Ethics panel weighs tougher rules

Wednesday, June 25, 2003 | 11:27 a.m.

The Clark County Ethics Task Force agreed that rules need to be tougher on gifts that Clark County commissioners may accept and that commissioners shouldn't participate in the discussions of issues on which they plan to abstain.

The task force, which met Tuesday at the Clark County Government Center, also agreed that rules rules need to be clarified on when it is appropriate for county officials to disclose conflicts of interest.

These were the first recommendations of the 10-member panel reconvened after a four-year hiatus. The panel is re-examining the county's ethics rules because current and former commissioners found themselves in ethical dilemmas. The group still has to write the language of the tougher rules.

One recent problem involved a legal challenge to a commissioner's ability to propose a growth-limiting ordinance on property near the Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area and another is an ongoing probe by the FBI into a possible connection between current and former board members and the owners of two local strip clubs.

The commissioners, as well as other state and local elected officials, are required to disclose gifts that total $200 or more a year from a single source. The task force decided that should be lowered for county officials to between $25 and $50, with possible exceptions for meals.

Task force member E. Lee Bernick, chairman of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas School of Public Administration, said he thought it was unethical for commissioners to receive items such as rodeo jackets that aren't normally given to the general public.

"If I went to a rodeo, I wouldn't be given a jacket, so I don't think it's appropriate for a commissioner to get something like that," Bernick said.

Bernick was not alone. Fellow task force member David Griego, vice president of business development for the Nevada Energy Buyers Network, said he noticed in a review of financial disclosure statements that some elected officials receive at least four free jackets a year.

"At $200 to $250 each it adds up," Griego said.

He said that some commissioners get as much as $3,000 a year worth of gifts, with the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority by far the biggest donor. Members of the commission serve terms on the LVCVA board, which establishes tourism policies and helps recruit conventions to Southern Nevada.

"That has the appearance of impropriety," Griego said of the LVCVA gifts. "Something is wrong there and it is our job to fix it."

In comparison to elected officials, county employees are prohibited under administrative guidelines from accepting gifts. As a general rule, County Manager Thom Reilly told the task force, items such as fruit baskets are to be shared with fellow employees and that, when appropriate, all other gifts are donated to charities. But Reilly conceded that a successor to his position could choose to delete that rule.

Bernick said that if it were up to him, elected officials wouldn't be able to accept gifts either.

"If we say you can't take gifts, then you don't have to worry about filling out (disclosure) forms," he said. "If it's good enough for employees, it should be good enough for commissioners."

State law allows elected officials who abstain from votes to participate in the debate that leads up to those votes. Reilly said that the current seven commissioners rarely participate in discussions after they abstain.

But task force members agreed that commissioners should be prohibited from any future participation in an issue once they abstain.

"It's all about the independence of your judgment," task force member Craig Walton, a UNLV ethics professor, said. "I don't know how you can keep talking but not advocate."

Bernick said he agreed that abstaining should apply to participating in discussions as well as voting "because the way you ask a question is a form of advocacy."

Walton said that the state law can be so loosely interpreted that "you can hold off on your abstaining until you finish your secret lobbying."

Task force chairman Dick Morgan, dean of the Boyd School of Law at UNLV, circulated his own draft proposals, including a provision covering disclosure of conflicts of interest.

"Before acting on any matter, a county official will disclose to his superior or to the board any conflicting interest," Morgan proposed. "A 'conflicting interest' is any interest of the county official (financial, personal or otherwise) that could reasonably impair his or her ability to act in the county's best interests in the matter."

The task force agreed to recommend a disclosure rule that would contain similar language plus some possible examples of items that ought to be disclosed. Morgan warned against making the disclosure requirements too specific, however, and other task force members argued that county officials may still be able to find loopholes if they so desire.

"You can't make people ethical but you can make it as uncomfortable as heck to be unethical," Walton said.

The task force is tentatively scheduled to meet again in the first week of August. Its members will discuss proposals to establish stiffer "cooling off" periods for former elected officials who wish to become county lobbyists, as well as potential penalties for elected and appointed officials who violate ethics policies.

Task force recommendations are expected to be submitted to the commission by the end of August.