EDITORIAL: Political baseball

A general rule of thumb about ethical quandaries for elected officials: If you have to ask whether you have a conflict of interest, you probably have a conflict of interest.

Clark County Commissioner Larry Brown is asking. He has sought an opinion from the Nevada Commission on Ethics on whether he should sit out a potential vote on public subsidies for a new minor league baseball stadium. Mr. Brown has asked for clarity on the matter because, in addition to representing the residents of the northwest valley, he is an employee of the Las Vegas 51s — the team the new stadium would be built for.

The Pacific Coast League franchise was purchased last year by Summerlin Las Vegas Baseball Club LLC, a partnership between The Howard Hughes Corp., businessman Steve Mack, attorney Chris Kaempfer and other investors. The owners want to move the team from downtown’s Cashman Field, a 30-year-old complex that lacks the fan and player amenities of modern stadiums, to a new $65 million ballpark in the master-planned Summerlin community.

The stadium would be built near Charleston Boulevard and the Las Vegas Beltway on land owned by The Howard Hughes Corp., next to Red Rock Resort and the Shops at Summerlin mall scheduled to open this fall. The team has proposed that Clark County, the city of Las Vegas and the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority issue bonds to pay for the construction of the complex and a surrounding urban village. (Cashman Field, which sits within city limits, is owned and maintained by the visitors authority, and the proposed stadium site is just outside the city in county jurisdiction.)

However, that idea has spent the winter in hibernation. Team owners do not appear to be actively lobbying for the plan, and no one in local government has stepped forward to champion the idea. The city has proposed issuing bonds to pay for a downtown arena, and the visitors authority doesn’t appear eager to redevelop the Cashman Center. At this point, it’s probably a long shot for any bond-funded construction plan to even get a County Commission, City Council or LVCVA board vote.

To his credit, Mr. Brown has kept quiet about the plan, too. But he shouldn’t need an opinion from the Ethics Commission to determine the right course here. Of course he has a conflict of interest. Mr. Brown can’t possibly vote on any plan that would use public resources to benefit his longtime employer because, ultimately, such an action could personally benefit Mr. Brown.

If Mr. Brown wants to have a role in the development and approval of a publicly funded stadium for the 51s, he can do so — if he resigns one of his positions.