Wednesday, May 28, 2003 | 11:14 a.m.
The voters of Clark County have been inundated with bad news about their current and former elected local representatives in the last few weeks -- but some experts say the long-term impact could be limited.
Three former county commissioners, the current chairwoman of the county commission and a Las Vegas city councilman have been tied, in varying degrees, to a federal corruption probe. The probe became public May 14 when the FBI raided two local strip clubs. One of the search warrants noted that investigators were looking for documentation of payments to Commission Chairwoman Mary Kincaid-Chauncey; former Commissioners Erin Kenny and Dario Herrera; their spouses; and Councilman Michael McDonald.
The FBI also conducted simultaneous raids in San Diego, at a strip club and the city hall offices of three city councilmen.
The clubs are owned by Michael Galardi, a Las Vegas resident, and his father, Jack Galardi.
Former Commissioner Lance Malone, a consultant to the Galardis, has denied published reports that he is providing information to the FBI.
David Fott, a University of Nevada, Las Vegas, associate professor of political science, said the developing story may have dominated the front pages, but it is too soon to tell how it will affect the named politicians.
He noted that of all the named individuals, only McDonald is now in an electoral campaign. Fott said McDonald may be the only one who feels a real sting from the probe.
"No charges have been filed against anyone, but from all of the smoke that's in the air, you'd think there's some fire somewhere -- that some charges will be filed," he said. "Until that happens, until that situation comes to a conclusion, it's very difficult to say."
The impact on voters will be stronger if charges are handed down, and there will be an even greater impact if there are convictions, Fott said.
Thomas Lamatsch, director of UNLV's Cannon Center for Survey Research and a political science professor, said it is difficult to measure the impact of even a huge story because within a few years, most of the Las Vegas population hasn't heard it.
"We have very little long-term data," Lamatsch said, in part because of the transitory character of many of the city's residents. Also, the population grows by about 70,000 people a year, so last year's scandal is often less than a whisper to thousands of new voters.
"You have a new voter base every 10 years."
Lamatsch said that issues affecting the political arenas in Southern Nevada just don't seem to be very important to many residents, particularly the recent ones. He said that might have an impact on the way politicians behave or misbehave -- they don't feel as much potential scrutiny.
"People might tend to take more risks here than in other states," he said.
Voter indifference to scandal, however, is a national phenomenon, Lamatsch said.
"The voters probably aren't paying as much attention any more because there are more and more scandals -- some real and some not."
Ted Jelen, chairman of UNLV's political science department, agreed that the impact on voters will be limited, but for a totally different reason.
"I don't think their opinion of government itself can get much lower," Jelen said. "In terms of public involvement, public expectations -- it's about as low as you can go." He said that people have gotten used to the accusations of ethical missteps and conflicts of interest.
"The real obscenity," Jelen said, "is what's legal."
And people are not as concerned about the constant mutter of ethical issues affecting political leadership, Jelen said. They instead seem to focus on the very real issues such as road work affecting the morning commute.
Then, suddenly, politics matters, he said. But the corruption probe has not yet impacted the issues of daily life.
"I really don't think this will have much of an impact at all."
Rebecca Lamb, executive director of the Nevada Democratic Party, and her counterpart with the Republican state organization, Joe Brezny, agreed that it is too early to predict the political fallout, at least as far as voters are concerned.
But Brezny said individual politicians could face an angry electorate if charges of influence peddling stick.
"Voters see a difference between somebody who got too many speeding tickets 15 years ago and somebody who took money for a vote," said Brezny, who emphasized that he does not see the unfolding issue in Clark County as a partisan issue.
"Nobody's perfect, we're all human, and everybody's made mistakes," he said. "But trying to profit from public office is probably illegal, definitely unethical and is something the voters seem to have very little tolerance for."
Thalia Dondero, a university regent and former Clark County commissioner, said she has seen corruption cases grip the headlines before. Ultimately, the issues fade, she said.
Dondero was a member of the commission when two of her colleagues -- Commissioners Jack Petitti and Woodrow Wilson -- were indicted and ultimately convicted of taking bribes from undercover FBI agents in the early 1980s. Also in the sweep were state Sens. Floyd Lamb and Gene Echols.
All except Wilson, who pleaded guilty to a bribery charge, served time in federal prisons. Only Echols is alive today.
Dondero said the sting, dubbed Operation Yobo, was difficult on staff and other political figures -- but people continued to do the day-to-day work of government without interruption.
"Government goes on," she said. "They have a lot of good people."
She said some voters will be disillusioned, especially some of the younger people she works with as a Regent. Partly that is a result of overgrowing levels of scrutiny by the media of the political and decision-making process, Dondero said.
"Of course it has an impact," Dondero said.
But she has some advice for those who would reject the process as hopelessly flawed. Before they reach that conclusion, they have to see it from the inside.
"How do you make it better? Get involved. Get in there and help."
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