EDITORIAL: City, county in the dysfunction sweepstakes

The Clark County Commission and the Las Vegas City Council have had a rivalry for years when it comes to money and power. But now they’re competing to see who touches bottom first in the descent toward dysfunction and unaccountability.

The Review-Journal’s Arthur Kane reported last month that six commissioners all scurried out a back door after a public meeting when he sought their comments on a variety of oversight issues involving the misconduct — and worse — of various county officials, including a constable, the former coroner and public administrator. In addition, the county has been less than forthcoming on public records requests on the subject.

Keeping the taxpayers who foot the bills in the dark is also a pastime over at City Hall, which has enough storylines to attract the interest of a reality TV producer. How does “Sin City Slugfests” sound?

Last month, Councilwoman Victoria Seaman filed suit against fellow board member Michele Fiore, accusing her of assault during a physical confrontation in 2021. Ms. Seaman also alleges that Las Vegas officials covered up the fight because they felt it could damage the city’s reputation, although proving that could be a challenge.

The altercation, which took place in a private second-floor hallway at City Hall following months of bad blood between the two, involved a fair amount of grabbing, twisting and jerking, according to the legal filing, and left Ms. Seaman on the floor with a broken finger. Neither Ms. Seaman nor Ms. Fiore spoke about the incident at the time.

A month later, however, a source told the late Review-Journal investigate reporter Jeff German about the brawl and said the city had a surveillance video that caught the encounter. When Mr. German attempted to acquire a copy of the tape, city officials — who knew the footage existed — dawdled and delayed. The footage was eventually deleted.

To whitewash the incident, the city hired an outside law firm to investigate. Last week it delivered, pointing fingers at both Ms. Fiore and Ms. Seaman for the dust-up and exonerating those who allowed the video to be overwritten after 60 days because there was no pending public records request at the time.

City officials knew a potential crime had been committed and that an existing video documented it. They could have predicted that legal action was likely to follow. They also knew that a reporter had requested a copy of the surveillance footage, which should be available under the state’s public records law. Whether or not there was an official records request pending at a specific point in time is irrelevant. City officials allowed evidence to be destroyed, pure and simple.

The district attorney should get off the sidelines. There’s more than a few passages in the Nevada Revised Statutes about willfully tampering with evidence, particularly when it’s done with such cynical indifference to transparency. This is also Exhibit No. 92 highlighting why the Legislature must impose tougher penalties on government actors who refuse to follow open records laws. “The city of Las Vegas deliberately destroyed a vital public record for the sole purpose of preventing voters from seeing a violent altercation between elected officials,” observed Review-Journal Executive Editor Glenn Cook.

A neutral observer might be hard-pressed to determine which local government — Clark County or the city of Las Vegas — has the edge in the dysfunction sweepstakes. But for the sake of local taxpayers, let’s hope they quickly call a truce.