Columnist Erin Neff: Commission fails at policing politicians

Erin Neff

Friday, Aug. 15, 2003 | 4:43 a.m.

AT THE BEGINNING OF the old TV cop drama "Hill Street Blues," Sgt. Phil Esterhaus always cautioned his crew: "Let's be careful out there."

That's essentially the same message the Nevada Ethics Commission gave to Las Vegas Councilwoman Lynette Boggs McDonald on Thursday when she asked if it was OK to serve on the board of a casino company with multiple businesses in the city she helps to govern.

It's little wonder Nevada's elected officials have so much trouble doing the right thing. The state's laws are weak and those charged with advising officials about the regulations' intent provide little more guidance than Esterhaus' words did to keep cops out of gunfire.

Ethics Commission Chairman Thomas Sheets told Boggs McDonald the law didn't say she couldn't do what she was proposing to do. But the spirit of the law is that a councilman should not serve two masters -- the public and a private company whose business practices can, and do, impact the public.

At least Boggs McDonald cared enough about ethics to seek an advisory opinion from the commission and allowed the usually closed session to be open to the public and press.

Perception goes a long way toward determining public opinion about a politician's intent. And it appears Boggs McDonald, the author of the city's strict disclosure regulations, wants to do the right thing.

But Nevada still has too many officials who put ethics as an afterthought and not as the driving moral standard it should be.

Take Fran Deane.

The Clark County recorder said she blocked installation of a $4.9 million computer program designed to make the office more efficient.

One of the key provisions of the contract was to provide public records access for free via the Internet. But Deane blocked the company because she wanted to hire a private corporation -- one in which she had a personal stake -- to provide the records for a fee.

Deane proposed the company and filed incorporation papers with the state to operate it with former Lt. Gov. Lonnie Hammargren, a fellow Republican.

"Is there something wrong with profit-making?" Dean told the Sun's Launce Rake. "It is not the recorder's office. It is Fran Deane, the recorder."

The recorder's office, as an independent office not under control of the county commission, is only accountable to voters. And it is only Deane, not the office, who would be on the ballot if she's brazen enough to seek re-election.

Although Deane dropped her plans for the private company, she still believes it was perfectly OK for her to have proposed it, and to use that proposal to block the already-approved company, AmCad, from providing the service it was paid to do.

Not only do Deane's actions show an appalling disregard for ethics, they also show how terribly she has managed her office. Blocking the approved company from installing the system will cost the county an estimated $2 million and has added to the office's (not Fran Deane's, mind you) error rate for recording documents.

If a citizen files an ethics complaint against Deane, the Nevada Ethics Commission will probably send her off with just a warning, ruling that Deane didn't technically profit because her company never got a shot at making Deane the money she desired from her public office.

Which is all the more reason that residents who are interested in trying out Nevada's recall law would be wise to address Deane's performance.

For its part, the Ethics Commission needs to send politicians away with bullet-proof messages about how not to act, not just lame admonitions to be careful out there.