Ethics storm brewing?

Adrienne Packer

Friday, March 2, 2001 | 1:37 a.m.

Gene Smith has made a hobby out of stirring up trouble at the Clark County Government Center.

The 43-year-old former facilities worker has banged out five ethics complaints in four months, while also alerting the Environmental Protection Agency to the alleged mishandling of ozone-depleting refrigerants.

And Smith said he has barely dug into the bag of dirt he has on the county. He claims to have proof his division misused federal funds, failed to keep track of Freon and actively campaigned for elected officials while on county time.

He also has stories of administrators covering up the corruption, if anyone will listen.

"They're afraid of what I have to say," Smith said. "But they'll all look stupid. I know plenty of guys will come forward and talk about all the corruption and criminal stuff that has gone on for years.

"(County administrators) will all look stupid in the end."

All county administrators have done so far is brush aside Smith's allegations and ethics complaints -- which target Commissioners Erin Kenny and Mary Kincaid, former facilities boss Bill Barrett, former aide Joe Luera and parks police Chief Chester Broderick.

Accusations include Barrett campaigning for commissioners on county time and paying crew members overtime for doing the same.

Smith claims Kenny urged him and another employee to break into the Government Center; Kincaid was aware Barrett was campaigning for her; and Luera stole equipment from job sites. Broderick, Smith claims, was promoted for his work on Kenny's 1994 campaign.

Few are rattled

Although Smith continues to leak more information about wrongdoing in the county, he has rattled few at the Government Center.

"Most incidents he has talked about have been in the past," County Manager Dale Askew said. "They're occurances and incidents we're already aware of and had researched and been satisfied as to any wrongdoing.

"This is a situation where you have to consider the source. We're not that concerned because of the source."

So exactly who is this source?

Smith was hired by the county facilities division, which maintains government buildings, as a skilled trades worker in 1993. The 39-year Las Vegas resident was always interested in appliances, having owned a business with his father.

In 1998 he was fired after he was caught with a county-owned washer and dryer in his home. Smith, a divorced father of two, said he bought the appliances and still has the receipt but eventually entered a plea bargain with the Clark County district attorney's office.

"I had never been in trouble before," Smith said, adding he pleaded guilty to petty theft hoping he could keep his job.

Regardless of the source, Smith's allegations have caused a turbulent New Year for Clark County. The Nevada Ethics Commission launched an investigation into whether Kenny violated a code prohibiting public officials from accepting or offering favors. The probe stems from Kenny allegedly asking Smith to break into the Government Center to find documents detrimental to Kincaid, who faced Kenny's best friend in the primary.

Alleged comments made by Kenny -- which were included in Smith's affidavit -- yanked Kincaid and Barrett into the ethics investigation. The ethics board is looking at Kincaid and Barrett's longtime relationship.

While Smith's barrage of ethics complaints has strained relationships on the commission, county administrators have essentially written them off as acts of revenge by an employee who lost his job.

Polly Hamilton, Ethics Commission executive director, said multiple complaints filed under the same name don't necessarily discredit the accuser.

"We determine the merits of the complaint without regard to whether the person who filed it has filed another one," Hamilton said. "Each complaint has to stand on its own with respect to whether the commission should move forward or dismiss it."

Aside from the ethics filings, Smith has taken his heap of damaging documents to the EPA's regional headquarters in San Francisco to prove the county is missing refrigerant.

A county audit showed the facilities division's poor record-keeping process led to the loss of some documents. If the EPA finds the county was willfully neglectful in tracking records, the county can be fined up to $25,000 a day. The EPA has zeroed in on a two-year period.

One goal achieved

In all of his scrambling during the last four months, Smith has achieved one of his goals: Barrett, who some commissioners tried to fire years ago, is gone.

Barrett retired under pressure last month under pressure from county administrators. The former facilities boss has declined to talk to reporters who have regularly reported his troubles.

Smith believes Barrett is only the beginning.

"I could file 20 more complaints but I don't have time for it," Smith said. "But (Barrett) is not alone in this. The county is saying they got rid of a bad one; that's what they did with me.

"The county thinks everyone else is honest and clean as driven snow. That's so far from the truth it isn't even funny."

No easy task

Convincing administrators and commissioners something must be done will not be an easy task for Smith. The county has proven it doesn't terminate employees whimsically.

A deputy district attorney released Barrett's personnel records to the media because his "concentrated history of misconduct" was unique, but Barrett managed to keep his job despite the unusual number of reprimands.

"Isolated incidents would occur and he would be reprimanded or admonished," Askew said. "Taken by themselves, it wasn't enough to terminate an employee. A trend might have taken on a different result."

Although Smith's charges have proven to have some merit, commissioners have kept their distance from him and Barrett, who has also made references to having dirt on commissioners and administrators.

"I'm only peripherally familiar with Smith's allegations, and I'm less familiar with Barrett's references," County Commission Chairman Dario Herrera said. "It is important for the county to take any allegations against commissioners and staff seriously and see if they have merit."

Whether the two former employees will drag anyone else down with them has yet to been seen. Smith said if justice is done, Barrett won't be the only administrator leaving the county.

"There will be a (ton) of guys coming forward," Smith said, referring to the ethics complaints. "Everybody says if they're subpoenaed, they'll tell the truth and nothing but the truth. Being subpoenaed is the protection they need from the administration and commissioners.

"People are champing at the bit."