Editorial: Mack’s mark is eluding sanctions

Friday, Oct. 26, 2001 | 9:40 a.m.

Michael Mack has dodged a bullet -- once again. On Wednesday District Court Judge Sally Loehrer tossed out a malfeasance allegation against the Las Vegas city councilman, ruling that his actions in a zoning dispute didn't warrant removing him from office. The charges before Loehrer noted that Mack had led the vote in the City Council against Michael Staluppi's proposed car dealership in the northwest, while failing to disclose that he had an outstanding loan of $60,000 from a rival car dealer. Mack is fortunate that this sin of omission didn't meet the judge's legal standard for removing an official from office, though his actions clearly were beyond the pale for an elected official.

Mack's escape from punishment is just the latest in the controversy over the car dealership vote. A complaint filed with the Las Vegas Ethics Review Board against Mack was dismissed last month because the board failed to act on it within the 30-day deadline required under a city ordinance. The complaint will be refiled, but Mack's Houdini-like ability to escape from official sanctions still is something to behold.

Mack also didn't help matters when, after the story first broke this summer, he vanished. He fled Nevada for Arizona because he couldn't take the pressure of the media scrutiny. At the time his advisers claimed that he was simply seeking medical treatment, but the reality is he used this as a political time-out, hoping to take the life out of the story by not being available. But Mack miscalculated. His absence actually led to more questions and increased the doubts about his fitness for office.

That Mack is even a city councilman is due principally to Mayor Oscar Goodman, who in 1999 was instrumental in getting Mack appointed to the newly created Ward 6. From there Mack demonstrated a prodigious knack for fund-raising, collecting a half-million dollars, a talent that enabled him in large part to coast to his election victory earlier this year. But Mack's effectiveness in raising money hasn't carried over to his official duties -- Mack's accomplishments as a councilman are few and far between. It also has been disappointing that Mack hasn't demonstrated that he understands he made a terrible mistake in the car dealership vote. If Mack was smart, he would view this as a wake-up call, notwithstanding the judge's findings.