Website shut down by host following letter fom county

Adrienne Packer

Wednesday, Nov. 14, 2001 | 9:22 a.m.

An Internet website that Clark County representatives say may have defamed county officials was shut down this week after a letter complaining about the page was sent to the web host.

"Many statements, pictures and captions are directed at certain persons and may be considered slanderous," county spokeswoman Gwen Castaldi wrote in her Nov. 1 letter to Arizona-based Jomax technologies.

The website was owned and designed by former county employee Gene Smith, who in the past year has filed a barrage of ethics complaints against county commissioners and managers.

Smith said Tuesday he paid $200 for the software for his site, about $60 in setup fees and $10 a month to maintain it. He said he received notice from Jomax on Monday that the site was going to be shut down unless its contents were changed.

"This is a violation of my civil rights," Smith said Tuesday. "Why is Clark County worrying about it?"

Smith, who was fired from the county in 1998, designed the website (snitchonclarkcounty.com) nearly a year ago and had heard no complaints. Castaldi, who was hired as director of the communication division in September, said she had just recently learned of the web page.

Castaldi said she contacted the district attorney's office after hearing complaints about the web page. Access to the site had already been cut off to county employees, because it is not work-related.

Castaldi's letter warned the web host of the site before "litigation ensues." Now that the site is down, she said, the county will not pursue legal action.

"I don't think it's unusual for a government to send the web host a letter saying you have questionable things on your site and there is room for litigation," Castaldi said. "People have the right to free speech, but they don't have a right to slander people."