Car dealer’s resolve may pay off — for Mack

Diana Sahagun

Thursday, Jan. 3, 2002 | 11:14 a.m.

A new application from East Coast car dealer John Staluppi Jr. to open a Nissan dealership in northwest Las Vegas could render moot the ethics complaints and a lawsuit lodged last year against Las Vegas Councilman Michael Mack.

Staluppi wants to open a 44,605-square-foot Nissan dealership on a 6-acre parcel north of Ann Road and west of U.S. 95, which was recently rezoned by the City Council to allow for car dealerships.

Staluppi's original application to open a dealership on Rancho Drive was denied by the council last summer. The decision created a firestorm of litigation against the city, Mack and Councilman Larry Brown.

Only days after Mack led the June 6 vote to deny Staluppi's original dealership, he disclosed that he had an outstanding $60,000 loan from rival car dealer Joseph Scala. Mack asked for the application to be reconsidered so he could abstain, but it was denied a second time.

Staluppi's new application, though, could be good news for Mack, who is weeks away from appearing before the Las Vegas Ethics Review Board regarding allegations that he abused his office.

Although Staluppi's attorney, Tony Sgro, did not return calls seeking comment, statements he made three months ago provide details on Mack's future.

According to sworn affidavits filed in District Court in September, Sgro told attorneys representing the city and the councilmen that he would drop the lawsuit and ethics complaints against Mack and Brown if the council approved an alternate site for a dealership.

Sgro made the statements to Richard Wright, Mack's private attorney, and also to William Henry, the city's senior litigator, Stan Hunterton, Brown's private attorney, and Pamela Larson of Hunterton's firm.

The attorneys turned down the deal. Hunterton called it "extortion," and Henry said it was "legally and ethically impossible."

Sgro made the statements during a council-imposed moratorium on all new-car dealerships in the northwest. The moratorium expired in November.

The application will be considered by the Planning Commission next Thursday, putting it in the hands of the council in mid-February. Staluppi's original application for a dealership on Rancho was denied by the council because the land was not zoned for dealerships.

The 6-acre parcel was rezoned in October -- along with several other parcels -- to allow for more dealership opportunities.

The car dealership application comes just weeks before portions of the lawsuit and two ethics complaints against Mack were scheduled to be heard.

District Judge Sally Loehrer is scheduled on Jan. 31 to decide whether a full hearing should be set to determine whether the council's original decision to deny the dealership should be overturned.

Mack's biggest hurdles are two ethics complaints, filed by associates of Staluppi, which seek to remove him from office. The complaints were scheduled to be heard by the Las Vegas Ethics Review Board Feb. 14.

Brown in August was cleared by the ethics board in regard to similar complaints. Like Mack, he faces a lawsuit filed by Staluppi that seeks monetary damages for the the councilmen's decision to deny the original application.