Commissioners hit with ethics complaints for attending Las Vegas Grand Prix

Commissioners Tick Segerblom, Ross Miller, Justin Jones and Jim Gibson confirmed Tuesday that they had received a notice of the investigation from the Nevada Commission on Ethics.

Gibson said that he was “surprised” by the complaint and it was “disturbing” to receive it.

“Everyone filed their disclosure,” he said.

Gibson said he didn’t think the evidence attached to the complaint supported the alleged violations.

“I don’t think there’s anything actionable here,” he said.

Segerblom said he had been advised to not comment by a lawyer. Miller confirmed he received a similar complaint but said he would be unavailable to comment on it Tuesday. Jones also confirmed he had received a complaint but did not provide any additional comment.

The commission initiated the ethics complaint on June 12, according to a copy of the complaint filed against Segerblom, which was obtained by the Review-Journal.

The complaint alleges Segerblom violated provisions of state ethics law barring state employees from accepting gifts or using their position in government to secure unwarranted privileges.

The complaint also alleges he failed to sufficiently disclose the acceptance of a gift and failed to abstain from acting on an official matter “which is materially affected by the acceptance of a gift.”

This year, the Review-Journal reported that five county commissioners accepted tickets worth $11,000 to attend Formula 1 race activities in November.

Las Vegas Grand Prix offered all seven commissioners a ticket to the Skybox area. A letter sent to the commissioners said the tickets were intended to educate commissioners about the Grand Prix and how the commissioners could best work with the organization in the future.

Segerblom, Miller and Jones accepted the tickets, as did Commissioners William McCurdy and Jim Gibson. McCurdy did not respond when asked if he was also being investigated by the commission.

All of the commissioners who attended the race disclosed the tickets on their financial disclosure report except Segerblom. Segerblom filed an amended report in January to include the ticket, listing it under a section for reporting meetings, events or trips.

The complaint names County Manager Kevin Schiller and Las Vegas Grand Prix Senior Vice President and General Counsel Craig Troyer as witnesses who have knowledge of the situation.

The commission does not confirm or deny a complaint has been filed or investigated until after a review panel determines whether a hearing should be held on the matter.

In a statement, a county spokesperson said the county can’t provide a comment on ethics investigations related to commissioners because the complaints are confidential, but said the county is “working to provide clarifying information to the Nevada Commission on Ethics related to Board action.”

Contact Taylor R. Avery at TAvery@reviewjournal.com. Follow @travery98 on X.