Editorial: Ethics panel is weak

Friday, Feb. 11, 2005 | 9:18 a.m.

There is a push to remove a long-standing loophole in Nevada's ethics laws, but it is supported by only one of the eight members of the state Ethics Commission. The loophole is one word -- willful. If a public official is found to have violated an ethics law, there is no real penalty unless the commission decides the violation was "willful."

This loophole plays into the hands of commissioners who are afraid to take a firm stand on ethics. It also gives alleged violators a built-in defense. They demand that commissioners follow the law and judge them not solely on what they did, but also on what was in their heart at the time they did it. In most cases, as has been seen over the years, this tactic works. Last year, for example, the commission ruled that Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman used his elected position to help his son's business and found him guilty of an ethics violation. But Goodman walked away unscathed when the commission bought his argument that he had no willful intent to break the law.

Ethics Commissioner Bill Flangas wants the willful provision dropped. And there are two bills before the Legislature to drop the word, one submitted by Assemblywoman Chris Giunchigliani, D-Las Vegas, and the other by Clark County government. The Ethics Commission as a whole, however, wants the word to remain. Only a weak commission would take that stance. The willful loophole serves violators and timid commissioners, but it doesn't serve justice.

Ultimately, the only way to truly strengthen the Ethics Commission is for the governor and the Legislature to appoint strong members who will jump at the chance to add teeth to their enforcement authority.