Facebook
Fark
Digg
Reddit
Stumble
Sam Morris / FILE
Curtis Myles, president and CEO of the insolvent Las Vegas Monorail, expensed a $7,000 trip to China last year.
Wednesday, Feb. 17, 2010 | 2 a.m.
Sun Archives
- Las Vegas Monorail bonds downgraded after bankruptcy filing (2-5-2010)
- Las Vegas Monorail argues against bankruptcy as municipality (2-3-2010)
- After all the promises, will taxpayers be stuck with the monorail’s bills? (1-22-2010)
- Judge sets hearing date in Las Vegas Monorail bankruptcy case (1-19-2010)
- Las Vegas Monorail files for bankruptcy protection (1-13-2010)
Related Document
Beyond the Sun
When a federal judge decides today whether the Las Vegas Monorail’s bankruptcy should move forward, one of the hot topics is expected to be the way the transit operator spends money.
In addition to the high salaries for executives, the monorail resumed $5,000-a-month payments to its five board members last summer after reducing those fees to $2,500 a month in 2008 in what presumably had been a money-saving move. Monorail representatives say the increased payments reflected extra work board members were asked to do after it began contemplating a possible bankruptcy filing.
But the hearing before U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Bruce Markell is expected to touch on other expenses that have been questioned by participants in the case, such as a recent crisis management and communications contract to high-powered advertising agency R&R Partners and monorail President and CEO Curtis Myles’ trip to China last year.
The way the money was managed had been in the hands of Wells Fargo Bank until last fall when the monorail opened another account with Bank of America.
The monorail has accused Wells Fargo of abusing its authority as a trustee of the money by rejecting its request to make certain expenditures. The bank defended itself by claiming that the monorail was not properly spending money for operations and maintenance.
It questioned the legitimacy, for example, of the R&R contract and the China junket.
Two months before the monorail filed for bankruptcy protection, Myles signed a contract to pay R&R a $60,000 retainer to serve as its lobbyist, help develop the “messaging” of its business story, inform “appropriate stakeholders” of significant events involving it, represent it to hotels, and assist with media outreach.
The four-month contract expires Feb. 28, but the monorail has the option to extend it for three months at a time.
“We wanted some outside counsel, so it was a logical extension to turn to R&R,” said Monorail spokeswoman Ingrid Reisman, whose 2008 salary was $146,400.
Billy Vassiliadis, R&R’s CEO, said the firm has lobbied the Nevada Legislature on the monorail’s behalf since 2004 and performed damage control when the monorail suffered major mechanical problems.
“The only thing new with this contract is that we have stepped up our activity because of the bankruptcy,” Vassiliadis said.
As part of the contract, R&R agreed to lobby Clark County, the Regional Transportation Commission and other public entities on behalf of the monorail.
With speculation about a takeover of the monorail by the RTC or county, was the lobbying for that purpose?
Reisman and Vassiliadis said Tuesday that the communications R&R has engaged in so far have had nothing to do with a possible takeover. Instead, they said, the contract is merely an extension of work R&R has performed for the monorail.
Tracy Bower, RTC’s government affairs director, said “we have not been approached by R&R and we have not been approached about the possibility of taking over the monorail.”
In other court documents, Wells Fargo said it declined to reimburse Myles about $7,000 for the trip to China as the monorail did not explain “how the trip was reasonable and necessary, or even for operation and maintenance of the monorail.”
Myles’ 2008 salary was $346,777.
Scott Zuchorski, a vice president at Ambac Assurance Corp., which insured most of the bonds sold to build the monorail, said in a deposition that Myles told him the trip was to be paid for by developers of the proposed DesertXpress high-speed train that would run from Las Vegas to Southern California. Zuchorski said Myles said he was encouraged to take the trip to meet with potential DesertXpress investors who might also be interested in the monorail. Zuchorski also said Myles told him DesertXpress ultimately didn’t pay for the trip.
Rogich Communications Group Executive Vice President Lee Haney, speaking on behalf of DesertXpress, said: “I’m unaware of any trip that Curtis Myles took to China on behalf of DesertXpress.” Rogich Communications is headed by power broker Sig Rogich, a DesertXpress backer.
Reisman said she did not know the outcome of the trip or the extent to which DesertXpress may have been involved, but she confirmed that it was to meet potential investors who had backed other rail projects outside the United States.
“It’s our obligation to explore any kind of investment opportunity,” she said.
Waste of time to churn out the past. What is spent is spent, get rid of the wasters, bring in new people to run a system with an eye on the future of expansion to McCarran and downtown..
346 Large to do what? What does he do on an ordinary day? He might as well be an overpaid bus driver. R & R is just a politically connected bunch of con men.
Man, this town stinks. We all know the Monorail is a sad joke, and they've been milking like a goat it for years. Shut it down, and go away. Please..
There is a fund to dismantle the monorail.
Execute that plan.
Let the bond insurers eat the bonds.
Put this boondoogle out of its misery.
Time to eliminate the individuals and companies who are a drain on taxpayer money. Eliminate the good old boy mentality and corruption. When was the last time R&R had to legitimately bid against any other company for LVCVB advertising money? Maybe the FBI should do a little investigating.I know, what happens in vegas stays in vegas. A damn moron could have brought visitors into vegas when that slogan was out. Show your worth now...where is the new amazing campaign to bring the people to vegas now? Maybe the answer is in China? The ride is over, no pun intended. CLEAN HOUSE!!! By the way, I rode the monorail once...with a group of people laughing and having a good time. No one was causing trouble just fun. And, literally we were yelled at by the monorail rent-a cops to "settle the #@$% down!!!" Hey, R&R maybe that could be your new slogan. LOL
Let's take a look at the companies who are continually getting local, county, and state contracts, no questions asked. Which elected officials and employees are getting the payoffs? CLEAN HOUSE!!!
It appears that the debt will be restructured. An expansion and airport link is important for the future. This entire entity may end in the hands of the RTC at the very end. As for the bondholders -> they will need to negotiate.
There IS definitely something amiss...R & R doing expensive consulting, Rogich Communications and Desert Xpress, and the salaries paid to the staff of the Monorail. This whole thing stinks...
Myles' 2008 salary was $346,777.
-------------------------
The CEO of a train that goes in circles? He does not even handle his own marketing! He contracts that out R&R!
How can a bankrupt money losing train that drops you off in the back of the casinos afford a CEO $346,000 a year?????
I want that job!
With the state facing almost a billion dollar shortfall, its time to clean house. Instead of closing parks, get rid of these losers..Vote em all out in 2010, every single politician regardless of party vote em out of office...they'll get the message real fast when the gravy train ends, and they have to live like normal folks do...
If they fire the incompetent dreg, Myles, he will undoubtedly get a several million dollar severance package. Everyone involved in that worthless boondoggle should be in jail for fraud.
There was a wonderful episode of "The Simpsons" TV show that tells us all we need to know about "monorail" projects.
Occasionally, life really does imitate art!
It is often shocking to delve into the details of how a money-losing company spends its money. Perhaps a sale under bankruptcy will find a buyer which can operate the monorail at a profit. If that happens, hire that buyer to run your government also, because only a miracle worker could turn the monorail into a cash cow. It is too expensive to ride on and much too inconvenient to use. Expanding it to the airport or downtown is ludicrous.
You get that boob Bob Beers involved in your business, you are in trouble. Even the Rednecks realized that Beers is as sharp as an eraser, so he wasn't reelected. With Myles and Beers in control, it's no wonder the project folded like a used adult diaper. Please leave, take your money, and show up in a couple of years broke and desperate...
What a bunch of crooks! The taxpayers (RTC) should not be forced to bail out the monorail.
And when it comes to high speed rail, the maglev to Anaheim is the only answer. Everything Rogich, Reid, and Billy V. touch is suspect.
Former Clark County Regional Transportation Commissioner Steve Miller
What a bunch of greedy CROOKS, and Myles is on top of the pile! All they care about is themselves. Who in their right mind would have agreed to pay these idiots these types of salaries? And then it's not enough that they are overpaid but then to also expect us to pay for their boondogles to China!! This smells like fraud and should require someone be held accountable for this.
Wow. It's the perfect storm when you get all of these people scratching each other's backs. The project is in ruins yet the CEO still makes $300k and the board makes $60k each. I didn't see anything about laying people off but I'm sure they have - which means customer service and maintenance and everything else suffers. But those at the top ...they're doing just fine thank you. This town is run by people like Sig and R&R and they are all just special interest groups who figure out a way to make money off publicly funded projects. I GUARANTEE there's something special in it for these guys as a result of being involved in the Desert Xpress project. The maglev is the better alternative, clearly. Just do the research. It's easy money for these guys when it comes to robbing the government for "services."
I guess all of us are naive in thinking that there is no such thing as a "political patronage system" like we see in the older states of New York and New Jersey, where retired politicians are paid big bucks for doing very little work.
Each of those guys listed on Wizard of Oz's post, as members of the Board of Directors of Monorail, are paid $60,000 per year for what is, at best, a part time job.
And then there's the question of what Monorail's paid staff does. All of the actual work managing and servicing the trains and the track is subcontracted out to the maker of the train cars, Bombardier, a Canadian company.
OMG....$346K for the CEO of the monorail? This guy might as well walk into a bank with a gun, this is a robery. I mean really, what on earth does he do that is worth $346K?
Comment removed by moderator. Comment was off-topic.
This case may result in the proof of the statement "be careful what you wish for". Even if the case remains in Ch. 11 and isn't converted to a Ch. 9, the monorail's current management only has 120 days of exclusivity to propose a reorganization plan unless Judge Markell extends it. If--as appears likely--the current management can't do that, then any creditor can propose a reorg plan and alter some of these contracts which give most of the commentators so much umbrage. This should be interesting.....:)
LasVegasLawyerGal:
Let's hope Judge Markell has the chutzpah to refuse to extend the 120 day exclusivity period. That would be one subtle way for him to punish Monorail's dishonorable "diversion" of the Brinks trucks full of fare money to the secret bank account at Bank of America.
They should let the RTC take it over.The would put the tracks where they belong.
I wonder how the monorails are doing in Ogdenville, North Haverbrook, and Brockway!
Mr. Myles earned $346,777 in 2008 working for a nonprofit that operates 4 miles of track dropping people off at the back door of casinos!?!?
From their website.......
"In 2000, the nonprofit Las Vegas Monorail Company (LVMC) was formed and it acquired the original Monorail system. It is governed by its board of directors, appointed by the governor of Nevada, and led by President and CEO Curtis L. Myles III. Myles oversees the management of the Monorail day-to-day operations in addition to expansion plans."
What is this man overseeing? You purchase you ticket from a machine and the trains are driverless!!!!!
Seems criminal to me. If the taxpayers never have to bail it out then let the salaries and benefits of management and board members be what it will be. But when somebody else gets stuck paying the bill for trips to China it's time to prosecute.
Here's a thought: Stop running the monorail?
Here's another: Put the monorail up for sale to a private buyer for a reasonable price.
If the tax payers truly "own" it they should be allowed to buy it, shut it down or do as they see fit through a vote.
Put the monorail on trucks and send it to San Francisco Bay. The seals need a home too.
what does it take to constitute criminal fraud these days??? the spokeswoman for this fraud makes $146K a year. the fact that they get away with it is very telling about the utter failure of government. it's disgusting.