Five named
The Nevada Commission on Ethics has found five Clark County commissioners guilty of violating the state’s ethics rules in relation to the Las Vegas Grand Prix.
non-willful violation”
The five commissioners accepted free tickets for the Vegas Formula One race in 2023 without providing full disclosure. The NCOE stated the commissioners’ actions “constitutes a non-willful violation of Nevada’s ethics law.”
Current Clark County commissioners Jim Gibson, Justin Jones, William McCurdy II, and Tick Segerblom, joined their ex-fellow Ross Miller as those named for accepting a ticket or pass worth $10,900 to all four days of the inaugural event in Vegas.
The Las Vegas Review-Journal cited the NCOE stating the violation came from commissioners’ failure to mention the tickets when items affecting then 2023 Vegas Grand Prix came up on the Clark County Commission (CCC)’s agenda.
“There was no self-reporting, prompt correction, or request for an advisory opinion by County Commissioners,” the NCOE said.
Mitigating factors
Nevada’s ethics body, however, pointed out mitigating factors in defense of the five, with Commissioners Gibson, Jones, McCurdy II, and Segerblom highly unlikely to lose their CCC jobs over the case.
The NCOE stated the five listed the F1 tickets on their state-filed expense reports or financial disclosure statements, and that they had “legitimate government purposes, including ceremonial and educational goals,” for attending the F1 event in their CCC roles.
The bottom line appears that the CCC needs to work on its events gifts policy and educate its staff.
According to an agreement, the NCOE stated the CCC and its commissioners were committed to making systemic changes “to increase the transparency and compliance surrounding the receipt and use of event gifts.”
an assistant county manager to oversee ethics education and compliance.”
Going forward, CCC commissioners agreed to collaborate with county management and appoint a county ethics officer. This individual will hold the power “of an assistant county manager to oversee ethics education and compliance.”
Commissioners also agreed to establish policy that makes it clear attending such events “is narrowly tailored to ceremony or education” purposes.
Precedents
The NCOE has been relatively lenient over event gifts. In June, the body ordered Nevada Governor’s Office of Energy Director Dwayne McClinton to pay a $1,000 penalty for committing a wilful violation of state ethic laws. McClinton’s violation was for accepting free Las Vegas Golden Knights tickets “and other perks while negotiating a potential sponsorship deal with the NHL franchise.”
Along with an admonishment, McClinton and his office staff agreed to undertake ethics training, just like Kevin Watson and his staff at the Las Vegas-Clark County Library District had to last year.
Executive Director Watson accepted free tickets to Vegas’ inaugural Super Bowl at the Allegiant in 2024.
