Mack back to work, but incommunicado

Diana Sahagun

Friday, July 27, 2001 | 11:05 a.m.

Las Vegas Councilman Michael Mack is back to work this week after almost a month of being absent in the wake of a lawsuit and ethics charges against him, but he is being insulated from reporters by a firewall put up by city public relations staff members.

Mack left town July 2 to see a Scottsdale, Ariz., doctor and was treated for stress. He left at the height of an ethics complaint and a lawsuit filed against him seeking his removal from office, partly because he voted on an item that benefited a businessman from whom he had taken a $60,000 loan.

On his first day back to work at City Hall, July 17, Mack worked a half day but left again, saying he was told by a local doctor to take a few more days off. Mack did not attend the July 5 and July 18 City Council meetings.

Calls to Mack for comment about his health and the ethics issue are being routed through a buffer of public relations people who say they are disallowing such questions from being asked directly to the councilman.

The Sun has tried several times in the past few days to talk with Mack, but calls to his office are answered by his secretary, who transfers them to one of the city's public relations staffers.

Mack also has the assistance of Terry Murphy, a public relations consultant who worked on his campaign earlier this year for the Ward 6 council seat. Murphy said Thursday that she is helping Mack and is not charging him for her assistance.

Murphy takes calls about Mack but declines to answer specific questions. She said Thursday that Mack might be available to talk with reporters next week, possibly Wednesday.

City public relations staffers -- at least two are handling Mack's calls -- say Mack will not respond to questions about his health, his finances, or the ethics charges or lawsuit lodged against him last month.

Though he is unavailable to the media, city spokeswoman Elaine Sanchez said Mack has attended numerous events this week. On Monday Mack attended a National Department of Transportation groundbreaking ceremony for a freeway interchange at Durango Drive and U.S. 95.

Monday, Tuesday and Thursday Mack attended the state Little League softball and baseball championship games as well as several meetings with constituents, Sanchez said.

Mack attended Mayor Oscar Goodman's weekly press conference Thursday, but he ducked out early.

Sources say Mack is still recovering from stress but will attend Wednesday's City Council meeting and make a statement then.

Mack's silence, though, is sparking debate as to whether officials should keep quiet when entrenched in a controversy or be more forthright with the public.

One local political consultant, who did not want to be identified because of professional dealings with council members, has watched the Mack case unfold and said the councilman is doing more harm than good by keeping quiet.

"Sure, Michael Mack can get away with saying this stuff is personal," said the consultant. "His health, his finances, that can all be chalked up to personal day-to-day activities that aren't the business of the media or his constituents.

"But at some point Michael Mack needs to take it upon himself to come clean, or he'll fall on his own sword."

Ted Jelen, chairman of the political science department at UNLV, said speaking to reporters is optional for public officials.

"There is a zone of privacy that everyone is entitled to," Jelen said. "But to some extent, it makes people look guilty when they don't talk.

"Freedom to speak implies freedom not to speak. What's curious about Michael Mack is the fact he isn't talking, answering fair and innocuous questions."

Attorney Anthony Sgro, whose client John Staluppi Jr. is suing Mack for denying his proposed car dealership in June, said when the councilman agreed to become an elected official he accepted the responsibility of answering questions about his health and financial status.

"He's trying to maintain this public perception that everything is fine, things are back to normal, and that there's nothing anyone needs to worry about," Sgro said. "If that were the case, he should be the first one out there fielding the questions and letting the public know that they can still trust him."

Mack is facing the ethics complaints and the lawsuit because he voted to deny a car dealership to Staluppi and did not disclose until afterward that he had taken a $60,000 loan from rival car dealer Joseph Scala. Mack says the complaints and lawsuits are the source of his stress.

"The only doctor he's seeing now is the spin doctor," Sgro said. "That's where all his ailments lie."