Another former commissioner’s campaign finances stir up questions

Yvonne Atkinson Gates isn’t the only former Clark County commissioner whose campaign finance reports are under scrutiny by law enforcement. Lynette Boggs’ campaign records are also getting a close look.

I’ve confirmed that at least one $5,000 campaign contribution was deposited somewhere other than in Boggs’ campaign account. Candidates are not supposed to divert campaign contributions to personal use, even under Nevada’s notoriously lax campaign laws.

This isn’t just any campaign check to Boggs, who since her divorce has dropped McDonald from her name. This check was written two days before Boggs voted on a controversial $5 million-a-year cardiology contract at University Medical Center. The check was from Dr. Raj Chanderraj, one of the cardiologists in the winning group.

Normally, the doctor might not have noticed whether his check was reported. He and his wife, Radha, a Nevada Gaming Commission member, gave about $50,000 in campaign donations in this past election cycle.

But this particular UMC contract was controversial. When asked about the contribution, the Chanderrajs’ attorney Stan Parry confirmed that when he reviewed the campaign reports, he saw the Chanderraj donation didn’t show up on Boggs’ Jan. 15 report. His law partner Bill Curran called Boggs in February and, according to Parry, she said it would be reported next year because she didn’t cash it until 2007.

However, Parry said the check appeared to have been cashed Dec. 26.

Parry said Chanderraj told Boggs in August he would donate to her campaign, but didn’t get around to it. After she lost, she asked him to honor that commitment, and he did. Parry said for Chanderraj “this was just another campaign contribution, something he’d committed to do in August.”

The $5,000 check should have been reported on Boggs’ Jan. 15 report, said her accountant, former state Treasurer Bob Seale. “This was her last report, I made that perfectly clear to her.”

Boggs failed to answer repeated e-mails and calls to her cellular phone Friday and Saturday.

Seale said he never received the Chanderraj check and it didn’t show up when he reconciled her campaign account bank statement.

Seale also explained what appeared to be a $2,300 payment to Kelly Mcleod, the nanny who told investigators Boggs spent the majority of her time living in a house outside her district.

In September, after it became known Boggs had paid Mcleod several times with campaign funds and identified those checks as “expenses related to special events,” the then-commissioner said she would repay her campaign account from her personal funds.

Except, Seale said, her personal check bounced and was never made good. The $2,300 entry in the report was a reconciliation so the account would balance.

Seale, who prepared Boggs’ last two campaign finance reports, said he now has concerns about Boggs’ reporting. “Not about the Mcleod checks, but I am concerned about where the Chanderraj check went.”

The bigger unanswered question: Is the Chanderraj check the only donation that didn’t make it into her campaign account?

The Nevada Department of Public Safety confirmed Friday it still has an active investigation into Boggs’ campaign finances. She raised nearly $1.6 million in a losing bid for re-election and ended up $138,000 in debt.

The $5 million contract between UMC and Nevada Heart and Vascular Center has drawn the attention of police because Atkinson Gates voted for it on Dec. 20, and her vote gave it the fourth vote needed to pass. Later, Atkinson Gates said she shouldn’t have voted for it because, as a general contractor, she was bidding on a contract to build the Chanderrajs a custom home.

Atkinson Gates said she didn’t know Chanderraj was involved in the cardiology group when she voted, although he has said he met with her about it. She said she doesn’t remember the meeting.

Police also are looking into what happened with the $407,000 in campaign funds Atkinson Gates paid to her son, his wife and their political consulting firm.

State campaign finance law could be changed to require donors to file reports. The law could bar contributions close to votes. The law could restrict payments to family members.

Don’t hold your breath. Nevada legislators kill meaningful campaign finance reform. It’s what they do.

Jane Ann Morrison’s column appears Monday, Thursday and Saturday. E-mail her at Jane@reviewjournal.com or call 383-0275.