Editorial: Oversight panel trips over itself

Friday, Oct. 19, 2001 | 4:20 a.m.

More than a month ago ethics complaints were filed against Las Vegas City Councilman Michael Mack. Michael Staluppi charged that Mack led the vote in the City Council against his proposed car dealership along Rancho Road, while failing to disclose that he also had an outstanding loan of $60,000 from a rival car dealer of Staluppi's, Joseph Scala. The accusations against Mack are serious, but the original complaints no longer are being considered by the Las Vegas Ethics Review Board.

The complaints weren't rejected because of a finding that there was no merit to them. No, the complaints were tossed out because the Las Vegas Ethics Review Board failed to meet a new deadline requiring a hearing to be held on complaints within 30 days after they're filed. In the case of Staluppi's complaints, the 30-day deadline expired Sept. 29. Inexcusably, Earle White, the chairman of the ethics review board, failed to act in time -- especially since the city of Las Vegas' senior litigator, in an Aug. 16 briefing about the new ethics rules adopted by the City Council, explained the 30-day deadline to the ethics commissioners. When the attorney asked if there were any questions, White replied with a "no."

On Sept. 29 White scheduled a special meeting to take up the complaints against Mack, but only three members were there, not enough to conduct business. That's because the new ethics rules adopted by the City Council added two more members to the ethics review board -- which means four members are required to be present to conduct business on the seven-member panel, not just three. White's failure to make sure there were enough members on hand to act on the complaint is bad enough, but he does have company in creating this mess. When the ethics review board met on Sept. 29, the City Council still had not yet appointed the two new members to the ethics review board, making it more difficult to carry out the board's responsibilities.

There is a growing perception that the state Ethics Commission and the Las Vegas Ethics Review Board just aren't up to the task, with most criticism being directed at them for failing to make wayward politicians accountable for their transgressions. Now the Las Vegas Ethics Review Board brings a new dimension to the concern: an inability by that panel to follow simple procedures, something that White, a former judge, should understand better than most. The accusations lobbed against Mack definitely deserved a hearing, and Staluppi's attorney says that he'll refile the complaints. Still, it's a shame that the ethics review board, with an assist from the City Council, dropped the ball.