Friday, Nov. 7, 2003 | 6:25 a.m.
WEEKEND EDITION Nov. 8 - 9, 2003
Political observers and academicians say that the public is bound to have less faith in local government as a result of the political corruption indictment that was disclosed Thursday in Las Vegas.
Most of the observers also agreed that indicted Clark County Commission Chairwoman Mary Kincaid-Chauncey and indicted former county commissioners Dario Herrera and Lance Malone will likely suffer long-term from tainted reputations even if found not guilty of the federal wire fraud, extortion and racketeering charges.
But there is mixed opinion as to whether the federal grand jury indictment -- made in connection with allegations that political decisions were issued on behalf of Las Vegas strip club owner Michael Galardi in exchange for money, property and favors -- will have any effect on the way government business is conducted or whether any laws will have to be changed.
"How do you legislate morality?" veteran Las Vegas political consultant Kent Oram said. "If you figure out how to do it, you'll do something no one in the history of America has done."
When coupled with recent ethical lapses on the Las Vegas City Council and allegations that certain Southern Nevada legislators received pay from their government jobs while serving in Carson City, the indictment against current and former county politicians is sure to lower the public's opinion of local government. So said University of Nevada, Las Vegas professor Michael Bowers, chairman of the political science department.
"This will have a negative impact on the perception of government, especially on the heels of the double-dipping in the Legislature," Bowers said. "All of this will reduce people's faith in government and public officials. The indictment is but a charge. You can indict anyone but I don't know to what extent people understand that."
In the November 2002 general election, Clark County's voter turnout of 57.25 percent was second lowest among the state's 17 counties. Bowers said he believes the indictment could turn off even more voters.
"If people have no faith that anyone will be competent or honest, they may choose to stay home on Election Day," he said. "The low voter turnout we have in Clark County has more to do with the transient nature of the community. But I also think some people will be turned off by the political process because of this and will not want to participate."
Another potential fallout is the impact the indictment could have on other politicians who have nothing to do with this case. That opinion came from Paul Brown, Southern Nevada director of the Progressive Leadership Alliance of Nevada, which represents organized labor, minority and women's groups.
"A lot of politicians will be tainted with a broad brush, which is unfortunate," Brown said. "People will think that politicians are in it for themselves. It will make people more jaded and less trustful of politicians.
"I know a lot of people who say, 'Why go to a zoning hearing because the fix is in?' It becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy."
Oram, who has run more than 100 Nevada campaigns, said the problem with painting politicians with a broad brush is that many of America's "most revered" people have been elected officials. He cited former Presidents George Washington, Abraham Lincoln and Theodore Roosevelt as examples.
"If you want to compare them to doctors or policemen, I don't think elected officials would fare well in that comparison all across the country," Oram said. "But if you look at the hundreds of elected officials in this valley, only a tiny percentage of the total would end up doing something that would get them indicted."
Already, one of Oram's past clients, former county commissioner Erin Kenny, has pleaded guilty to wire fraud and conspiracy to commit wire fraud in connection with the Las Vegas probe. She has also agreed to forfeit $70,258.
But indictments of local elected officials are rare. They are so rare that George Togliatti, former head of the FBI's organized crime squad in Las Vegas, called this the biggest local political corruption case since Operation Yobo in the early 1980s. Federal prosectors gained bribery convictions in 1983 and 1984 against then-state Sens. Floyd Lamb and Gene Echols and then-county commissioners Jack Petitti and Woodrow Wilson.
Togliatti, vice president of government and community relations for Harrah's Entertainment Inc., said the only cases that are tougher for the FBI to handle involve terrorism. Part of the problem for FBI agents is being careful not to disrupt the political process while, at the same time, being able to carry out their jobs, he said.
"Political corruption cases are not easy cases to work on," Togliatti said. "They're tough because you're dealing with folks in the public eye who are influential. That's why you have to dot all the 'i's' and cross all the 't's'. You have to be careful."
He also said there is plenty of involvement from FBI headquarters in Washington when it comes to political corruption cases "because there's a lot of sensitivity when you're dealing with elected officials." But he also said he believes the public appreciates the fact that the FBI investigates corruption.
"Anytime we can open up government is a good thing," Togliatti said.
Just as Operation Yobo and its central characters are being rehashed because of the latest indictment, political observers expect the charges against Kincaid-Chauncey, Herrera and Malone to be rehashed whenever the next local political scandal occurs. Consequently, political observers say the politicians will be linked to the indictment for many years even if found not guilty.
"This could stay with them for quite a while," Brian Scroggins, chairman of the Clark County Republican Party, said. "Even if they're innocent, people will remember they were indicted."
Bowers said that if any of the indicted politicians run for office again, the indictment will be used against them by opponents.
"If they stay in the public eye, opponents will point this out," Bowers said of the indictment. "They will always be the people charged with a crime. They will have a permanent stain."
Because Kincaid-Chauncey, a North Las Vegas Democrat, is the only current officeholder among those who were indicted in Las Vegas, she has the most to lose politically. But Charlie Waterman, chairman of the Clark County Democratic Party, cautioned against a rush to judgment in her case.
"An indictment is just an accusation, so she is still entitled to hold office," Waterman said. "She doesn't have to resign."
Even Scroggins, whose party is certain to challenge Kincaid-Chauncey should she seek re-election in November 2004, said he is willing to give her the benefit of the doubt.
"I'm not willing to convict someone before they go to trial," he said.
Kincaid-Chauncey happens to represent a heavily Democratic district. Waterman said he knows of no other Democrat for certain who wants her seat. Scroggins, likewise, said he did not know if any Republican would jump into the race for the commission seat.
"I've heard that just as many Democrats as Republicans would be ready to jump into the race if there was an indictment," Scroggins said.
Beyond the indictment is the question of whether the political corruption case will necessitate changes in laws or in the way government conducts business. There have been ongoing discussions, led by the likes of Nevada Secretary of State Dean Heller, to clarify the financial disclosure forms candidates for public office must file so that their campaign cash flow can be more easily monitored.
And the Clark County Commission, at its Nov. 18 meeting, is scheduled to consider and adopt new ethics guidelines for commissioners and other county officials that were prepared by an independent task force. The recommendations cover such areas as conflicts of interest, abstentions, prohibitions against the acceptance of gifts, and cooling-off periods for former county officials who wish to serve as lobbyists on issues before the county.
UNLV ethics professor Craig Walton, a task force member, said it would be difficult to comment on the ethics of the indicted politicians "because they have a right to a trial." But he said he thinks the indictment will propel the issue of government ethics to the forefront of issues in the public eye.
"It will mean that a lot of these things will be placed on the front burner, things like disclosure questions, and how to put that information on the Internet," Walton said.
He said "a vigilant press and a vigilant citizenry" that pushes for stronger ethics laws and insists on enforcement of those laws could force politicians to be on their best behavior.
"Otherwise it becomes a toothless tiger," Walton said. "One of the things the task force is recommending is for an ethics workshop to be held once a year for all county employees. You want everyone to know what their rights are and what their duties are."
But task force Chairman Richard Morgan, dean of UNLV's Boyd School of Law, said the ethics recommendations are not intended to close loopholes that may lead to political corruption.
"The rules that we prepared are designed to help politicians who are acting in good faith to behave properly," Morgan said. "We didn't get into such things as out-and-out political corruption where you can have bribery and vote selling.
"The person who doesn't want to act in good faith, who wants to work for their own benefit or self-aggrandizement, would not be curtailed by our rules. They would be dealt with through federal and state laws."
Waterman said that because Nevada's city councils, county commissions and state Legislature are run by "citizens" rather than professional politicians, that could lead to problems such as those alleged in the indictment. But he was quick to add that he does not advocate turning Nevada's politicians into full-time elected officials.
"As long as you have a citizen Legislature and boards you will have these kinds of problems," Waterman said. "There's a lot of money out there and some people are weak. Somebody is always trying to buy the system."
Both Morgan and Brown said they don't see any need to change existing laws that already address political corruption. But Brown said the time may have come for publicly financed election campaigns as a way to lessen the potential for corruption from donors who are seeking to influence candidates.
In the indictments that were handed up in both Las Vegas and San Diego in connection with alleged political bribes made by Galardi, politicians were accused in part of taking illicit campaign contributions.
"There's an inherent problem with the way we run our elections," Brown said.
There has been rampant speculation that more political corruption indictments could follow that involve Southern Nevada developers. But Togliatti said that if that's the case, it could be another year or two for that to be revealed because of the slow pace of federal corruption probes.
"If you want to talk about wheels turning slowly, talk about the federal government," he said."
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