Friday, Nov. 7, 2003 | 10:07 a.m.
Clark County Commission Chairwoman Mary Kincaid-Chauncey, arguably the most powerful elected official in Southern Nevada, said Thursday night that she is innocent and that the charges against her will not affect her work on the commission.
"That's my job. That's what I was elected to do," Kincaid-Chauncey said. "I haven't done anything. I have been accused but I haven't been convicted of anything.
"I know I am innocent."
While at least two commissioners have said privately they would like her to step aside as chairwoman of the commission because the indictments cloud the very public work of the board, Kincaid-Chauncey repeated her vow to keep the central chair on the commission dais. She said she would resign neither the chairwoman position nor her seat on the commission.
While the indictment was being released and discussed at a press conference that featured a Metro Police deputy chief, Kincaid-Chauncey was at an open house celebration of the third anniversary of the Metro Police Citizen Review Board. The board is composed of 25 people who receive and investigate complaints of misconduct by police and advise the department on policy and procedures.
Kincaid-Chauncey said she knew some people might find the timing odd, since she was speaking to a crowd that included high-ranking police department officials.
She said County Manager Thom Reilly volunteered to substitute for her at the ceremony, which celebrated three years of the review board's work. Kincaid-Chauncey declined the offer.
"I never thought about not coming," Kincaid-Chauncey said.
"I have always been a strong supporter of law enforcement," she said.
Kincaid-Chauncey referred to the indictments when she told the crowd of about 100: "I appreciate having friends like you. It's been a rough day.
"I've been thinking it may be a good idea to start a citizen review board for some of our federal agencies," she said.
Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman, Kincaid-Chauncey's counterpart in the city, declined to comment on specifics of the indictment.
"I won't even comment on them until I see them," Goodman said at the event. "I assume they'll be on my desk (Friday) morning."
Before the same crowd, Goodman noted that Kincaid-Chauncey has not been judged guilty of anything.
"You don't have to prove anything," he publicly told Kincaid-Chauncey. "They have to prove you're guilty."
Goodman is familiar with many aspects of the case. Goodman's son, also an attorney, is representing former Clark County Commission Chairman Dario Herrera, who also is caught up in the case.
Goodman was involved in one of the issues that have become fodder for the prosecution. As mayor, he wrote to the county asking the commission to consider annexing the land that Jaguars is on into the city.
Although the proposal died, the prosecution noted the proposal in its multiple-count indictments of Kincaid-Chauncey.
Although Goodman declined comment, Deputy County Manager Virginia Valentine -- a former city manager under Goodman -- said the 2002 request would not be unusual for the mayor, who has been interested in expanding the city's boundaries into the rich tax base of the Strip-area of the county, where Jaguars is located.
"It wouldn't be an unusual thing for him to do," Valentine said. "He would have loved to have the tax base. It would have been a straight revenue proposition." But for Jaguars, the move also would have taken the strip club out of the county, which had just imposed new rules limiting the lucrative practice of lap dancing in its jurisdiction.
Goodman, who frequently jokes about his background as a successful criminal defense attorney, told the crowd and Kincaid-Chauncey that "the FBI used to follow me around too."
"This is not an easy day for you," he said to her then shifted his attention back to the crowd to add: "Mary is a friend of mine, and I never turn my back on a friend of mine."
Kincaid-Chauncey said at the meeting that the federal action Thursday was not unexpected, and even had a positive side.
"This is kind of a relief in a way," she said. "I have been waiting for the other shoe to drop, and now the shoe has dropped.
"I am eager to have my name cleared. I am hoping there will be a speedy resolution."
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