Jaguars opens under new management

Thursday, Jan. 22, 2004 | 11:06 a.m.

After being closed for about a month because its previous owner told authorities he had bribed county commissioners, one of the biggest strip clubs in the state reopened Wednesday afternoon.

The new operators of the 25,000-square-foot Jaguars on Procyon Street -- Rich Gonzales and Randy Miller, two former police officers -- promised a new, friendlier atmosphere for local patrons, and none of the felonious activity that led to the loss of the club's liquor license last month.

The Clark County Commission on Tuesday granted a limited, or temporary, liquor license. Following a flurry of health, fire and business inspections Wednesday, general manager Rich Bounantony came out of the club's main doors at 5 p.m., grinned and gave a thumbs-up to a small horde of media gathered on Procyon Street.

"We got it!" he told reporters, referring to the business license.

A Clark County spokesman Erik Pappa confirmed shortly after 5 p.m. that the club had received all of its approvals for reopening. The club will operate under a temporary liquor license until Metro completes its investigation of Miller, Gonzales and the owner of the property. The process could take six to nine months.

If all three are cleared, the county commission could grant a permanent liquor license.

Miller said the county worked quickly to inspect and approve the club's reopening.

"County business licensing has been great. Metro (Police) have been great," he said.

Miller and Gonzales are leasing the property from owner Jack Galardi, who bought the property from his son Michael Galardi. The younger Galardi has agreed to plead guilty to federal corruption charges stemming from a cash-for-votes investigation in Las Vegas and San Diego, where he also owned a strip club.

Three former Clark County commissioners and Commissioner Mary Kincaid-Chauncey, who vows to fight the federal indictment on multiple charges while she runs for re-election, were implicated in the probe.

But the new operators and employees who worked at Jaguars said they had known nothing about Michael Galardi's activities and that they are just glad to be back at work.

"You know who suffered in all this?" Gonzales said. "The employees. They were laid off a week before Christmas."

He said Michael Galardi's last visit to the property came when the former strip club owner came to pick up some personal belongings.

"We shook hands, and I wished him the best, but I told him that he can never set foot on this property again," Gonzales said.

Gonzales said he does not expect that the corruption scandal will have a lasting impact on business at the club.

"The problems were things that happened outside," he said at the bar a few minutes before Clark County gave the final go-ahead. "They were extracurricular activities that never affected what went on here."

Chuck Boissonnault, a bartender, agreed. He said employees never saw the business that got the former owner in trouble.

"I wish Mike (Galardi) the best," Boissonnault said. "I liked working for him and I hope things work out for him."

Boissonnault, who returned to work behind the bar at the club after more than five weeks of unemployment, said he and his co-workers were happy to be back.

"It's awesome," he said. Miller and Gonzales "are awesome people. All of us are happy to come back.

"I had to watch my pennies for a while," Boissonnault said.

Boissonnault and Miller estimated that about 90 percent of more than 1,000 employees returned to the club.

Jovan, one of several dancers on hand for the club's re-opening, said she has worked at Jaguars for almost two years, since it originally opened to fanfare and celebrity visits.

Jovan, like other dancers an independent contractor at the club, said she tried working at other establishments.

"I'm glad they're back open," she said. "It's like a family here. The atmosphere is great."

Customers said they didn't want their names used, but one volunteered that he plans to stay loyal to a regular haunt.

"It was nice before and it still is nice," he said. The enticements offered by the new operators help, he added.

"It's great to have half-price drinks. Us locals, we like a deal."

Bounantony said the club will offer free admission and half-price drinks to Nevada residents through at least Feb. 1, Super Bowl Sunday.

"We're the most local-friendly club in America right now," Bounantony said.