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Saturday, November 11, 2000
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

Goodman, McDonald trade shots over tape

Mayor says he believes council has right to remove councilman from office

Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman said Friday he believes the City Council has the right to remove Councilman Michael McDonald from office -- even if McDonald is not charged in Municipal Court on misdemeanor ethics charges.

"I am firmly convinced that under our city charter, the council has the prerogative of disciplining and punishing its own members," Goodman said.

Under section 2.080 of the city's charter, the council may "provide for the punishment of any member for disorderly conduct which is committed in its presence." But the council would be treading into uncharted territory should it attempt to remove McDonald, as such actions are without recent precedent.

The charter makes no mention of whether the council may remove a sitting member, and does not define "disorderly conduct." Goodman, a defense attorney, said he had not spoken with any lawyers about the charter, adding that he did his own legal research.

Goodman's quest to remove McDonald came a day after the councilman secretly recorded a private meeting with the mayor in which Goodman asked McDonald to resign his position as mayor pro-tem. In their brief, expletive-laced conversation, Goodman said he thought an ethics hearing involving McDonald was "a joke" because McDonald's lawyer, Rick Wright, wasn't able to introduce certain evidence or compel witnesses to testify.

"You had no chance," Goodman told McDonald. "If it was me -- if I was Rick Wright -- I would have thrown the (expletive) book at (Ethics Review Board Chairman Earle) White's head."

Recording private conversations is not illegal in Nevada as long as the person making the recording is a participant in the conversation. It is illegal to tape a telephone conversation unless all parties are notified. But Goodman considered the recording a personal betrayal. After being told of the tape by a Review-Journal reporter, Goodman appeared on television Thursday night to denounce McDonald as "vermin" and a "government rat."

Goodman said Friday that he called White to apologize for his comments on the tape. He said McDonald's decision to tape-record their conversation was the reason he now wants the councilman removed.

"Based on that, if that kind of action takes place, it's my personal opinion that we have the right to do what's in the best interest of the public," Goodman said.

McDonald -- who said he let a Review-Journal reporter listen to a tape of the conversation because he believed Goodman lied during a Thursday afternoon news conference -- said he doesn't think the council has a right to remove him.

"I talked to the city attorney, and he says that he doesn't know of any such laws," McDonald said. "This is over him, the mayor, lying to reporters about what I said. Obviously the mayor is upset because he got caught in a lie, and of course we're going to fight this."

Las Vegas City Attorney Brad Jerbic declined to comment until Monday.

At a Thursday news conference, Goodman announced that he had asked McDonald to resign as mayor pro-tem, but that McDonald refused to do so because he is "a fighter." McDonald insists he asked for a public hearing only because he wants the full City Council to decide his fate instead of leaving that decision to Goodman alone. While McDonald describes himself as a "fighter" on the tape, he was referring to the ethics proceedings against him.

Even if the council cannot remove McDonald, it is almost certain to replace him as mayor pro-tem, a largely honorary title he has held since 1997. Goodman has called a special meeting of the City Council for Thursday, at which the council is expected to elect another member to that post -- which comes with perquisites such as a larger office and a better parking place.

"As far as I'm concerned, whoever's the mayor pro-tem can make the decision of what office they're going to have, what parking place and what perks," said Goodman, which means McDonald could soon lose his spacious 10th-floor suite at City Hall.

A lawyer appointed by the city's ethics panel will decide by Dec. 21 whether McDonald should face misdemeanor charges in Municipal Court on two counts of having a conflict of interest and giving special treatment to friends.

On Wednesday, the ethics board found McDonald guilty on those charges, which stemmed from the councilman's efforts to thwart a controversial zoning application and to broker the sale of a troubled recreational complex that is partly owned by his boss. Should McDonald be convicted in court on those ethics violations, he would automatically forfeit his seat on the council.

In the meantime, Goodman continued Friday to rail against McDonald, with whom he has frequently tangled since becoming mayor in June 1999. "I pride myself that the City Council, for the first time in a long time, is very well respected in the community," Goodman said. "(But) I have to get rid of a blight if the blight causes us an inability to achieve our goals."