Bill Nicholes Mesquite mayor says he has answered questions from FBI agents

MESQUITE -- The accused became the accuser on Monday, as Mayor Bill Nicholes sought to turn the tables on critics he said have targeted his re-election campaign and prompted an FBI investigation against him.

Nicholes called a news conference to quiet "the whispering going on around town" over a wide range of allegations. In the process, the first-term mayor confirmed that he is the subject of a federal political corruption probe.

"As I have repeated many times before, there is no truth to the allegations against me," said Nicholes, 68, reading from a statement. "I have not and will never do anything to bring dishonor on the city of Mesquite."

The accusations against Nicholes, a 14-year resident, range from misuse of a city vehicle to the funneling of money from a charitable donation into his wife's account.

The most serious allegations concern back-room deals and payouts involving several large commercial and residential developments approved by the city during Nicholes' term.

One of those developments is Solstice, a $250 million hotel-casino and mixed-use project proposed by Barcelona Partners LLC, a Las Vegas company with ties to the 40-year-old North Las Vegas casino Jerry's Nugget.

In November 2005, City Council members voted unanimously to entertain Barcelona's unsolicited proposal. Two months later, the council voted 3-2 to sell the developer 132 acres of city land for less than $13.7 million.

Nicholes was involved in the discussions but did not participate in either vote. In Mesquite, the mayor votes only to break ties.

Site work for Solstice is under way. The city's final development agreement with Barcelona is scheduled to come before the council tonight.

Nicholes spent much of Monday's news conference lashing out at the man he said is orchestrating the assault on his integrity: his one-time friend William McCaffery.

Brandishing court documents he said back his claims, Nicholes accused McCaffery of lying about his background as a former casino executive who moved to the city 80 miles northeast of Las Vegas to work for the Salvation Army. Nicholes said McCaffery is actually an ex-felon whose service with the Salvation Army was part of his probation.

"Absolutely not," McCaffery countered Monday night. "That's not how the Salvation Army operates. He is misquoting me and spreading outright lies about me. This is how he operates, trying to slam anybody who stands up to him.

"It is true that I was convicted of grand larceny auto eight years ago," McCaffery said. "I have been very open about that. It was one mistake I made before I turned my life around. I haven't had so much as a ticket since then. And I worked for a holding company that had some casino properties."

Nicholes' news conference was in a windowed meeting room overlooking a neighborhood of upscale homes and the city's newest golf course. Nicholes hired a Las Vegas marketing firm to arrange the event and help him draft his remarks to the media.

Codella Marketing President Pete Codella said his firm also dug up the information on McCaffery's background.

The allegations against the mayor are hinted at in three slickly produced attack ads recently mailed to Mesquite residents, Nicholes included.

The latest flier, which showed up in the mayor's mailbox Monday, depicts what appears to be a mob boss smoking a cigar on one side and a picture of Nicholes on the other.

All three mailers are printed with the words "Paid for by the Nevada Policy Group" and list a return address of 1038 Franklin Ave., Las Vegas, NV, which is a vacant house just off Maryland Parkway, near Huntridge Circle Park.

County records indicate the home is owned by two men in Washington State, but a message left for them was not immediately returned.

Nicholes said he never received any official notification about the FBI investigation. Instead, he learned about it from a friend who was questioned by agents.

"My first reaction was to contact and meet with the FBI and offer to provide them any records they wished to review, which I have done," Nicholes said.

The FBI could not be reached for comment, but it is the agency's stated practice not to discuss or even confirm ongoing investigations.

Nicholes said his two-hour interview with the FBI took place in Las Vegas on March 14. He did not have a lawyer present.

Nicholes said the agents he talked to did not give him the names of any of his accusers or reveal the precise scope of their investigation.

The growing controversy in Mesquite comes with early voting well under way in a three-way race for mayor. Nicholes has drawn a challenge from current City Council members Susan Holecheck and Robert "Bubba" Smith.

The top two finishers in the April 3 primary will advance to the general election in June.

In his statement Monday, the mayor criticized Holecheck for "repeating and promoting" the allegations against him.

Holecheck flatly denied any negative campaign practices. All she has done, she said, is publicly acknowledge that the FBI questioned her about Nicholes two months ago.

She declined to discuss the nature of the questions she was asked.

When told about Nicholes' decision to publicize McCaffery's court record, Holecheck said, "That's unfortunate. This (campaign) should be about the issues."

Almost 1,400 of the city's 5,500 registered voters cast their ballots during the first week of early voting. The polls will remain open through Friday.

Dallas and Jan Hernan cast their ballots for Nicholes about an hour before the mayor's news conference.

The husband and wife said they heard people talking about the FBI probe, but they dismissed it.

"We're pretty much pro-growth, and the candidates we voted for are pro-growth, too," Jan Hernan said.

"They'll try anything," Dallas Hernan said of Nicholes' enemies. "Dirty politics: It works in national elections, why not here?"

Morton Jensen and Laneeda Lloyd said they also voted for the incumbent Monday morning, despite all the allegations floating around.

"It's just some ugly smear campaigning," Lloyd said.

"I feel like somebody's out trying some underhanded methods to get the mayor in trouble," Jensen said. "I voted for the mayor because I think he's a good man. He's done a lot for this town."

Carol Wann refused to reveal who she voted for, but she did say that the FBI probe didn't affect her decision.

If Nicholes is being investigated by the FBI, he isn't alone. The agency is looking at whether Gov. Jim Gibbons while serving as a congressman accepted unreported gifts and payments in exchange for helping a friend and benefactor secure government contracts.

A previous political corruption probe by the FBI led to convictions in May of former Clark County Commissioners Mary Kincaid-Chauncey and Dario Herrera, and guilty pleas from former Commissioners Erin Kenny and Lance Malone and former strip club owner Michael Galardi.

Nye County brothel owner Maynard "Joe" Richards awaits trial on a federal wire fraud charge after he allegedly tried to bribe a Nye County Commissioner during an FBI sting operation.