Ethics panelist wants to put teeth in law

Tuesday, Jan. 18, 2005 | 11:01 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- A veteran member of the state Ethics Commission believes the state's ethics law should be strengthened to help punish public officials who have gone awry.

William Flangas, appointed to the commission in 1999 when it was restructured, said it "is now time to consider further revisions to gain improved public respect and dispel the negative perception of a 'toothless' commission."

Flangas of Las Vegas said the term "willful" must be deleted from the law. It currently takes a willful violation for a person to be found guilty and fined.

"A violation is a violation," Flangas said. He made his remarks during the teleconference meeting of the commission in Las Vegas and Reno last week.

But the rest of the commissioners did not endorse his suggestion. Stacy Jennings, executive director of the commission, said Friday the commission did not take a vote on the suggestions. Flangas said the commission will consider the recommendations.

Flangas declined to comment on any specific case involving the word "willful." He said commission rules prevent him from talking about individual cases or speaking outside commission public hearings.

The commission voted last May to find Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman guilty of an ethics violation by using his elected position to help his son's business. The commission, however, split on whether or not the violation was willful, so Goodman was not fined.

The law says the commission may impose a penalty of up to $5,000 for the first "willful violation" of the law, up to $10,000 for the second and up to $25,000 for the third.

An ethics violation should be approached just like a speeding ticket, Flangas said. The motorist may not have been aware he was speeding, but he still gets fined.

In talking about the word "willful," Flangas said, "Timid interpretations of this term can result in significant subjective and contentious conclusions that provide escape from accountability."

The 1999 Legislature overhauled the ethics commission and increased its staff. Flangas said the new commission "has generally done well considering the limitations and circumstances of the current law, but I detect a strong public perception that very little has really changed and that the public's hunger for accountability remains unfulfilled."

He said Monday the public perception is that the commission doesn't "have the guts to stand up to corrupt politicians." But he declined to cite any case, saying only that such "perceptions" come from those in the public he talks to.

"The actions of a few greedy, free-wheeling, corrupt, unethical public officers bring shame and disgrace to the political process and unfairly stigmatize the vast majority of sincere, honest, hard-working and dedicated public officers who conscientiously serve the public trust," he said in his prepared statement.

The law requires two of the eight commissioners to sit on a panel to decide if there is sufficient evidence on a complaint to go to a full hearing before the commission that makes the final decision. The law says the two commissioners on the panel are barred from sitting at the subsequent hearing.

Flangas said the law should be changed to permit the two members to participate and vote or at least take part if not voting.

Although not in the ethics law, Flangas also suggested that state law be changed to require competitive bidding on all publicly owned facilities such as airport concessions.

"This would help curb the temptation for deliberate or inadvertent cronyism," he said.

Flangas would also like to see "wider diverse appointments" to the commission.

The governor appoints four members, at least two of whom are former public officers. One of the four must be a lawyer. The Legislative Commission also appoints four with two of them former public officials. And one of the four must be a lawyer.

Presently five of the eight members are lawyers, Flangas said. "Perhaps the time has come to reduce these mandatory requirements and permit wider diverse appointments," he said at the commission meeting last week.