EDITORIAL: Former LVCVA chief reaches deal with ethics commission

Former convention authority chief Rossi Ralenkotter has made a down payment to atone for his misuse of public funds. Last week, he agreed to pay a fine of nearly $25,000 for violating state ethics rules governing the behavior of public officials.

Mr. Ralenkotter, the longtime CEO of the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, retired two years ago after an internal audit revealed he had used $17,000 in Southwest Airlines gift cards, purchased with taxpayer money, for personal travel. That revelation came months after a Review-Journal investigation revealed a pattern of extravagant spending at the authority, including lavish gifts, first-class air travel and high-end entertainment.

Mr. “Ralenkotter did not adequately avoid the conflict of interest between his public duties and his private interests,” the agreement with the Nevada Commission on Ethics notes, “when he accepted free travel for himself and his spouse, paid for with LVCVA airline gift cards.”

The commission also noted that Mr. Ralenkotter, 73, had leveraged his position to secure a sweetheart deal when he left the agency, consisting of a “post-employment contract with the LVCVA without the proper disclosures.” That generous arrangement included a $15,000-a-month “consulting” contract that guaranteed him $275,000 on top of his lifetime annual pension, estimated at $300,000 per annum.

The commission might have pointed out that the make-work consulting gig — which was eventually rescinded — would not have been possible were it not for the enablers on the convention authority’s 13-member board, most of whom didn’t seem the least bit concerned with Mr. Ralenkotter’s improprieties.

The ethics panel acknowledged that Mr. Ralenkotter was cooperative and accepted responsibility for his actions. That may help him in the pending criminal case, in which he faces two felonies — theft and misconduct of a public officer. The Review-Journal’s Jeff German reported this month that a plea deal could be in the works.

Mr. Ralenkotter is not John Dillinger, of course. He has a long history of public service and, by most accounts, the authority flourished under his leadership. But it’s important to remember that Mr. Ralenkotter was no average Joe. Instead, he was an extremely well-compensated public official running an agency charged with spending $200 million in taxpayer funds each year to promote Southern Nevada. As such, he must be held to a high standard. His effort to enrich himself at taxpayer expense represents an abuse of the public trust — something prosecutors must keep in mind if they look to cut a deal.