LV council members accept gifts, including controversial sports tickets

Las Vegas City Council members reported accepting tickets to Vegas Golden Knights and Las Vegas Raiders games in their annual financial disclosure statements, though state ethics officials have cautioned that some gifts may be inappropriate.

The law requires disclosing gifts with an aggregate value of more than $200 from a donor as well as expenses paid by a third-party for travel, events and meetings during 2024. Most filed their disclosures by the Jan. 15 deadline.

Accepting gifts occasionally lands officials in hot water. After investigating a complaint, the Nevada Commission on Ethics in October required ethics training for the executive director of the Las Vegas-Clark County Library District in connection with accepting free Super Bowl tickets valued at $8,600. Training also was required for district staff.

At the October ethics commission meeting, one ethics commissioner urged government officials not to accept tickets to the many sporting events in Las Vegas. It’s unclear from the council members’ disclosures when tickets were accepted, since these dates aren’t required on the form.

Under Nevada law, a public officer or employee shall not seek or accept any gift or service that would improperly influence a reasonable person from impartially discharging their public duties. A public officer or employee also should not use their position to secure privileges that are without justification.

That is to say, there is plenty of gray area.

There is no dollar limit on a gift that triggers ethics law implications though monetary value is a consideration.

“The size of the gift, the timing of the giving, and the relationship of the giver and receiver may all play a role in the analysis,” the ethics commission states in a post on LinkedIn.

The commission looks at the “nexus between the gift giver and the government decision-making,” Ross Armstrong, the commission’s executive director, wrote in an email to the Review-Journal. Accepting a gift may necessitate not only disclosure but abstention on matters pertaining to the giver of the gift, he said.

Council disclosures vary by official

Here’s what the city council members have disclosed:

Councilwoman Victoria Seaman disclosed accepting four Vegas Golden Knight tickets valued at $1,400. Her statement lists the the donor as Vicki Scala. The disclosure does not say who Scala is.

Seaman, who last year lost her bid to become mayor of Las Vegas, disclosed accepting two tickets valued at $500 from Metropolitan Police Department Sheriff Kevin McMahill to the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department Foundation’s Best of the Badge Gala.

She reported accepting $1,776 in flight and hotel expenses to “support LV Sandpipers Olympic Trials” in Indianapolis, Indiana. The Sandpipers are a competitive club swim team. The trip was sponsored by RMA Swim Team Services.

She also disclosed accepting a $300 ticket from USA Swimming to the event.

On its Facebook page, the Sandpipers of Nevada in a post thanked Seaman “for her support and belief in our community.”

Seaman reported accepting $2,000 in hotel, food, parking and event expenses related to a mayors conference in Beverly Hills, California, sponsored by the nonprofit Combat Antisemitism Movement.

Councilman Brian Knudsen disclosed accepting two Las Vegas Raiders tickets valued at $2,000 from Intermountain Health, which is the largest nonprofit health system in the Intermountain West.

Councilwoman Nancy Brune reported accepting $1,000 in hotel and airfare expenses for a trip to New Orleans in connection with the National Association of Housing and Redevelopment Officials. The expenses were paid by the Southern Nevada Regional Housing Authority, where Brune is a commissioner. The trip’s purpose was “educational/professional,” according to the disclosure form.

Councilwoman Olivia Diaz disclosed accepting a $500 ticket to the Neon Museum’s Flamingo Ball. The ticket was from Charles Litt, a trustee for the museum and managing partner of Fenton Grant Kaneda & Litt law firm.

Councilwoman Francis Allen-Palenske reported no gifts or sponsored travel, events or meetings.

Former Councilman Cedric Crear, who lost a bid for Las Vegas mayor, reported no gifts or sponsored travel, events or meetings.

Former Mayor Carolyn Goodman, who could not seek re-election due to term limits and was succeeded by Shelley Berkley in December, has yet to file a financial disclosure statement for 2024.

Contact Mary Hynes at mhynes@reviewjournal.com or at 702-383-0336. Follow @MaryHynes1 on X.