Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

Moncrief wants Cheetah’s license pulled

Las Vegas Councilwoman Janet Moncrief is calling for the revocation of Cheetah's tavern license.

The license hearing is set for Wednesday, as part of the council's first meeting of the year.

The club's license is at issue because Michael Galardi, who was a part owner of La Fuente, the parent corporation that held the liquor license for Cheetah's, pleaded guilty to charges stemming from a public corruption case in San Diego.

By city code, council may revoke the license of a person who has committed a crime or of a corporation that had a principal who committed crimes while the corporation held the license, city officials said during a Nov. 5 discussion about possible revocation of the license.

At that meeting, Dominic Gentile, who represents Michael Galardi's father, Jack Galardi, said that the younger Galardi had sold his stake to Jack Galardi.

Gentile argued that since Michael Galardi no longer was involved with Cheetah's the complaint should be withdrawn. However, city attorneys noted that the complaint was against La Fuente, not Michael Galardi, and should stand.

Clark County Commissioners have revoked the liquor license for the topless club Jaguars which was formerly owned by Michael Galardi and is now owned by Jack Galardi. That club closed after losing its license.

Gentile on Monday morning questioned whether it was appropriate for Moncrief to take a position on city license prior to the city council vote.

Gentile, who said he has not spoken with Moncrief, said he would ask for her to be disqualified.

"I've never heard of such a thing, and it may be reason to have her disqualify herself," said Gentile. "It's clear to me she's not unbiased."

Elected officials frequently do publicly support or oppose agenda items prior to votes, however.

But the Las Vegas City Council, in deciding on the tavern license, is "sitting in a quasi-judicial role," Gentile said. Of speaking out before the vote, he said: "I don't think she is allowed to do it. She may have a First Amendment right to do it but that is going to disqualify her from being allowed to sit."

Other council members were not available for comment Monday morning.

Moncrief announced her intention to pursue the revocation in a press release issued Monday morning. It noted her colleagues had not supported her previous effort to revoke the license.

Moncrief also noted that the rest of the council had not backed her on two other matters within her district: the vacation of an alley behind lawyer John Moran's downtown offices; and most recently, a Dec. 17 rezoning that cleared the way for developer Irwin Molasky to construct a Social Security Administration building at Buffalo Drive and Del Rey Avenue.

Moncrief opposed both of those actions.

After the Molasky rezoning, a visibly angry Moncrief stormed out of council chambers, spitting mad and cursing politics.

Her statement, dated Sunday night, reflects a sense of frustration.

"It's been difficult to serve my constituents as well as I can," wrote Moncrief, who was not available for comment Monday morning. "But I am determined in the future to keep on making decisions which I feel are best for the citizens of Las Vegas, and in the spirit of honest government regardless if I keep on failing by a 6-1 vote."

Her statement makes clear her intent to work against topless club Cheetah's tavern license, and appeals to her colleagues: "I hope unlike in the past when my other motions have failed that this time the council will follow through and vote with me."

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