Wednesday, Oct. 29, 1997 | 11:04 a.m.
Gov. Bob Miller called Phil Ruffin's purchase of the embattled Frontier hotel-casino a victory for "all of the people of Nevada."
"Should he pass licensing, it will put to rest one of the black marks on Nevada history," Miller said.
The governor said he supports a quick licensing investigation of Ruffin -- a Kansas industrialist who owns a dozen hotels across the country and a casino in the Bahamas -- so the six-year-old Culinary Union strike can come to an end.
Ruffin's Las Vegas lawyers mailed his application to the state Gaming Control Board in Carson City on Tuesday.
Control Board Chairman Bill Bible already has indicated he's putting the Ruffin probe on the fast track and hopes it will be completed by the first of the year.
"I agree with Chairman Bible that it should receive a higher priority because of the nature of the circumstances," Miller said. "It should be resolved as quickly as possible."
Miller praised Culinary Union leaders and the Frontier strikers for their persistence on the picket lines the past six years in the nation's longest-running strike.
"Certainly, this is a victory for all those working men and women who have worked so hard for so many years to maintain their position," Miller said.
Miller said the sale shows that it's possible to make money at the Strip resort while maintaining cordial union relations.
"It's evident from the sale that there's someone out there who believes he can make a profit and pay the wages and benefits that have been requested all along," he said.
Miller has been critical of the Frontier owners since 1994, when an independent fact-finder he appointed concluded that the Frontier's owners, the Elardi family, were unwilling to settle the strike.
The governor, however, credited the Elardis Tuesday for selling their hotel to someone willing to work with the union, saying it must have been a "bitter pill to swallow."
Other elected officials joined Miller in hailing the Frontier sale.
"This is good news for everybody," Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., said. "This is good news for Nevada."
Reid said the sale and the pending end to the strike came about because both sides were willing to compromise.
Last month, Reid chastised Nevada gaming regulators for failing to conduct hearings into allegations that the Frontier spied and played dirty tricks on the strikers.
The Control Board had drawn up a complaint seeking to revoke the Frontier's license over the allegations but decided not to file it after Ruffin bought the property.
Sen. Richard Bryan, D-Nev., said the epic strike has hurt Nevada's image.
"Assuming that the prospective purchaser can pass muster with gaming authorities, a sad chapter in Nevada gaming will be brought to a close," Bryan said.
County Commission Chairwoman Yvonne Atkinson Gates agreed.
"This is great for the community," Gates said. "I think the fact that the place has been sold to someone who obviously is concerned about the community is something that also is positive for those who worked at the Frontier."
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