Wednesday, July 3, 2002 | 11:15 a.m.
Henderson doesn't need to review its city ethics codes after all, Henderson Councilman Steve Kirk and Councilwoman Amanda Cyphers have decided.
Last month, the two elected officials suggested an ethics review after the city approved a controversial redevelopment deal that directs up to $40 million in city aid to Tuscany, a 525-acre master-planned community being built on a former gravel pit in eastern Henderson.
The money, from $27 million to $40 million, will go to Commerce Associates, managed by Las Vegas Strip developers Barry Fieldman and Bob Unger. Fieldman and Unger served on the Henderson Redevelopment Advisory Commission while the commission custom-built a new redevelopment area around their project at their request. In March, shortly after Fieldman and Unger resigned, the board recommended millions in city aid for their project.
The idea behind redevelopment, and Tuscany specifically, is that by offering the developer a portion of taxes collected over a span of years -- in this case, up to $40 million over 30 years -- the city can attract new growth and boost tax revenue in a rundown area that otherwise would probably continue to decline.
But now, Kirk, after a conversation with City Attorney Shauna Hughes, and Cyphers, after thinking things over on her own, say state ethics law as it stands is sufficient.
State Assemblywoman Sandra Tiffany, R-Henderson, however, another elected official who publicly questioned the Tuscany deal, is still calling for city officials to initiate a review of city ethics codes.
Tiffany, Kirk and Cyphers are all up for election within the next year.
"I think the issue will disappear if everyone wants it to," Tiffany said, "But why would any public official resist the highest possible ethical standards?
"We (at the state level) refresh and constantly review our ethical standards. So does the city of Las Vegas. When we're dealing with public money, that's our responsibility."
Kirk and Cyphers in April joined the unanimous vote by the Henderson Redevelopment Agency approving the city aid, but said at the time of the vote they were not aware of the extent of an appearance of a conflict of interest for Fieldman and Unger.
Much of Kirk's and Cyphers' later discomfort concerned the timing of the deal.
For Kirk, it was hard to accept Fieldman's statement that Commerce initially planned to build Tuscany without city aid. Commerce invested $30 million to buy out investors in the stalled Palm City project, Fieldman said, and then realized it would need city aid to bail it out of a project that otherwise wouldn't make a profit.
Fieldman began buying out Palm City investors in June 1999, about a month after the state passed redevelopment laws that for the first time included abandoned mines as areas eligible for redevelopment money. Legislators drafted the new laws based largely on the efforts of the Nevada Taxpayer's Association and other lobbyists who canvassed the nine redevelopment agencies around the state, including Henderson officials, for input.
Fieldman served on the city's redevelopment advisory board at the time. Henderson's redevelopment agency is the only agency in the state to build a redevelopment area around an abandoned mine, according to several sources.
Henderson Mayor Jim Gibson, who supports the Tuscany redevelopment project, said no promises were made to Commerce guaranteeing anything before the company purchased the stalled Palm City project.
Cyphers, at least initially, was troubled by the fact that Unger resigned from the advisory board just a week before the board recommended that the city direct up to $40 million to Unger and Fieldman's project.
But now, despite the earlier concerns from Kirk and Cyphers, a review of city ethics by the council appears to be dead in the water.
"Well, I've discussed it a little with the city attorney and we at the city are totally convinced that at the state level the statute is adequate," Kirk said.
For her part, Cyphers said, "Are City Council members the appropriate people to judge? I don't think so. The question would be more for the state if they wanted to take it over. Would the state want to expand laws from elected officials to include community boards?"
City Attorney Hughes, who declined repeated requests for comment for a previous story on the issue by the Sun, defended her advice to Fieldman and Unger during an interview at her office.
"The way it works in this state is, there's a state ethics law that sets forth what the standards are. And what it says is that you can serve on a board, but if there comes a time when you or a family member is going to gain financially, then you must not participate in discussions or vote," Hughes said. "So when Barry and Bob came to me and said they may have this opportunity, I said, 'You know the drill.' "
From March 2000, when Commerce first asked the city to build a new redevelopment area around their project, to March 2002, when the advisory board recommended up to $40 million in city aid, Fieldman and Unger abstained from any official votes on Tuscany, disclosing their financial interest in the project.
"The fact of the matter is, my advice was 100 percent accurate based on the statute at it exists," Hughes said.
Las Vegas city attorneys, however, advised resignations for members of that city's redevelopment advisory board, City Centre Development Corp., when members acquired land in the redevelopment area and after a pattern of business contracts in the area created the potential for an appearance of a conflict of interest.
"It never hurts to review ethics standards," Tiffany said. "The city and elected officials should commit to keeping those standards as current as possible and as high as possible."
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