Columnist Jeff German: Politics dirtier than usual

Friday, June 27, 2003 | 11:47 a.m.

Jeff German's column appears Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays in the Sun. Reach him at german@lasvegassun.com or (702) 259-4067.

Like a recurring nightmare, former City Councilman Steve Miller just won't go away.

The political gadfly, who left public office in 1991, has thrust himself into the controversy over the campaign tactics used by Janet Moncrief to unseat City Councilman Michael McDonald in Ward 1.

This is nothing new for Miller.

After losing the Ward 1 primary to McDonald in 1995, Miller hounded the just-departed councilman during his eight years in office. Before McDonald, Miller tried to make life miserable for former Mayor Jan Laverty Jones, who soundly defeated him in the 1991 mayor's race.

Now, Miller has embarked on a vendetta against Moncrief, even though he says he backed her campaign.

And it's creating a mess for Secretary of State Dean Heller to clean up. Heller has been taking his time the past two months deciding whether to investigate allegations of dirty campaigning by Moncrief, first raised by McDonald's campaign.

At first Miller denied being part of Moncrief's political team, even threatening to sue reporters if they linked him to Moncrief.

But now, after failing to land a job as one of Moncrief's City Hall aides, Miller is singing a different tune.

He now wants us to believe that he was intimately involved in Moncrief's campaign and authored several "hit pieces" on McDonald that allegedly were mailed under false identities by the campaign, all in violation of state law.

His allegations tend to corroborate those previously made by McDonald.

Moncrief denies wrongdoing and insists that Miller played a minimal role in her race with McDonald.

But if Miller is telling the truth this time, Moncrief and her campaign could be in some trouble.

Others such as gaming mogul Bob Stupak, Miller's longtime friend and political ally, also are likely to be dragged into Heller's probe. Stupak privately has acknowledged dating Moncrief, but he has tried to distance himself from her campaign.

This week Miller released cell phone records that he claimed prove the former councilman's involvement with the Moncrief campaign was greater than Moncrief has let on. The records, Miller contended, showed that he made 18 calls between March and May to two cell phones used by Moncrief. But 14 of those calls, it turns out, were made to a cell phone used by Stupak, not Moncrief.

Reached on that phone, Stupak said Moncrief did not have access to the phone and that he would have spoken to Miller. Stupak, who has few kind words for Miller these days, would not say whether the conversations were about Moncrief's race.

But you can expect Heller will want to know the subject matter, as well as what role, if any, Stupak played in Moncrief's campaign.

Miller may not be the most credible person in the world. But he's good at stirring the pot, which means Heller will have his hands full with this inquiry.

Moncrief, in the meantime, can continue to look forward to having Miller on her back in Ward 1 -- something her predecessor endured for eight years.