Commissioners view evidence from strip clubs in private room

Adrienne Packer

Wednesday, July 31, 2002 | 11:04 a.m.

In Las Vegas even a government meeting can be racy.

So racy, Clark County commissioners must excuse themselves from their meeting today and move to a separate room to view surveillance tapes that graphically display the naked truth about topless clubs.

Fearing they could be exposed to lawsuits by showing pornographic videos on the commission chamber monitors, county officials opted for a private viewing for the board -- and any interested citizens -- in a conference room.

"It's still public record; if they want to see it they can see it," County Manager Thom Reilly said. "It's not that we're censoring it."

Commissioners -- who double as the Liquor and Gaming Board -- were to consider laws today to tame lap dances, which they claim have escalated to the point of prostitution.

The law proposed by Commissioner Yvonne Atkinson Gates essentially says patrons cannot touch the dancer. It prohibits strippers and customers from touching each other's groins, breasts or buttocks. It also does away with the popular tipping practice of stuffing bills in G-strings.

Many of Atkinson Gates' critics are strippers who are expected to show up at today's hearing, in some cases with children in tow, to voice their concerns about the proposed law's adverse financial impact on them.

Both Metro Police and the county's business licensing division videotaped dancers at various clubs during an undercover investigation.

The unedited versions of the tapes were enough to prompt Deputy District Attorney Mary-Anne Miller to offer county administrators her own tip: view the tapes in a separate room so the county won't be sued for showing pornography in a public forum.

"It's our understanding a lot of people might come to the hearing and some might be bringing children. They have a right to have their points heard but they might not want to be subjected to such a graphic tape," Miller said. "This way it won't be inflicted on someone who didn't want to see it."

Today's hearing began at 9 a.m. in the Clark County Chambers.