Gates sues ethics panel

Day by day, Clark County Commissioner Yvonne Atkinson Gates fights to repair her political reputation, which has been scarred by state Ethics Commission rulings.

On Tuesday, Atkinson Gates landed a telling one-two punch.

In the morning, she and attorney Stan Hunterton convinced District Court Judge Michael Cherry to remove her name from a pending lawsuit filed by McCarran International Airport coffee concessionaire Gary Naseef.

Hours later, attorney Dan Polsenberg commenced Atkinson Gates' own lawsuit against the Ethics Commission by filing a 30-page opening brief in District Court.

While Atkinson Gates has never been fined by the commission, it hasn't stopped her from hiring a battery of lawyers to fend off the damaging findings.

"All I have is my name and my reputation," Atkinson Gates said Tuesday. "I need to send a message to other women and minorities: If you believe in something, you must fight for it and do what you think is right."

Atkinson Gates' lawsuit stems from last year's state ethics board ruling that she violated ethics laws by using her position to help acquaintances secure lucrative Disadvantaged Business Enterprise concession contracts at the airport.

Polsenberg's report filed Tuesday blasts Nevada ethics laws, calling them vague and unconstitutional, and even questions the legality of the makeup of the six-member ethics board.

It took four months for a team of Atkinson Gates' attorneys to scrutinize ethics laws in 32 states and drum up cases that would support their opinion that Nevada's statute is far from adequate.

"We want the research we have used to challenge the ethics commission's interpretation of the law to be used to write a good ethics law," Polsenberg said.

Polsenberg was hired by Atkinson Gates after the Ethics Commission admonished her for failing to disclose her relationship with Michael Chambliss and Judy Klein, who were partners in the Las Vegas business JV Ventures.

JV Ventures was one of 13 qualified Disadvantaged Business Enterprise candidates Clark County board members were asked to approve after the airport's master concessionaires had produced a list of applicants.

Atkinson Gates has known Chambliss for 17 years and during a five-year period paid him between $27,000 and $50,000 to be a political consultant for her 1996 bid for the County Commission.

Chambliss wasn't Atkinson Gates' only political consultant, and he has a $60,000-a-year job and did not depend on her for financial security, Polsenberg wrote.

Klein counted money and organized fund-raisers for Atkinson Gates, but never solicited funds, according to the brief. Atkinson Gates' daughter, however, served as a flower girl in Klein's wedding, which drew some criticism.

Polsenberg said state ethics laws suggest elected officials should abstain from a vote when it benefits them, their relatives or any businesses in which they have pecuniary interest.

But Polsenberg said the Nevada law is too vague. At the end of the above list of conflicts, it simply states "or any other persons," which leaves it up to the Ethics Commission to determine case-by-case which relationships create conflicts of interest.

"The Ethics Commission was never meant to have this free-wheeling, seat-of-the-pants authority it has created for itself," the document states. "It is a bad idea to let the Commission perpetuate this power."

The confusion over the definition of personal relationships has led to a 1-0 Las Vegas City Council vote, the cancellation of 30 items on a council agenda and a 3-0 Clark County Commission vote.

"When I first read the statute I said, 'My goodness, what does this mean?' " Polsenberg said. "The Ethics Commission's failure to give guidance is paralyzing local government."

The brief also says the Ethics Commission violates the doctrine of separation of power, because legislators appoint three members.

"If we can't address the problem in court by addressing the smaller constitutional issues, they'll have to address the larger one," Polsenberg said.

The next step in the lawsuit process requires the Ethics Commission to respond to Polsenberg's claims. After Polsenberg is given an opportunity to rebut, a judge will hear the case.

But even finding a judge has proven to trigger ethical questions. Approximately eight judges have disqualified themselves from the case because Atkinson Gates' husband is Chief District Judge Lee Gates.

District Judge Cherry, who presided over Tuesday morning's hearing, is scheduled to hear the new lawsuit.

Atkinson Gates had been named in a lawsuit filed by concessionaire Naseef, who claimed she had interfered with his attempt to open a second kiosk at the airport. The county and master concessionaire Host Marriott are also named.

Atkinson Gates, a Las Vegas native, said she'll continue her quest to shake the false accusations and findings against her.

"I come from a people with a history for fighting for justice," Atkinson Gates said. "When I stop to think what my mother had to fight for and what my father had to fight for; they would never forgive me for not fighting for what I believe in.

"This is my home and this is where my kids have to grow up. I don't want to leave an impression they have to deal with in the future."

archive