Friday, April 16, 2004 | 10:56 a.m.
It's a sure sign that business is booming in Las Vegas for the Nevada Ethics Commission.
In the middle of her headline-grabbing investigation into the alleged ethical lapses of Mayor Oscar Goodman, Stacy Jennings, the commission's Carson City-based executive director, told panel members this week that she wants to open an office in Las Vegas.
At the commission's monthly meeting Wednesday, Jennings said she has been spending a lot of her time in Las Vegas lately and doesn't foresee any letup in the near future.
So she figures an office will give her a regular place to work during her frequent trips here and will make it more convenient for the public to do business with the commission.
It certainly will free up the fax lines at the home of ethics gadfly Robert Rose, whose fax machine has been getting a workout sending long-distance complaints against Goodman and other elected officials to the Ethics Commission in Carson City.
With an Ethics Commission office in Las Vegas, Rose will be able to deliver his complaints in person. The public also will have direct access to case files instead of having to go to Carson City to get that information.
Jennings said she intends to ask the Interim Finance Committee in July for money to open the office.
Goodman isn't likely to offer Jennings the key to the city if she sets up shop here, but Jennings makes a good argument that the time is right for the commission to have a Las Vegas presence.
Jennings said she's being forced to spend 4-8 days a month in Las Vegas on cases that originated here.
In all, she estimated, 90 percent of the commission's caseload has come from Las Vegas.
It is a reflection of the natural population shift to Southern Nevada in recent years. There simply are more elected officials here.
But the rise in local misconduct cases also can be attributed to flaws in a part-time system of government that encourages politicians to profit financially from the offices they hold.
Jennings isn't the only one who has been busy keeping an eye on politicians. Other state and federal authorities have seen their workload increase as well.
Goodman, who has come under fire for promoting a business involving his son Ross at a Washington cocktail party, is the latest in a long line of elected officials who have let conflicts of interest test their loyalty to the voters.
City Councilman Michael Mack, who can't get through a public meeting without having to disclose one of his business deals; outgoing Councilwoman Lynette Boggs McDonald, who until recently was on the board of gaming giant Station Casinos; and former Councilman Michael McDonald, who threw his weight around City Hall to help his boss in private business, all have attracted the attention of the Ethics Commission.
At the moment the Nevada attorney general's office is spearheading a probe into the campaign finances of Councilwoman Janet Moncrief.
In the county, Recorder Fran Deane has been brought before the Ethics Commission over allegations she has been giving preferential treatment to title companies. And three former commissioners, Erin Kenny, Dario Herrera and Lance Malone, and one current commissioner, Mary Kincaid Chauncey, have been charged criminally in an FBI bribery investigation focusing on topless nightclub operator Michael Galardi.
Last year the city fired Assemblyman Wendell Williams after it discovered he was collecting city pay from his job in the Neighborhood Services Department while claiming his legislative salary. Two other assembly members, Kelvin Atkinson and Kathy McClain, were fired from their county jobs for doing the same thing.
Isn't is sad that we still have a system of government that allows public officials to put their own interests above the public's interests?
Isn't it sad that Jennings says she has to open an office in Las Vegas?
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