One donor paying lion’s share of Ross recall effort

Backers of an effort to recall Las Vegas City Councilman Steve Ross claim widespread support for his ouster from Ward 6 voters.

Their campaign finance records, however, tell a different story.

More than $53,000 of the $56,112 in cash contributions on a recent report came from businesses associated with car dealer Joe Scala and a consultant to the recall effort.

The heavy reliance on Scala, Ross said, shows the recall drive is more personal vendetta than grass-roots movement.

"I'm shocked that a so-called businessman would waste so much money in an effort to defeat a councilman who is out there representing the people the right way," Ross said of the disclosure.

The finance report was filed with the secretary of state in September but wasn't posted on the Internet until Wednesday because of an oversight, an election official said.

It includes contributions and spending by the Committee to Recall Steve Ross, a group that in August fell 25 signatures short of the 1,084 needed to force a recall election.

The committee is trying again and has workers collecting new signatures with a goal of hitting their mark before a December deadline to deliver a recall petition to the city clerk that would prompt a special election within a few months.

The report from the first effort shows the committee raised $56,112 in cash and $6,250 through in-kind contributions. It spent $54,640, records show.

The cash contributions came largely from Courtesy Imports Inc., Scala's car dealership company. Records show Courtesy made separate contributions of $31,550, $10,000, $5,862 and $5,000. Another $1,000 came from Fierro Communications, which is run by Mark Fierro, who is a consultant to the recall effort.

Bad blood between Scala and Ross dates to last year.

Scala blames Ross for failing to support a waiver that would have allowed his car dealership in the Centennial Hills auto mall to operate without a franchise agreement with a manufacturer.

Scala had sold off his franchise agreements just before the recession and, when the bottom fell out of the economy, was unable to secure another as automakers drastically reduced production.

The lack of a waiver forced Scala to close up shop on Dec. 24, putting about 30 people out of work.

He was especially angry because he said another dealership owned by a Ross contributor received a waiver.

Scala did not return calls.

The dispute, with complaints that Ross broke a promise to decline a City Council pay raise and violated ethics rules by voting on projects that hired union labor while holding a job as a building trades union official, became fodder for a recall campaign.

Lisa Mayo DeRiso, a consultant working in support of the recall, said the signatures show there is support beyond Scala to recall Ross.

"They're signing the petitions at an even greater rate than they were before," DeRiso said of the current petition. "We're doing very well in the field." DeRiso said she didn't have an updated count of the signatures.

She said the reason so few have donated money is because they don't want to go on record challenging a sitting councilman when victory is uncertain.

Potential donors are telling fundraisers, "If you are not successful, then I have to put up with the wrath of Steve Ross," DeRiso said.

Although Ross has publicly expressed confidence the recall effort will fail, he is running his own campaign to thwart the drive. He has had one fundraiser and said he has another one scheduled Nov. 15.