Ethics Commission settles its case against North Las Vegas constable

Friday, Aug. 9, 2002 | 9:22 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- The state Ethics Commission agreed to an out-of-court settlement Thursday with North Las Vegas Constable Herb Brown, who had been fined $10,000 for distributing false campaign information about his opponent in 1998.

The commission accepted a compromise to impose a $500 penalty and let its opinion on the case stand. This case is a holdover from the prior ethics commission.

The case arose while Brown, running against Steve Bergstrom, distributed a campaign flier just before the election that stated Bergstrom did not have any qualifications as a police officer and had not received certified police officer training.

Bergstrom had completed a law enforcement academy in California and had worked as a police officer for about one year in Santa Rosa, Calif.

The commission, in a January 1999 opinion signed by then Chairwoman Mary E. Boetsch, said Brown's statements "that Mr. Bergstrom had no qualifications, education or training to be constable were made with reckless disregard for the truth."

The commission said Brown knew before the campaign flier was mailed that the statements were not true. It said Brown made the statements with malice.

After being fined, Brown filed suit and the case has lingered in the courts.

In other action, the commission agreed to reduce the fines of several public officials who had filed their financial disclosure statements for 2001 after the April 1 deadline. The commission lowered the fine of Lawrence Wong, a trustee for the Las Vegas-Clark County Library District, from $725 to $100.

Commission Executive Director Stacy Jennings said Wong submitted a "compelling" explanation on why he was late. She said Wong, a contractor, was out of the state between January and April on projects "in the wake of Sept. 11."

The board agreed to reduce the fine of $50 assessed to David Clark of Las Vegas, a member of the state Contractors Board, to $25 for filing the statement two days late.

But the board rejected the request for a reduction of the $25 civil penalty imposed on both Nadia Jurani and Dennis Shipley, Las Vegas members of the Nevada Equal Rights Commission.

Jennings told the commission that about 50 of the 950 political candidates failed to file their financial disclosure forms by May 31. She said she is checking on another 100 candidates to see if they filed their forms with the county clerks and the statements were not forwarded to the state office. She said she plans to have a final report on the tardy political candidates by the next meeting of the commission.