Mayor, council members are cleared of wrongdoing

Diana Sahagun

Friday, Feb. 16, 2001 | 11:34 a.m.

An ethics hearing that cleared Mayor Oscar Goodman and three Las Vegas City Council members of any wrongdoing became a venue Thursday for renewed suggestions that the complaint against them was inspired by political intrigue.

The Las Vegas Ethics Board voted unanimously to dismiss the complaint against Goodman and council members Lynette Boggs McDonald, Michael Mack and Larry Brown.

During the hourlong hearing, the elected officials defended their integrity and afterward directed suspicion toward the motivations of F. Victor Palermo, who filed the complaint.

The complaint alleged that their vote in favor of a tavern license for political consultant Sig Rogich was tainted because Rogich had undo influence upon them.

Goodman, a nationally famous criminal defense lawyer before becoming mayor, said that had he been able to question Palermo himself, he could have established that Palermo was acting on someone else's behalf, an allegation that Palermo vigorously denies.

Goodman has made no secret of his belief that the "someone else" was Councilman Michael McDonald, who was found guilty Thursday by the State Ethics Commission of two ethics violations regarding a separate matter. McDonald abstained on the vote and was later found guilty by the Las Vegas Ethics Board of working behind the scenes to kill the license for Rogich.

"I feel sorry for Palermo," Goodman said. "I think he has been a victim."

Brown said the evidence that Palermo's complaint was linked to someone at City Hall is contained in Palermo's filing of the complaint. Brown said the documents turned in with the complaint could be traced back to City Hall, and the specific office from which they originated.

Thursday was not a normal day for the City Council, with all but two members, Gary Reese and Lawrence Weekly, wrapped up in two different ethics hearings.

Some of the same staff and council members who testified at the city's afternoon ethics hearing also were called as witnesses in a day-long State Ethics Commission hearing regarding a complaint against McDonald. The hearings left some shuttling back and forth between City Hall and the Sawyer State Office Building.

Following the city's ethics hearing, Goodman answered questions while in the background a television screen showed City Manager Virginia Valentine testifying at the state hearing. A few minutes later, Brown and Goodman rushed out of the building and were later testifying at the state building well into the evening.

Although the council members were cleared, their mood was still somber at the end of the hearing. They said they felt insulted by the allegations.

"I've never been accused of anything," Boggs McDonald said during the hearing. "It really comes with great personal offense to be called a cheater."

Palermo's complaint alleged the council gave preferential treatment to Rogich in 2000 when members granted him a tavern license against the advice of the city attorney who said it was in conflict with the 1,500-foot separation requirement.

The fiercest testimony came from Goodman, who was fuming that he was being put through an ethics hearing and said he should not have to justify his vote.

"I conduct an honest and fair and open meeting, and I would do nothing other than that," Goodman said.

Goodman said what took place during the Rogich matter was a "shame on the city" because of conflicting measurements, a mysterious church opening and then closing near the tavern, and a lack of advice from the city attorney.

"If anyone was abused, it was the applicant, because the facts were changing for him daily," Goodman said. "I voted for it because I was angry. I voted as much to teach the city a lesson that this would never happen again."

Goodman added that disagreeing with the city attorney is not unusual, pointing out that in his first vote as mayor he voted against the city attorney and Metro Police's advice to shut down a restaurant on Fremont Street.

Brown said, "The application was as convoluted and as complicated as I've seen in the 3.5 years I've been on the council. From day one, there seemed to be many additional obstacles placed in the way of the application."

Palermo scoffed at allegations that someone was helping him behind the scenes. He submitted an affidavit to the ethics board reiterating that he has no relationship with McDonald.

"I have been accused of being a puppet for Michael McDonald," Palermo said. "I do not know Michael McDonald. I do not know anyone associated with Michael McDonald. I have no desire to help Michael McDonald, and the timing of the complaint was purely coincidental."

Palermo said he filed the complaint nine months after the vote because at the time he was recovering from a stroke. Once he recuperated he decided to file a complaint.

Palermo said he wasn't surprised at the board's decision and would consider taking further action to the state level or elsewhere.

"Their minds were made up before the hearing started," he said. "If people sit back and let these politicians run wild and never be challenged, the world isn't going to be as good."