Ethics panel plans action against campaign manager

CARSON CITY -- The state Ethics Commission Thursday ruled there was "just and sufficient cause" to go forward with a complaint against political campaign manager Mark Kincaid of North Las Vegas.

Commission Executive Director Ken Rohrs said the commission, after a closed meeting, found that Kincaid "may have misled" the commission in a case involving North Las Vegas Constable Herb Brown. The complaint against Kincaid was filed by Steve Bergstrom, who was Brown's opponent in the 1998 election.

Rohrs said the case would probably be heard in January by the commission.

In January 1999 the commission fined Brown $10,000 for distributing a campaign flier in which he claimed he was "the only qualified candidate for North Las Vegas constable" and that Bergstrom had no education or training for the post.

Brown had testified that although he learned of Bergstrom being a police officer prior to the mailing of the campaign flier, he could not verify the fact. And the flier was distributed.

The commission found that was a violation of the law that prohibits dirty campaign tactics. Brown is appealing the fine to the courts.

At the January hearing, the commission dismissed charges against Kincaid. Although he was the author of the flier, the commission found he was not informed that the accuracy of the ad was in question before it was mailed.

Neither Bergstrom nor Kincaid could be reached for comment.

The commission, under the law, is allowed to keep confidential a complaint against a public official until it decides whether there is probable cause to go forward with the case.

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