Thursday, Jan. 5, 2006 | 8:24 a.m.
A Las Vegas Municipal Court marshal who filed a federal lawsuit alleging sexual harassment is apparently settling with the city for cash and contributions to her retirement plan worth $115,000.
In a lawsuit filed in January 2005, Linda Helda claimed she was "subjected to repeated and unwanted sexual advances, touchings, gropings, sexual jokes and sexual comments in the workplace."
Her suit also alleged that her supervisors failed to take prompt action to remedy the situation, and that she was retaliated against for speaking out against the harassment.
The retaliation included "failure to receive training, unwarranted reprimands and physical assault under the guise of a training exercise," the suit alleged.
Helda, a city employee since 1989, declined to discuss the specifics of the case. She said she plans to retire at the end of March.
City Human Resources Director Claudette Enus said all employees go through mandatory training, which includes a segment on sexual harassment, every two years. No changes to the training have been made as a result of Helda's case, Enus said.
City Attorney Brad Jerbic would not comment on the specifics of the case, and the lawsuit did not mention any of the alleged harassers by name.
The $115,000 settlement is expected to go to the City Council for approval on Jan. 18.
The expense was originally set to go to the council on Wednesday, but was delayed for two weeks. Jerbic said the delay is not an indication of a problem with the settlement, but rather that he has not yet been able to brief all the council members on the case.
Urban lounges
Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman's vision of a new kind of downtown bar was OK'd by his elected peers on Wednesday.
The approved "Urban Lounge" is a version of a tavern -- a lounge is not required to serve food and can have five slot machines -- but is not to be constrained by existing regulations that keep taverns at least 1,500 feet away from other bars, churches, schools and child-care centers.
The urban lounges are only allowed in the city's downtown Arts District, which is centered around Charleston and Casino Center boulevards.
The new lounges are expected to make it easier for new residential buildings to include a bar in their plans, and further stimulate downtown nightlife.
Goodman's other recent proposal to tweak city laws to boost downtown's social scene went through without a hitch last month.
On Dec. 21 the council approved a law that allows downtown businesses to apply to turn curbside parking spaces near their establishments into valet parking zones.
City land purchase
Blame it on the rising cost of land. The City Council on Wednesday approved the purchase of a four-unit building for $75,000 more than the current owner paid for it six months ago.
The city is paying $365,000 for 0.16 acres at 621 Jackson Ave., which is between F and G streets, just south of Owens Avenue and the North Las Vegas line.
According to the Clark County Assessor's Office, Ahmad Safaa paid $290,000 for the property in June.
The city's Neighborhood Services Department pushed for the purchase as it tries to assemble land in this generally low-income area, department spokeswoman Mary Ann Price said. The plan is to package several properties near there to lure a developer to build new affordable housing in the area, she said.
The city already owns three properties in the neighborhood, but none is closer than a block from the Jackson Avenue parcel.
Price said the city's purchase price is $20,000 under the value of the property, according to an appraisal done for the city.
Tarkanian and pawnshops
City Councilwoman Lois Tarkanian is pushing to keep new pawnshops away from homes, payday loan and check cashing businesses and other pawnshops.
Tarkanian's proposed change to city laws would mean that no new pawnshops could open within 200 feet of homes or land zoned for residential uses. Also, pawnshops would not be allowed within 1,000 feet of any other pawnshop or "financial institution."
In general, the proposed distance requirements would lessen the available spots for new pawnshops.
Tarkanian said she is seeking the new rules in response to complaints from constituents. Also, she said that some pawnshops already operate as lending institutions and her proposed changes would put those businesses under the same regulations as those strictly in the payday loan business.
The proposed changes are expected to go before the council for a final vote sometime next month.
Mayor taking USC
With an eye toward the college football national championship game, the mayor was pushing for a fast end to the Wednesday council meeting, and he got it.
The meeting ended around 4 p.m., giving Goodman and others the chance to get to a television in time for 5 p.m. kickoff.
Goodman, a frequent sports bettor, put "a lot of money" on the University of Southern California to win the game by more than six points.
He wouldn't say exactly how much the outcome might be worth to him, but added that his sports gambling luck hasn't been the best.
"I lose so much sometimes it's better for me to play both sides and just lose the 10 percent," the mayor said, referring to the sports books' take of wagers.
Katrina money moving faster
During the past month, Las Vegas has seen the amount of money paid to help Hurricane Katrina victims find housing in the valley quadruple.
But the total is still far, far below the $1 million the city set aside to help those former Gulf Coast residents.
The city has spent about $33,700 so far reimbursing the cost of providing temporary housing, City Manager Doug Selby said. A month ago that figure was $8,043.
Already 32 families have been helped with leases, and another 32 families are in the process of moving into homes here, Selby said.
The funds are channeled through the Las Vegas Housing Authority.
In September, the council set aside $1 million earmarked for local affordable housing projects and made the money available to help pay for temporary housing for hurricane victims who had moved to Las Vegas. The $1 million was part of a federal grant awarded to the city.
Dan Kulin can be reached at 259-8826 or at [email protected].
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