Tuesday, May 20, 2003 | 10:07 a.m.
When Jaguars, one of the strip clubs that is now a focal point of a federal investigation, needed a fire alarm test prior to opening in June 2002, the Clark County Fire Department expedited the test as a result of a special request from the County Commissioners, according to the inspection report.
But Deputy Fire Chief Katherine Zagorski, who oversees the department's fire prevention division, said Monday that the report is wrong. There was no special treatment for the club, and the inspector was mistaken about the origin of the request, Zagorski said.
Zagorski said it was former Clark County Commissioner Lance Malone who contacted Clark County Fire Chief Earl Greene in April 2002 on behalf of strip club owner Michael Galardi to request testing of a new fire alarm system for Jaguars.
Last week the FBI raided Jaguars and other strip clubs owned by the Galardi family in Las Vegas and San Diego. A search warrant noted that agents were looking for documentation of payments to several current and former elected officials. In San Diego, the offices of three city councilmen also were raided. Malone had lobbied on behalf of the Galardis in both cities and handled campaign contributions for them in San Diego.
Zagorski said that after Malone's phone call to the Clark County fire chief, a fire inspector was assigned to be present for the alarm test at Jaguars. The inspector wrote in an April 23, 2002, record that the inspection was conducted "through special request of commissioners office."
The fire department refused to authorize the inspector to speak directly to the Sun.
Zagorski said Malone's call to the fire chief was no different than many others that come from builders and their representatives when they want final approvals of fire alarm and fire-extinguishing sprinkler systems.
Zagorski said no current or former commissioners other than Malone contacted Greene.
One of the FBI search warrants last week noted that agents were looking for evidence of payments to current County Commissioner Mary Kincaid-Chauncey, Las Vegas City Councilman Michael McDonald and former Commissioners Dario Herrera and Erin Kenny.
Malone, who became a consultant to the Galardis after leaving office in 2000, was not named in the warrant.
As of Monday no arrests or charges had been filed in connection with the warrant. Malone also has been nowhere to be found and has failed to return repeated phone messages seeking comment.
FBI agents also were searching for records of payments to building inspectors and records pertaining to building contractors who have done business with the Galardis, according to the search warrant.
Jaguars, the two-story gentlemen's club at 3355 Procyon St., was the biggest local construction project involving a Galardi-owned strip club in recent years.
Zagorski said that to her knowledge the FBI had not contacted the fire department about Jaguars or the Galardis probe.
"Lance Malone contacted the fire chief on behalf of Mr. Galardi and then Chief Greene said he would get back to him," Zagorski said. "He (Malone) made it sound like they were behind schedule."
Zagorski said Malone was not "pushy" in his request for the alarm test.
"He wanted to know what it would take to get the building's final approval," Zagorski said. "He wanted to know what the fire department's concerns were and what could be done to get those issues corrected so that they could get final approval."
Builders must get plans for fire alarms and sprinkler systems approved and inspected by the fire department. Fire alarm tests are not usually performed by the inspector until after all final changes have been made to the alarm system by the builder.
But Zagorski said it is not unusual for builders who are anxious to complete their projects to request that the test be performed shortly before the fire department issues final approval of the alarm system.
She said all appropriate fees for approval of Jaguars' alarm system were paid by the builder. But she said final approval of Jaguars' fire prevention system did not come until June 2002, two months after the alarm was tested. The club opened for business later that month.
One of the major delays, Zagorski said, was caused because the builder had failed to install sprinklers in the open spaces beneath the platforms used by the dancers. Overhead sprinklers would be able to extinguish fires atop the platforms but not beneath them, she said.
Malone's contact with Greene was the only time Malone had made a request of the fire department on the Galardis' behalf, Zagorski said.
"Anybody else who calls the chief would get the same amount of attention," Zagorski said. "The chief always puts the customer first and this was no exception."
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