ITT chief blasts county

      The chairman of ITT Corp. chastised Clark County commissioners for holding Caesars Palace expansions "hostage to (Steve) Wynn's naked display of raw power."
      A Mirage Resorts Inc. executive countered Wednesday "there's no naked display about anything here."
      "This has all been very much ado about very little," said Mirage spokesman Alan Feldman.
      Rand Araskog -- who heads ITT's $6.5 billion operations and 30,000 employees worldwide -- wrote commissioners last week that he is "truly shaken" by their decision to reject a demand by ITT's Caesars Palace to have final say over whether a private monorail should be built behind its property. The commission's unanimous vote March 4 marked a victory for Mirage Resorts and its plans to shuttle tourists from The Mirage to its new Bellagio resort, the two properties that sandwich Caesars Palace.
      In his four-page, single-spaced letter, Araskog called commissioners' decision "unconscionable," demanding that "decency and fairness come to play" in their dealings with his company. He noted ITT's construction projects at Caesars Palace, the Desert Inn and a new Planet Hollywood resort would bring the county millions of tax dollars annually.
      "We have tried to be responsive to government, but I think we also have the right to expect elected government officials to be responsive to us and treat all ... corporate citizens equally," he wrote.
      Caesars Palace executives have said they might sue the county if it grants the Mirage Resorts' tram exclusive use of airspace adjacent to its land. Still in question is whether ITT, Caesars Palace's parent company, will back out of its pledge to help pay for a $23 million underground pedestrian tunnel at Flamingo Road and Las Vegas Boulevard, or whether it might reconsider expanding in Las Vegas.
      Some of those expansions already may be threatened by Hilton Hotels Corp.'s hostile attempt to take over ITT.
      Araskog was unavailable for comment Wednesday, but ITT spokesman Jim Gallagher said, "I'm not aware that we've changed our position on those matters in any way."
      Gallagher said any correspondence Araskog might have sent commissioners is "privileged and confidential," refusing to comment on the March 6 letter.
      Araskog mailed his letter to all commissioners, detailing months of his communications with them.
      "I remember very clearly Chairperson (Yvonne) Atkinson Gates stating that the board would never condemn property or air rights in order to serve another private interest," he wrote.
      Araskog also detailed his dealings with Wynn, his "longtime friend" whom he said became "explosive in his rejection" of ITT's request for a common tram stop between Caesars Palace and The Mirage. He wrote that Wynn told him if ITT did not cooperate with his monorail plans, he ultimately would seek county condemnation of Caesars Palace's airspace.
      "Mr. Wynn has told me that I do not understand how Las Vegas operates," Araskog wrote.
      Mirage executives noted Wednesday they've submitted no formal proposal for a monorail.
      "Yes, we've discussed it. Yes, it's something we'd like to do. But no proposal exists," said Feldman, who called Araskog's letter "just pretty rhetoric."
      Some business leaders were uneasy about commenting Wednesday on Araskog's snipes.
      "You're in a stratosphere that I don't want to get into," said Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce President Mark Smith.
      Danny Davila, a gaming industry analyst with Wall Street's Rodman & Renshaw Capital Group, observed "some operators have more power than others in Las Vegas," but declined to name names. Still, he said Las Vegas remains a competitive gaming market and that both Araskog's and Wynn's positions are "perfectly reasonable."
      "I don't envy the county commissioners. They're in a tough spot," Davila said.
      Mirage Resorts contributed $88,760 to commissioners' campaigns during the last two elections. Caesars Palace and ITT contributed $58,000.
      "I think it's an unfair assumption that the board is playing favorites," said Commissioner Mary Kincaid, who accepted $25,961 in Mirage Resorts money for her election bid last fall.
      Kincaid said Araskog "apparently wasn't listening to what was said" before the commission's March 4 vote, which she noted "had nothing to do with Steve Wynn."
      Caesars Palace had sought permission from the county to remodel its facade and build a 708-room tower and underground valet garage. As a condition of the agreement, county officials wanted Caesars Palace to donate land along the back, or far-western border, of its property to make room for a frontage road designed to alleviate traffic along the Strip.
      Caesars Palace officials agreed to donate the land and the airspace above it as long as the resort had final say in how that airspace would be used.
      "We don't think it's the county's job to acquire private property rights and transfer them to a private property owner who couldn't (get) those rights on (its) own," a Caesars Palace attorney told the commission.
      Mirage Resorts' attorney Mark Russell warned board members it wouldn't be "appropriate to give a private entity veto power over what this board may do in the future."
      Commissioners agreed.
      "We don't want to give veto power to any private entity," Commissioner Lorraine Hunt said.
      Commissioner Erin Kenny said "it disturbs me to have such an esteemed business leader criticize the actions of this board with such force."
      "It clearly causes me to pause and re-evaluate the facts of the case," she said.
      Commissioner Bruce Woodbury reacted by sending Araskog a letter of his own.
      "As a corporate citizen, the county has responded to ITT in the same manner that it responds to its other corporate citizens," the commissioner wrote.
      He noted that, on ITT's behalf, the county made last-minute changes to the Desert Inn Superarterial and approved current Caesars Palace expansions "in record time."
      Woodbury said "the county did not choose between Caesars and The Mirage on this issue," and that he cast his vote at the advice of county staff in hopes of advancing his plan to alleviate traffic on the Strip.
      "He's looking at these issues solely from the point of view of ITT's own projects," the commissioner said of Araskog. "People have their own interests they consider to be paramount, and sometimes have blinders on about any other considerations."