Ethics complaint filed against former mayor, councilman

By Jeremy Twitchell (contact)

Thursday, July 2, 2009 | 12:10 p.m.

A Henderson resident said he has filed an ethics complaint against former Mayor James B. Gibson and former Councilman Jack Clark for their connection with the city’s proposed Space and Science Center.

Resident Bruce Cutler, who earlier this year mounted an unsuccessful campaign for the Henderson City Council in Ward 3, said he filed the complaint Wednesday with the Nevada Commission on Ethics. In the complaint, he said he accuses Gibson and Clark of using their position on the City Council to benefit the Henderson Space and Science Center Advisory Board, where Gibson serves as chairman and Clark as vice-chairman.

The two have voted to go forward with the center’s creation, to create the volunteer advisory board with themselves as members and, in their final meeting on June 9, to give the board $21 million from the city’s land fund to be used toward the center’s estimated $61 million construction cost.

Newly elected Mayor Andy Hafen has requested that the money remain under the city’s control, with the understanding that it will only be used in the event of an emergency and that it will otherwise be given to the science center board as needed. His proposal goes before the City Council on Tuesday.

Clark’s and Gibson’s positions with the board are on a volunteer basis, and any expense the board makes must be submitted to the City Council for approval.

Cutler said that even though the pair might not have received a financial benefit from their position on the board, he still sees a problem with the way their positions on the council and the advisory board have overlapped.

“To me, it’s a conflict of interest,” Cutler said. “You’re voting on something that you’re involved in, and just because it’s volunteer, doesn’t mean that 10 years down the road, you won’t get paid.

“Even if it’s a non-profit, people do get paid in non-profits. It may not be right now, but it could be down the road. Something stinks.”

Gibson and Clark could not be immediately reached for comment.

Adriana Fralick, general counsel for the Ethics Commission, said she could neither confirm nor deny the filing because it is the commission’s policy to treat all complaints as confidential until a public hearing is scheduled.

Fralick said the commission has 60 days to investigate the complaint, and then two commissioners will review the investigation’s findings. If they find enough evidence to pursue the complaint, they will schedule a hearing within 30 days, she said, and if they determine there is not enough evidence, they will dismiss the complaint.

Cutler said he’s incensed that Gibson and Clark led the vote to give the board $21 million of the city’s money at a time when the city is struggling financially and could put that money to use elsewhere.

“It’s something the City of Henderson should not have allowed to happen, but there were back door politics that took place,” Cutler said.

Prior to voting in favor of the $21 million transfer, Gibson and Clark defended their position.

Clark pointed to the city charter, which states that land fund money cannot be used to cover payroll or budget shortfalls, but can only be used for capital acquisitions such as land, buildings, furnishings and infrastructure projects.

He said the money should be viewed as an investment in education and economic development on the proposed site, 160 acres of city-owned land east of U.S. 95 at Galleria Drive. Clark envisions selling off about half of that land to private developers for commercial and residential development so that the site develops into a source of revenue for the city.

“At a time when our state and country are struggling to provide education, we have an opportunity to help,” he said.

Gibson said that giving the board the money now would allow it to being preparing the site for construction and position the project to move forward when the economy allows it.

“I’m confident that this country, this city and this state will pull out of this tailspin,” he said. “And when that happens, we’ll be able to do things that other places may not be able to do.”