Vol. 3, No. 4
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December 15, 2005
Nevada's Online State News Journal
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CRIMINAL DEFENSE |
COPYWRITING
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Feature Story:
Royal Links Golf Club Investigation To Continue At The State Level
Nevada Board Of Examiners OK Pay For Outside Investigators
by Johnny Gunn
At least $265,000 will be spent to hire an outside attorney group to investigate possible criminal action by some in Las Vegas city government in the deals that have led to developer Bill Walters attempting to change the Royal Links Golf Club into thousands of home sites. An investigation by the Las Vegas City Attorney led to allegations of criminal activity, but no charges were filed. To the consternation of many there has been no effort to instigate a grand jury investigation either.
Nevada's newly appointed Attorney General George Chanos, a land developer himself called for a state investigation but said it should be conducted by outside interests so there would be no hint of a conflict of interest within his department.
Chanos has hired the law firm Senn Meulemans, headquartered in San Francisco but with Nevada offices to conduct the investigation. The contract had to be approved by the Nevada Board of Examiners made up of Chanos, Governor Kenny Guinn, and Secretary of State Dean Heller. Chanos abstained from voting because of his land speculation activities in Clark County. Guinn and Heller voted in favor of the contract.
Walters has indicated he will help in any way he can with the investigation. Chanos said he believes the investigation will take as long as six months and will be as in-depth as possible, looking at every aspect of deals reached between Las Vegas and Walters.
Some background
In the 1990s land developer Bill Walters approached the city to lease a piece of land for a golf course. The 160 acres sits next a sewer treatment plant and when the city wrote the lease there were stipulations that nothing other than a golf course could be on the land. Walters then built the Royal Links Golf Club on the land. He was given some very good sewer reclaim water deals because the city said, the course was a contiguous neighbor to the sewer treatment plant.
Later, Walters came to the city and wanted to buy the land outright, and the city allowed this with the continuing stipulation that only a golf course could sit on the land. There were federal and local restrictions on other uses because of the sewer plant. Walters paid slightly more than $7 million for the property.
Just recently Bill Walters has filed with the city to lift the restrictions on developing housing units on the golf course property, and the Las Vegas City Council actually approved the request. It was because one city council person, Steve Wolfson asking for the issue to be brought up a second time that information of alleged underhanded dealings had been taking place were made public.
Information about an engineering report that was censored before being given to the city council surfaced, and an investigation by City Attorney Brad Jerbic was conducted. There are many in Las Vegas City Government who are concerned about the apparent lawlessness of some so-called leaders, and they have come to the Council and others with their concerns. Jerbic's investigation uncovered allegations of criminal activity within city government, but no criminal charges or indictments were issued.
Where we are now
One of those disgruntled city employees was John Redlein the assistant city attorney who had what he considered evidence of criminal wrongdoing on the part of Richard Goecke, now retired Public Works Director. An investigation of Goecke and some of his activities in the 1990s also led to the former mayor Jan Jones and some of the former city council representatives. According to City Attorney Jerbic there were criminal acts committed but the statute of limitations had run out and he filed no criminal complaints.
The investigation at the behest of the recently appointed Attorney General will consider the development, lease, and subsequent sale of the golf course property, and city council action more recently that could have lifted the health and welfare restrictions on the land and allowed several thousand homes to be built next door to the sewer ponds. According to some, if Walters is able to have those restrictions lifted the land will probably be valued at about $35 million.
Chanos has indicated that the investigation will probably begin with activities from the 1990s and continue right up to the current activities. The investigation conducted by the Las Vegas City Attorney, Clark County Sheriff, and others will be part of the current investigation.
Questions that will need to be asked include why then Public Works Director Goecke gave special treatment to Walters in his initial lease and subsequent sale. Was he acting at the request of members of the elected leadership of the city at the time? Did he do it for personal gain? Are the allegations in fact true? Another question that might come up in the investigation is why the city of Las Vegas is so lax in its dealings with land developers, land sales and leases, and assessments of property that is obviously in demand? The question might also be asked of Clark County representatives.
Chanos said when the vote to accept the contract for Senn Meulemans to act as the investigative arm of the AG's office that he expects the investigation to begin at the inception of what is considered the beginning of illegal activities and continue to the present. That would include more than one mayor and more than one set of council people.
Interestingly in this entire procedure Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman has worked to blunt the investigation on the one hand, and has said publicly that as soon as the investigation is complete he will back Bill Walters' proposal to lift the health and welfare restrictions on the golf course land. Goodman was once Walters' attorney and said recently the entire affair is water under the bridge and has no bearing on what is happening today.
According to an engineering report there are health and welfare reasons for the restrictions for the use of the property. Methane gasses are one of the reasons, stench is another, and the ever popular possibility of air born cells and molecules that can lead to sickness. Some of the homes considered could be as close as 20 feet to the sewer plant facilities.
Foul smells on a golf course are not the same as foul smells in your living room. Illegal activities within the city government that collects your taxes can never be condoned. At least one investigation has said that illegal acts were probably committed. One question those that live, pay taxes to, and vote within the city of Las Vegas might want to ask at the next city elections is "who among these many is acting in my best interest?"
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