Thursday, January 08, 2004
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

STEVE SEBELIUS: What's with Janet?

Anybody in Ward 1 have buyer's remorse?

Voters turned out former Las Vegas Councilman Michael McDonald in June in favor of brand-new resident Janet Moncrief. The vote total -- 58 percent for Moncrief to 42 percent for McDonald -- showed the depth of disdain voters had for a two-term representative who had been caught up in a series of ethics scandals that ended his career.

Residents wanted a change, and they got one. But change isn't always necessarily for the better.

On the very day Moncrief was sworn in, some former campaign allies said they had helped her commit campaign finance violations. The allegations had caught the attention of Secretary of State Dean Heller during the campaign, thanks to a complaint from one of McDonald's consultants. Now, a grand jury is investigating.

Moncrief, who had never run for office or even registered to vote before her election, was at once lost in the sometimes-tumultuous sea of politics on the 10th floor of City Hall.

At her first meeting, Moncrief postponed an effort to get a drug- and alcohol-treatment center removed from an office building across the street from a school, within a stone's throw of a residential neighborhood. It had been a priority for McDonald, who knew enough about politics to know that small business, schools and homes don't mix with rehab.

Moncrief then took on John Moran Jr., a high-profile, politically connected attorney who is the son of a former sheriff. He wanted the city to vacate a portion of an alley behind his downtown law office, a fairly small request for a government that has given ample assistance to other building projects downtown. Moncrief wanted Moran to pay, however, and although it wasn't a totally unreasonable request, she had no idea how to make it happen.

In the end, Moran walked away with his alley, and all Moncrief had to show was her first political black eye.

Next up was developer Irwin Molasky, who is building an office project downtown for the General Services Administration that will house the Internal Revenue Service. But Molasky also had a plan to build a Social Security Administration building on Buffalo Drive near Oakey Boulevard, a plan opposed by neighbors.

Their councilwoman tried to stop the project, but her lobbying efforts consisted of challenging her colleagues on the day of the vote to justify their reasons for supporting it. They did, and it passed. Moncrief reportedly left the council meeting in tears after her second high-profile loss.

On Sunday, Moncrief tried a new lobbying technique, this time to garner support for revoking the liquor license of Cheetah's adult nightclub, a business formerly run by Michael Galardi before he pleaded guilty in connection with the Operation G-sting investigation. She sent a press release to selected media, riddled with grammatical errors, challenging her colleagues.

"When asked to have Cheetahs topless club closed because it's owner confessed to a felony, and I don't feel it's in the best interest of my constituents to have a criminal element in their ward; that idea was ignored, by giving me reasons that don't make common sense to me," Moncrief's release says. "This coming Wednesday's meeting I am again going to demand that Cheetahs liquor license be revoked immediately. I hope unlike in the past when my other motions have failed that this time the council will follow through and vote with me."

Nope. Instead, her colleagues reacted angrily. Councilwoman Lynette Boggs McDonald said Moncrief was trying to "coerce" the council. Mayor Oscar Goodman sternly lectured her: "Nobody on this council is going to be extorted to a vote based on media pressure. The record has to be crystal clear on that."

And nobody was extorted. Moncrief's motion to revoke Cheetah's license failed on a 3-3 tie vote (Councilman Michael Mack, who does public relations work for a rival strip club, abstained). Thereafter, Goodman led the council in fining Cheetah's more than $1 million, but allowing the company to keep its license.

Say what you will about McDonald, but the former cop-turned-councilman wasn't stupid, and he sure as hell knew how to count to four.

Meanwhile, a City Hall insider reports, almost every member of the council can get the votes they need for their projects without Moncrief, a position that leaves her in danger of the worst thing in politics: irrelevancy. It doesn't help matters that she doesn't seem to be able or willing to stalk votes on the 10th floor by building the relationships that grease the political wheels downtown.

A grand jury investigation. Three high-profile losses in seven months. Anemic political people skills. And a careworn ward that needs constant attention lest it slip into decay.

Anybody in Ward 1 miss Michael McDonald yet?

Steve Sebelius is a Review-Journal political columnist. His column runs Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday. Reach him at 383-0283 or by e-mail at ssebelius@reviewjournal.com.