Columnist Jeff German: Pappas lost, but fought the good fight

Wednesday, March 10, 2004 | 10:56 a.m.

Harry Pappas is a loser today, but there's something to admire about the way he has carried on his 11-year legal battle against the city of Las Vegas and his former downtown neighbors, the high-powered casino companies on Fremont Street.

At the very least this is one underdog who deserves recognition for hanging in there so long against such overwhelming odds. Fighting City Hall is hard enough, but when you also have to go up against the biggest special interest in town, it's nearly an impossible task.

When all is said and done, Pappas' epic battle to save a small parcel of family land downtown from the clutches of the city probably will have both an inspiring and chilling effect on others looking to challenge the establishment.

It will be remembered as a classic example of how the court system let down the little guy.

The fight ended abruptly this week after the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear the Pappas lawsuit alleging the city unlawfully seized the land through eminent domain in 1993 as part of an effort to build a taxpayer-financed pedestrian mall on Fremont Street to attract more business to the casinos.

The land, 7,000 square feet on the northwest corner of Las Vegas Boulevard and Carson Avenue, was leveled and became part of the five-story parking garage that now extends to Fremont Street and belongs to the operators of the mall, the Fremont Street Experience.

In declining the Pappas case, the nation's highest court let stand a ruling by the Nevada Supreme Court that said the city was justified in condemning the land and turning it over to the Fremont Street Experience, which is run by a group of 10 downtown casinos.

Ultimately, the courts decided the seizure was for the greater good of downtown, even though it primarily benefitted the financial interests of other private parties, the casinos.

Pappas, however, alleged that the courts, for the most part, caved in to the influential casinos, which contribute heavily to judicial campaigns, and failed to protect his family's financial interests.

At one point Pappas suggested the court system was corrupt after he learned that a judge who made early rulings in the case had 12,000 shares of stock in one of the Fremont Street casinos affected by the eminent domain seizure. The judge's son also had received an $11,000 college scholarship from the owners of another affected casino.

Because of the long court fight, Pappas and his family have yet to be compensated for their land, which Pappas contends is worth $7 million. That now will happen soon but, with things not going the family's way in court, Pappas isn't optimistic about getting anything close to that price.

The parking garage, which covers a square city block, once was home to some two dozen small businesses, all of which were thriving and paying taxes to the city.

"It was a good diverse community -- just what you want for downtown," Pappas said. "And they took all of that away and gave it to a bunch of rich casino owners."

Pappas said he has no regrets keeping up the fight, even though it cost his family hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal fees and lost business revenues.

"We're kind of proud of what we did," he said. "At least we stood up to them."

If only the courts would have stood up to them, too.