Ethics charge made over Herrera action

Adrienne Packer

Tuesday, March 5, 2002 | 10:42 a.m.

Former Clark County employee Gene Smith on Monday said he mailed to the state Ethics Commission a complaint related to Commissioner Dario Herrera's involvement in a public relations contract with the Las Vegas Housing Authority.

Smith, who for two years has dogged commissioners and county managers with ethics complaints, claims Herrera violated ethics codes by using his influence as commission chairman to win a portion of an $84,000 contract, which was awarded in November.

After news reports that Mojave Moon owner Jim Gath paid Herrera $1,250 to help his company win the contract, Smith also claims that the money transaction was a "bribe."

Herrera could not be reached for comment Monday or today.

Smith, a former facilities worker fired from the county in 1996, also outlines Herrera's relationship with Las Vegas Housing Authority Executive Director Frederick Brown. Brown acted on Herrera's exploratory team before Herrera announced his candidacy for Congress.

Brown awarded the public relations contract to Tribeca Media in November, and then requested the company split the work with Herrera Communications Group. Tribeca's proposal scored highest in a field of 10 companies; Herrera never responded to the request for proposals.

Housing Authority board members said they never approved the contract and had no knowledge that it existed.

The controversy over the process in which the contract was awarded prompted Tribeca and Herrera to pull out of the agreement last week.