Columnist Jeff German: The Walters mess, and the fight between cabbies and limo drivers

Friday, Nov. 25, 2005 | 9:04 a.m.

Jeff German's column appears Sunday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday in the Sun. Reach him at german@lasvegassun.com or (702) 259-4067.

Attorney General George Chanos is learning a couple of political lessons the hard way.

After making a public spectacle out of stepping into the Billy Walters mess at City Hall, the rookie attorney general decided this week to step away from the probe.

It turns out he owns valuable land in the city that might pose a conflict of interest for him if he were to turn things upside down at City Hall.

So he handed off the case to a special counsel outside his office.

It's the right decision under the circumstances, but it also gives credence to the argument that Chanos, less than a month in office, jumped into this investigation without giving it much thought.

Chanos doesn't see it that way.

He defended his decision to move quickly.

"I felt there was too much controversy surrounding this, and it needed an examination that would shed light on it," he said. "It was the right thing to do, irregardless of the political consequences."

Last Friday I reported that Chanos angered both Sheriff Bill Young and District Attorney David Roger through the grandstanding-like manner in which he launched the probe.

The inquiry was disclosed by Mayor Oscar Goodman during a City Council meeting, as Chanos watched from the audience.

The attorney general's top deputy in Las Vegas, Gerald Gardner, later acknowledged that media reports about the goings on at City Hall weighed heavily in the decision-making process.

But by reacting so quickly to the media, Chanos put himself in the doghouse with Young and Roger.

The failure to give his colleagues a heads-up beforehand made it look as though the attorney general was questioning the integrity of the police probe, as well as the DA's decision not to pursue criminal charges on grounds the statute of limitations had run out.

After Friday's column was published, Chanos attempted to smooth things over with both men.

He telephoned Young on Friday to allay the sheriff's concerns, and on Tuesday he got a hold of Roger to offer similar apologies.

Chanos, I'm told, assured both men that he wasn't trying to second guess them.

He must have been persuasive.

Both Young and Roger said they harbor no ill feelings toward the attorney general and want to put the matter behind them.

They also said they're willing to provide assistance to the now-independent investigation.

But with so many reputations at stake here, it would be nice to know how long it's going to take to sort out this mess.

I've received a wide range of reaction to a Nov. 17 column on the war between cabbies and limousine drivers over kickbacks from the topless clubs.

The column reported how casino doormen often steer passengers bound for the clubs to limo drivers, instead of cabbies, in return for a sizable cut of the kickbacks.

On the street it's called diversion.

And it's one of the many problems authorities are struggling with, as they try to get a handle on the out-of-control kickback war.

One cabbie wrote in to alert me to a lucrative diversion scheme among doormen at a major Strip casino.

An experienced limo driver called to insist that she and her colleagues are victims, just like the cabbies, of the greedy doormen.

And Brent Kenton Jordan, a veteran of 20 years in the topless club racket, sent me an e-mail blaming the mess on the cabbies.

Jordan, who has written a book on his topless club exploits, says some of the newer clubs "were thrown into the kickback meat-grinder without a choice.

"The cabdrivers wield their power over these clubs in a manner that is nothing short of extortion," he says.

More is sure to come on this subject. Stay tuned.