Editorial: Close the loopholes in ethics regulation

Thursday, May 1, 2003 | 8:43 a.m.

In March 1999 the Clark County Commission adopted a set of ethical codes and standards that a task force had spent a year preparing. The new rules applied to elected and appointed officials and were in response to various ethical lapses at the county from the mid- to late-1990s. Among the new rules was one called a "cooling-off period." It prohibited former county commissioners from lobbying anyone at the county for a year after leaving office. That's why eyebrows were raised last month when Commissioner Mark James said he had been lobbied by former commissioner Erin Kenny, who left office in January.

James' disclosure prompted County Manager Thom Reilly to circulate a memo, reminding commissioners of the ethics policy. It has also prompted commissioners Bruce Woodbury and Rory Reid to ask that the task force be reconvened for the purpose of clarifying the intent of the cooling-off rule and establishing penalties for those who violate it. As it stands, the rule says former county officials cannot lobby "for compensation," a provision hard to prove. And it has no penalties attached to it. Woodbury and Reid are correct in calling for the task force to strengthen this rule. When it meets Tuesday, the full commission should support this request.