee -- even if the company may not have any business directly pending before city government. Both city and county governments should make sure that they prohibit such investments by their employees. Many neighborhood residents in the Las Vegas Valley believe that local governments only pay lip service to their concerns on zoning decisions, while developers tend to get their way. The conflicts of interest -- both real and perceived -- should end. Otherwise, there will be an erosion of the public's trust that zoning and other decisions will be made on their merits, not on whether city officials are in business with a company.