Thursday, May 22, 2003
Copyright © Las Vegas Mercury

Backstory: The corrupt amateurs?

By Michael Green

History has been called the same thing over and over again. That's true only in local politics. Consider the latest:

¥ Las Vegas City Councilman Michael McDonald was shocked, shocked that his opponent, Janet Moncrief, was pulled over nine years ago on suspicion of DUI; her blood alcohol content was below the legal limit. As he explained, as an ex-policeman, he doesn't like drunken drivers, and this calls her character into question. She responded that she has yet to face the ethics scandals that have dogged McDonald. No one seems to have asked whether McDonald, a registered Republican, voted for Al Gore in 2000 because George W. Bush had been caught driving under the influence--once.

¥ Speaking of ethics scandals dogging McDonald, the FBI raided two local strip clubs owned by the Galardis, looking for connections to McDonald; County Commissioner Mary Kincaid-Chauncey; and her former colleagues Dario Herrera, Erin Kenny and Lance Malone. A previous raid sought information at Rick Rizzolo's Crazy Horse Too. Malone now is a lobbyist and McDonald admitted to being a paid consultant for the Galardis. The FBI apparently has wiretaps that should be making a lot of folks nervous right about now.

¥ In Boulder City, a city newsletter came out in time for the municipal election. It managed to deal mainly with the issues over which challenger Bill Smith has attacked incumbent Bob Ferraro, who explained it wasn't campaign material, just an effort to counter Smith's allegedly erroneous information. Uh, yeah. City attorney Dave Olsen said it clearly wasn't electioneering. This followed a letter, sent out under an alias, attacking incumbent city officials. Smith accused Olsen of implying he was behind it.

Politicians being accused of little or no ethics, elected officials charged with using public money to feather their own nests--the inhumanity of it all.

Local reporters and analysts have correctly pointed out this is nothing new. They cited problems on the County Commission over the last decade and earlier accusations against McDonald. Some went back into the Mesozoic era of Las Vegas history, meaning the early 1980s, to cite a federal sting operation that caught several hands in the cookie jar. About the only surprise in all this is that Boulder City was the scene of some of the howling--and North Las Vegas wasn't. Talking about political corruption without North Las Vegas used to be like talking about Madonna without mentioning sex.

Unfortunately, citing recent history might make you think these reports and rumors of juice-peddling and dirty tricks are somehow recent, related to the boom of the last two decades. Please permit a few historical examples to show you southern Nevada always has had troubles of this nature--which should make you feel either better or worse:

¥ Before Clark County existed and when the entire Las Vegas population would have fit in a Humvee, this was part of Lincoln County, whose officials decided to build a courthouse in the early 1870s at a cost of around $60,000. Thanks to corruption, cost overruns and bad business decisions, it took until 1938 to pay off the full cost--about $800,000. So quit whining about the Clark County (In)Justice Center.

¥ In the mid-1950s, a sting operation caught the lieutenant governor admitting that he was basically a front man for Meyer Lansky at a Strip hotel. Excited about the current FBI investigation? Pfui.

¥ In the late 1950s, two local businessmen ran for mayor. The supporters of one spread the story in predominantly black West Las Vegas that the other, Oran Gragson, owned a black dog he named "Nigger." Not true. Gragson was a pariah among voters in the segregated section of town for that election. But he won, went on to serve four terms and proved to be fair-minded and tolerant enough to end up being inducted into the local NAACP's hall of fame. Another inductee, Hank Greenspun, spent his early years at the Las Vegas Sun attacking Sen. Joseph McCarthy of Wisconsin as the lying disgrace that he was; when Greenspun ran for governor in 1962, casino owners paid for advertisements comparing him with McCarthy. Bothered by stories of earlier misdeeds and mailers linking city government to nefarious deeds? Bah.

¥ Some officeholders used to solicit customers from among those coming before them for a vote on everything from zoning to business licenses--and did it openly. Few were disturbed; after all, elected officials weren't well-paid and had to make a living. You're upset that present and former commissioners apparently promised developer Jim Rhodes the moon and stars, and may have felt kind-hearted toward strip club owners? Get a grip.

The truth is that politicians always have voted their interests and those of their friends. It was true of the founding fathers when they designed a brilliant Constitution that also happened to aid their investments, and it's true of today's foundering fathers and mothers of present-day Las Vegas who roll over and play dead for those with the money to make their political and personal dreams come true.

Still, it's hard to imagine Washington, Adams or Jefferson doing the bidding of strip club owners. Franklin, yes, but not the others. It's just that unlike some of the local politicians in question, at least strippers work hard for their money.