Ethics complaint cites Williams’ water message

Adrienne Packer

Wednesday, July 10, 2002 | 9:45 a.m.

A campaign manager representing one of Clark County Commissioner Myrna Williams' opponents said he hopes the incumbent is publicly chastised for appearing in a recent brochure about drinking water.

Jack Lipsman filed a complaint with the Nevada Ethics Commission on Tuesday, claiming Williams used her commission seat to secure certain privileges.

In his complaint, Lipsman claims Williams, president of the Las Vegas Valley Water District, gained an unfair advantage over challenger Tony Badillo when her picture and accompanying letter appeared in the district-produced booklet.

About 470,000 of the booklets, titled "The Facts about your Drinking Water," were mailed to water users, according to the Water District.

"If (the ethics commission) agrees with us, they can't undo what's been done, but they can publicly chastise her, which is what we'd like," Lipsman said.

Badillo, a Democrat, is one of three opponents Williams faces in her bid for a third term representing District E. Democrat Nevada Stupak and Republican John Stanhagan are also running for the seat.

Lipsman also said that producing the brochures in Spanish for the Hispanic community was a waste of taxpayers' money and that Williams targeted Hispanics specifically to benefit her campaign.

"Our complaint is, essentially, that the Water District ratepayers should not be forced to underwrite Myrna Williams' political messages," Lipsman's complaint says.

Williams did not return phone messages Tuesday.

Vince Alberta, spokesman for the district, said dissemination of the water brochure is required by the Environmental Protection Agency.

The district's management team decided to print copies in Spanish three years ago, he said. The latest U.S. Census figures that showed 20 percent of the Las Vegas Valley's population is Hispanic further validated the decision, he said.

Alberta said the president's message and picture have been included in the booklet since it was first published in 1998.

"The reason it's from the president is people want to hear it from the top," Alberta said. "Many members of the public want accessibility to public officials and this provides them with an opportunity."

The Water District also rejected Lipsman's argument that publishing the Spanish version cost more money without taxpayer permission. The Spanish booklets were inserted in the newspaper El Mundo.

About 38,000 brochures were published in Spanish at a cost of $6,770; about $1,650 was spent on inserting them in the newspaper, Alberta said. About 448,000 booklets were printed in English. It cost about $32,000 to print them and $60,000 in postage.

Lipsman said he was offended by the Spanish language version, saying it "alienates the Hispanic community and keeps them in a ghetto-like mentality."

Alberta said the idea to publish brochures in Spanish was first discussed at an outreach meeting with the Nevada State Health Division, which supported the effort.

"We want to make sure water agencies throughout the county have communication with the public about what's in the water and does it meet drinking water standards," Alberta said.