Las Vegas Sun

March 29, 2024

Columnist Jeff German: Politicians exploiting flaws of our system

Jeff German's column appears Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays in the Sun. Reach him at [email protected] or (702) 259-4067.

WEEKEND EDITION

Feb. 7 - 8, 2004

NEW LAS VEGAS residents, with the exception of those migrating from Chicago, the unofficial capital of corruption, must be wondering whether our local system of government is veering out of control.

If you're from Chicago, you probably feel right at home here. But everyone else should feel outrage watching politician after politician run afoul of a system that encourages, rather than discourages, corruption.

Every day there's a new story in the newspaper of an elected official pushing the limits of ethical conduct or landing in trouble with the law.

The stories are adding up -- the veteran assemblyman who took pay for his day job at City Hall while working at the Legislature in Carson City, the Las Vegas councilwoman who violated her oath of loyalty to the voters by joining the board of a well-known casino company, and the former county commissioner caught on FBI wiretaps begging a shadowy strip club operator for cash.

These are just a few examples, but you get the picture.

Political scandal after scandal are rocking this community, and very few people seem to want to do anything about it. I see little anger over the way the system is being abused.

Some of the biggest headlines have come out of Clark County, where the chairwoman of the County Commission and three of her former colleagues were charged in federal court with taking payoffs from ex-topless club owner Michael Galardi.

But last week it was the city's turn to step further into this growing cesspool of political impropriety.

As I reported Wednesday, state agents are pushing for an indictment of freshman City Councilwoman Janet Moncrief on felony charges of failing to disclose more than $100,000 in campaign contributions during her heated race with former City Councilman Michael McDonald.

Moncrief denies wrongdoing, but after the column was published new subpoenas were issued for witnesses to testify Feb. 24 before a grand jury probing her campaign. Among those reportedly ordered to appear were Steve Miller, a Moncrief ally turned foe, and Moncrief's campaign manager, Tony Dane.

The most interesting witness subpoenaed, however, was Betty Schulte, a former Moncrief City Hall aide and campaign worker who also used to work for Bob Stupak, the colorful entrepreneur who has dated Moncrief. There has been much speculation that the wealthy Stupak may have secretly bankrolled Moncrief's campaign.

Moncrief, it turns out, wasn't the only member of the City Council feeling heat last week.

During the recent U.S. Conference of Mayors in Washington, Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman hosted a reception to promote a company owned by his son, Ross Goodman, and City Councilman Michael Mack. An ethics complaint was filed in Nevada last week against the mayor, alleging he violated the state's code of ethics by using his name and title to promote the business. The complaint was quickly dismissed on technical grounds, but is expected to be refiled.

The conflict is obvious, and despite the mayor's disingenuous position that he simply was acting as a father helping a son, this story has legs and will not be kind to the mayor's popular image.

As for Mack, who can't wake up in the morning without facing a new conflict of interest, he learned that FBI agents working the Galardi investigation remain very interested in his extracurricular activities.

His name was listed with others in a recent subpoena agents served at The Jewelers. Agents, I'm told, were looking for evidence of possible gifts Galardi might have given to Mack and other politicians. Galardi is cooperating in the probe, so we also haven't heard the last of this story.

Today is the start of a new week, and I'm willing to bet we'll be hearing more tales of deceit within our flawed system of government.

The stories will keep coming until we change the system.

archive