Goodman wants to limit power of Las Vegas Ethics Review Board

Diana Sahagun

Friday, Aug. 23, 2002 | 10:40 a.m.

In the aftermath of Las Vegas Councilman Michael Mack's acquittal on ethics charges, Mayor Oscar Goodman says he is inclined to limit the Las Vegas Ethics Review Board's ability to prosecute public officials.

Such a job would be better suited for the district attorney or attorney general, Goodman said on Thursday.

Goodman made his comments less than 24 hours after Mack was acquitted of four criminal charges of "willfully" violating the city's ethics code. In his ruling, Municipal Judge Bert Brown said the prosecution had not proven its case beyond a reasonable doubt.

The two-day trial was attorney Richard Wright's second time defending a Las Vegas Councilman on ethics charges -- in the cases of Mack and Councilman Michael McDonald, they were both acquitted. After the verdict, Wright said the ethics board should be abolished, adding that it is only supposed to issue advisory opinions.

Goodman said he was leaning toward introducing an amendment that would limit the board's authority to only issue opinions on ethical behavior.

"I think it's important to have a local entity able to render opinions," Goodman said. "If criminal activity has taken place the case should be referred to the district attorney or attorney general."

The city's ethics board has long been criticized for its ineffectiveness. Late last year, the council passed an ordinance designed to give the board more teeth, including more due process.

In February, the board ruled that Mack willfully violated the city's ethics code on four occasions in 2001 when he voted to postpone and ultimately deny a car dealership proposed in northwest Las Vegas without disclosing he owed $60,000 to rival car dealer Joseph Scala. The board directed its attorney -- John Graves Jr. -- to prosecute Mack in Municipal Court.

The Nevada Ethics Commission does not have the power to prosecute elected officials, but can issue civil penalties like fines.

Penalty for violation of the city misdemeanor would be removal from office.

Mack survived the possibility of being the first Las Vegas elected official to be removed from office due to ethics violations, but he still has to face the voters.

While some local officials have been unable to get past the stigma of being found guilty by an ethics board, Mack won't have to face voters until 2005.

Goodman said the past has shown that voters can get past a guilty decision from an ethics board as long as the official continues to serve his or her constituents.

"I've learned that the public is a forgiving public," Goodman said. "If a politician makes a mistake and is excused from that mistake and works very hard for the constituents, the public rewards them for re-election."

Craig Walton, director of the Institute for Ethics and Policy Studies at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, said he didn't buy Mack's defense that he thought the loan had been paid off.

"It is amusing to think that ignorance is a defense," said Walton, who lives in Mack's ward.

But he said the voters could go either way when he's up for re-election.

"People might say, listen, this guy is a lot like me," Walton said. "It will depend.

"I will vote against him because I think he is not doing what he should be doing to represent me."