Friday, Jan. 17, 2003 | 9:22 a.m.
The year 2003 was supposed to be in with the new, but some politicians dragged up the old anyway.
Secretary of State Dean Heller amended the contributions and expenses forms shortly after the fall election and sent written notice to all candidates that they should use the new forms beginning with the Jan. 15 report.
But since the Jan. 15 report is the third of the election cycle, many candidates still had the old forms and disregarded the letter Heller sent.
While some candidates dutifully report the total cash on hand for the campaign ($204,972 for County Commissioner Rory Reid), others chose to list a balance just for the reporting period.
It's that latter type of reporting that Heller was trying to get rid of. It's confusing to the candidates and to anyone who tries to learn anything from the reports.
For example, Clark County Commissioner Myrna Williams, who used the old form, reports being $87,730 in the hole, though she ended her campaign with money in the bank.
Steve George, a spokesman for the secretary of state's office, said that while candidates were supposed to use the new forms, there is no penalty for filing the old.
"Because we don't have audit authority, we're not going to go back and look at them all," George said. "The only way we'd look, is if someone complains."
Instead of complaining, lobby your legislator to approve Heller's bill that would mandate online reporting of campaign finances.
Apology accepted
Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman dutifully recognized each council member seated for his State of the City address on Tuesday.
He called the newly bleached blond Michael McDonald a "Clairol Councilman," said Larry Brown looked like Sigmund Freud with his beard and told Lawrence Weekly not to worry because he wasn't going to rub his head -- whatever that meant.
But Goodman snubbed the only woman ever elected to the Las Vegas City Council by not mentioning Lynette Boggs McDonald or any of the major developments in her ward.
On Wednesday, when a lobbyist for the Nevada League of Cities began to speak at a joint council meeting, Goodman saw the opportunity to make amends.
Boggs McDonald, you see, is president of the league. And so Goodman apologized for omitting the councilwoman, who had undergone surgery Tuesday and was resting at home when his speech occurred.
"I was like a quarterback," Goodman said, although immediately announcing he shouldn't use that metaphor given the city's feud with the National Football League over an ad that won't be running during the Super Bowl.
"I was like a football player coming out for the big game and I had all my energy," Goodman said.
He said he looked out at his councilmen and "because she wasn't there, it skipped right over my head."
As part of his apology, Goodman mentioned that he had called the councilwoman's staff to find out what her biggest accomplishments were and that she considered being president of the league among them.
Nice to know his relationship is so warm with Boggs McDonald, a Republican who ran unsuccessfully for Congress against Goodman's friend, Rep. Shelley Berkley, D-Nev., last year.
His people are talking to her people.
McDonald resurrected
Once upon a time, in a political world not so far away, Michael McDonald was the scourge of the Metro Police Department.
Rank-and-file officers hated him for trying to break up the department in a deconsolidation scheme McDonald fronted and then immediately denied.
The department brass, happy to see him off the force, were investigating his ethics and connections to Crazy Horse Too owner Rick Rizzolo and the club's reported ties to the mob.
The probe produced a damning report and a request for criminal charges. The district attorney declined to prosecute. McDonald subsequently was scolded by the state Ethics Commission and cleared in a District Court malfeasance trial.
On Thursday the councilman announced he had received the unanimous endorsement of Southern Nevada's largest law enforcement organization, Metro's Las Vegas Police Protective Association.
Chalk up another four years for the Ward 1 healer, who is seeking his third term in office this spring. Voters have a very short memory and, apparently, so do the cops.
PR warning
Ex-Clark County Commissioner Dario Herrera is back in the consulting business.
It's no wonder Herrera used his Latin roots in naming his new PR firm, Aviso.
"Warning! I'm going back into PR," seems to be the message.
It was a secretive consulting contract to do public relations for the Las Vegas Housing Authority that helped sink Herrera's candidacy for Congress last year.
Muni Court mayhem
You might see some familiar campaign signs popping up in Las Vegas.
Attorneys who failed in bids for District Court last fall are revising their signs for the open Municipal Court Department 6 seat vacated by Jessie Walsh, who won a District Court seat in the fall.
Matthew Paul Harter has taped over the District Court department number with a white #6.
The signs for John Curtas, whose placards for his District Court bid said just "for judge," are still found around town. But Curtas is not in the Muni Court race. He said he has had enough after coming up short against District Judge Donald Mosley.
"How much of a masochist do you think I am?" Curtas asked.
Still, there are plenty of other attorneys in the race.
Alternate Judge Denise McCurry held a fund-raiser Thursday night. And Mayor Oscar Goodman's law partner, David Chesnoff, is throwing a fund-raiser for Stefaney Miley.
Clark County Public Defender Bill Gonzalez is also going to seek the spot.
Attorney Dayvid Figler was sworn in Wednesday morning to serve as a steward in the seat until the spring election.
City Clerk Roni Ronemus reports no calls of interest from anyone seeking to run for mayor or council. Muni Court is different.
"That open seat is going to be really crowded," Ronemus said.
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