Another local corruption probe

Suffice it to say that the late 1990s and the early 2000s won't be known as the Clark County Commission's most shining era.

Let's recap.

Two commissioners from that period -- Dario Herrera and Mary Kincaid-Chauncey -- are serving jail sentences for taking bribes from a local strip club owner. A third -- Erin Kenny -- awaits sentencing after admitting her complicity in the bribery probe, but agreeing to testify for the prosecution in the case. A fourth -- Lance Malone -- also will spend time behind bars for becoming the strip club owner's bagman after leaving the commission.

And now we have a local police investigation involving a fifth member of the board during that time, Yvonne Atkinson Gates.

Ms. Atkinson Gates is no stranger to scandal. She was heavily involved a decade ago in a controversy involving favoritism in airport concession contracts.

But she survived the ordeal. She was also dogged by allegations that she didn't really live in the commission district she represented.

Earlier this year, she suddenly resigned from the commission in midterm, citing a need to spend more time with her family. That triggered speculation about other potential motives for her departure.

Now, the Review-Journal has reported that Las Vegas police are investigating whether Ms. Atkinson Gates misused political contributions to enrich herself.

"We are, in fact, conducting a review of allegations related to the former commissioner's campaign contributions and spending," Assistant Sheriff Mike McClary said.

The probe involves allegations that Ms. Atkinson Gates hired relatives as campaign staffers for her 2004 re-election effort in an attempt to channel some of the cash back to her for personal use.

The investigation is apparently focusing on $407,343 that the commissioner paid her son, his future wife and the couple's business during her 2004 campaign. That was more than half the $749,000 Ms. Atkinson Gates raised during the election cycle while cruising to a landslide victory for her fourth term.

"Our case is looking at where that money ended up," one official told the R-J. "If it got back into her (Atkinson Gates') hands, that's fraud and money laundering."

Ms. Atkinson Gates paid her son more than $83,000 as a campaign staffer and consultant. His fiance received more than $136,000. Meanwhile, the couple's advertising firm was paid close to $188,000, mostly reported as "office expenses."

Perhaps the payments are all on the up and up. Ms. Atkinson Gates deserves the presumption of innocence, after all.

But the Atkinson Gates investigation -- along with the other scandals that have plagued the County Commission for more than a decade -- will only contribute to increased cynicism among Southern Nevadans regarding our local political institutions.

And as long as these revelations continue to pop up with such regularity, it will take years -- if not more -- to heal that wound.