City to tighten control of gifts

Thursday, Dec. 19, 2002 | 9:37 a.m.

The city of Las Vegas now has a written policy for handling gifts that in the past would have gone straight to elected officials and could have been used in whatever manner the recipient chose.

With little discussion, the council members unanimously approved Wednesday a resolution that requires any gift or donation worth more than $25,000 to be brought before the City Council for a vote on whether it should be rejected or accepted.

Las Vegas Councilwoman Lynette Boggs McDonald said she proposed the resolution because she believed more oversight was needed. The council needed to have more say about what major gifts and donations should be accepted by the city as well as the conditions for acceptance and use of such gifts.

She amended her resolution Wednesday to require the city manager's approval for donated broadcast time for the city's public service announcements. The resolution also requires the approval of the city manager for all gifts valued at less than $25,000.

The new rules were designed to provide more accountability, but also could affect Mayor Oscar Goodman, who has a history of giving and accepting large gifts.

Goodman recently was provided use of a new black 2003 Cadillac Seville STS from John Tomaras of Cadillac of Las Vegas. In October, Goodman received a $100,000 contract to endorse Bombay Sapphire gin.

Goodman says he intends to use the vehicle when conducting official city business.

Goodman gave $50,000 from the gin endorsement contract to the city. He designated it on Wednesday to help fund the regional crisis triage center that would assess the medical needs of chronic drunks, drug addicts and the mentally and physically ill, particularly the many who are homeless. The other half of the money was donated to the Meadows School, which Goodman's wife helped found.