North Las Vegas mayor ducks questions about financial disclosures
North Las Vegas Mayor John Lee kept his business interests from voters for five years and shifted $50,000 from his campaign fund to companies he owns without disclosing his ownership until long after the fact, the Review-Journal has learned.
Nevada law requires all elected officials and candidates to file an annual statement with the secretary of state’s office detailing sources of income, creditors and real estate interests. Candidates who knowingly fail to disclose business interests face a possible felony charge punishable by one to five years in prison.
When asked about Lee’s reports, Catherine Lu, spokeswoman for the secretary of state, said last week that her office takes every potential violation seriously and is reviewing the matter.
SPOTTY DISCLOSURE
Financial disclosure and campaign finance disclosure forms, due every January, are aimed at letting voters know about potential entanglements and conflicts of interest involving public officials. Lee’s disclosures have been incomplete during his long tenure as a state representative, senator and, since 2013, mayor.
On disclosure forms filed before 2008, Lee, then a state senator representing North Las Vegas, reported a financial interest in a number of companies and three limited liability corporations.
In 2009, Lee reported financial interest in only three businesses: Vegas Plumbing Service, Champion Tile &Marble and South Strip 2.5 LLC.
Annual disclosure forms filed in subsequent years through January 2014 list only Vegas Plumbing Service.
Lee’s 2014 form was filed by the January deadline, but he chased it with a new one in September. This time, he disclosed his plumbing company and eight LLCs — including MCP LLC and MCP 2 LLC, two of the three he had listed last in 2008.
Lee’s five-year hiatus in disclosing the two LLCs is notable because his 2013 mayoral campaign had financial dealings with them.
According to campaign finance disclosure reports, on March 20, 2013, MCP LLC loaned $25,000 to Lee’s mayoral campaign. The LLC’s address is given as Lee’s home address, but no other description is listed.
The day before the election, April 1, 2013, political pundit Jon Ralston blogged about the MCP loan. Ralston did not report the company’s name but did note that the LLC’s only officer is a sole proprietorship, Wide Open Spaces, owned by Lee’s wife, Marilyn.
By law, candidates must disclose their spouse’s assets, but Lee’s forms never mention Wide Open Spaces.
In any event, the loan — which counts as a donation — exceeded the legal limit of $5,000 per donor, per election.
Ralston reported that Lee’s campaign manager attributed the loan to an accounting error. Disclosure forms show the campaign refunded $15,000 to MCP that same day.
MORE TRANSFERS
On May 14, a month after Lee won the election, his campaign reported that it had repaid the $10,000 loan balance to MCP and had sent MCP 2 LLC $25,000. On this form, both payments were shown as sent May 9 and were listed only as “miscellaneous” expenses.
Why Lee failed to disclose his ownership of the two limited liability corporations for several years is unclear. He did not return multiple calls, emails and text messages seeking comment for this article sent over the past 11 days.
Nor is much known about the two corporations. Under Nevada law, LLCs must be registered with the state with the name and address of a representative, often an attorney or functionary called a registered agent. Listing the officers or owners of an LLC is optional.
The only officer listed for MCP or MCP 2 is Wide Open Spaces. The registered agent for each is shown as Karen Andrews, a Henderson accountant.
When contacted by the Review-Journal on June 10, Andrews initially said she didn’t remember either company, but then added that, “I think that was an entity of an old client of mine from long ago,” and she shouldn’t still be listed as a registered agent.
David Lueck, who is Lee’s son-in-law but who is estranged from his wife and the Lee family, told the Review-Journal that he prompted Lee to file the September 2014 disclosure. Lueck said he pointed out the disclosure discrepancies in telling his wife and children that he believes Lee to be dishonest.
Lueck and his wife, Crystal, are in the middle of a contentious divorce. He pleaded guilty to felony coercion related to a domestic dispute involving her and his children last August.
TROUBLED TIMES
A secretary of state investigation of Lee’s campaign and personal disclosure issues would be just the latest in a string of issues facing the mayor.
In March, two longtime city human resources employees filed formal complaints to the the Nevada Commission on Ethics alleging that Lee has created a culture of fear since taking office and has abused his authority to hire and fire as he likes. Both were laid off in May after the City Council voted to outsource their department.
In May, following a Review-Journal article about suspected child pornography found on Lee’s personal iPad, North Las Vegas police asked the FBI to review its investigation of the issue.
Lee’s account differs, but according to a police report Lee approached a detective at City Hall last October and asked what he should do about an email he had received that contained child pornography. After a long delay, a North Las Vegas detective picked up the iPad and after a one-day investigation determined the device had no such email.
The detective, however, reported finding one website in the browser history that could include child pornography, but because the site is hosted in another country he was unable to establish the ages of the people depicted in sex acts. The detective copied the contents of the iPad onto another computer, then erased the device and returned it to the mayor’s office.
North Las Vegas police asked the FBI to review only the quality and completeness of its investigation. Lee has not been accused of any crime and maintains he doesn’t view pornography of any kind.
Contact Bethany Barnes at bbarnes@reviewjournal.com or 702-477-3861. Find her on Twitter: @betsbarnes.
