The press has no subpoena power. No authority to compel anyone to talk -- under oath or otherwise. No power to fine, jail or punish.

All we can do is flip on the white light of public scrutiny and watch the bureaucratic cockroaches skitter.

The problem is that all too often the powers that be just shrug, mumble a few lame excuses and turn their backs whilst the roaches slither through a dark crack in the justice system and hide, waiting to come out another day and do their dirty deeds all over again.

The sweetheart deal by the Las Vegas City Council that lifted a deed restriction on a golf course next to a sewage treatment plant so homes could be built there smelled bad enough. But when Review-Journal City Hall reporter David McGrath Schwartz got his hands on a police investigative report the very next day, the stench was foul.

Police said no crime was committed when someone doctored technical reports about the suitability of such a move. But they also said that crimes probably had been committed by city Public Works Director Richard Goecke nearly a decade ago when the land was first given to golf course developer Bill Walters.

The police report said both the state and federal statutes of limitations had expired and no prosecution could take place.

City Manager Doug Selby immediately pooh-poohed the report, saying, "I don't believe he did anything. Knowing Mr. Goecke, I find that very hard to believe."

Mayor Oscar Goodman shrugged it off and blamed everything on the prior Jan Jones administration.

Council members went into deaf and dumb mode, refusing to return reporters' repeated phone calls.

The smoking gun mentioned in the police report was a July 22 memo written by Deputy City Attorney John Redlein to his boss City Attorney Brad Jerbic, which reportedly outlined nine misdeeds back in 1997 and 1998 by Goecke that would have benefited Walters to the potential detriment of the taxpayers.

I say "reportedly" because the memo was not included in the police report. When asked about that, the police said it was up to the city to release the memo, because it might be exempted from the public records law due to attorney-client privilege.

We promptly filed formal demand letters and sent Schwartz to stand in Jerbic's office ready to recite Nevada statute, which reads, "All public books and public records of a governmental entity must be open at all times during office hours to inspection by any person "

It took until the next week for them to get around to relinquishing the memo. Both Redlein and Jerbic have refused to explain who knew of these allegations or why nothing was ever done for all those years. Within weeks of the memo being written this summer, Goecke retired to a rocking chair on the porch of his $550,000 Henderson home.

The only action apparently being taken at this point is that a reconsideration of the lifting of the deed restriction has been placed on the council agenda. So far as we can tell, no one is being prosecuted, questioned or given a stern scolding.

As for that assumption that the five-year federal statute of limitations has lapsed, a news story this past week quoted one lawyer as saying, "If somebody still has the benefit of what was a crime, it's not a stretch to argue that it is a continuing crime."

And even if that argument fails, one lawyerly wag suggested what might be called the "Scooter" Libby gambit, after the vice presidential aide who was charged with obstruction rather than the crime that was actually being investigated.

He said if he were the U.S. attorney he would empanel a grand jury and subpoena all the players for testimony under oath. The last to be called would be the key parties. If they invoked Fifth Amendment rights against self-incrimination, then they would be granted immunity from prosecution and forced to testify. But if any part of their testimony could be proven false, they could be charged with perjury or obstruction of justice.

All the press can do is shine a light on all those so-called public servants sitting on their collective hands and muttering lame excuses.

Thomas Mitchell is editor of the Review-Journal. He writes about the role of the press, free speech and public access to government information. His phone number is 383-0261 and e-mail is tmitchell@reviewjournal.com.