Ethics panel’s presentation delayed

Friday, July 23, 2004 | 9:25 a.m.

Members of the Nevada Ethics Commission won't speak to the Las Vegas City Council about disclosures and abstentions until Sept. 1 at the earliest, Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman said Thursday.

After spending an hour and a half behind closed doors with the commission last week and refusing to say what it was about, Goodman had said commmission members would talk to the council at this week's council meeting. That didn't happen Wednesday because Goodman could not get it on the agenda in time to be posted three days before the meeting, which is required under the Nevada Open Meeting Law, he said.

As well, Goodman said, Sept. 1 is the soonest the commission members will be available to address the council. They will provide defined guidelines on ethics disclosures, focusing on abstentions, he said.

The discussion is expected to cover when a council member should not vote and exactly what to disclose about that decision so constituents have a satisfactory explanation as to why their elected representative did not participate on a particular issue.

Goodman has said he will talk about last week's session with the commission after the ethics officials make their presentation to the council.

On other matters at Thursday's news conference, Goodman said he had talks with Fox Sports on a "new sporting event in Las Vegas," but declined to elaborate on what that sporting event is.

Regarding the proposed development of the 61 acres of former Union Pacific Railroad property in western downtown, Goodman said eight to 21 acres still is being set aside for medical facilities of some type despite the recent rejection by the Cleveland Clinic to build an academic medical center there.

Goodman said a proposed Alzheimer's facility could fill one to five acres and that the University of Nevada School of Medicine also could be involved in a project at the site. Goodman said he met this past week with university officials on that matter.

Also, Goodman said, it was his hope that the eventual builder of the urban village on the 61 acres would voluntarily erect the planned performing arts center as part of the deal to build the mixed-use commercial/residential site.

Goodman said requests for proposals from developers are slated to go out in August.