County commissioners disclose overseas trips and (sort of) F1 tickets
Clark County commissioners have disclosed receiving donations that include overseas trips as well as tickets to events, including pricey ones to the Las Vegas Grand Prix that in many cases were reported incorrectly or belatedly.
Four commissioners confirmed to the Review-Journal in June that they had received a notice of investigation from the Nevada Commission on Ethics in connection with accepting Formula One race tickets. Five commissioners each accepted an F1 ticket worth $10,900, later describing the event as an educational opportunity that allowed them to understand race operations.
Las Vegas Grand Prix offered all seven commissioners a ticket to the Skybox area that granted admission to race events from Nov. 15 to Nov. 18.
Commissioner Jim Gibson, one of the ticket recipients, said he was surprised by the complaint, saying, “Everyone filed their disclosure.”
Well, not exactly.
Here’s a rundown on gifts, trips and events reported by county commissioners in annual financial disclosure statements filed with the Nevada secretary of state’s office. Only gifts “in excess of an aggregate value of $200 from a donor” are required to be disclosed.
Commissioner Jim Gibson
In a financial disclosure statement filed on Jan. 11, Gibson listed no gifts or meetings, trips or events. On a separate annual report for campaign contributions and expenses, he listed the ticket as an in-kind contribution.
Under Nevada Revised Statutes, contributions include “the value of services provided in kind for which money would have otherwise been paid, such as paid polling and result data” and other campaign-related services. It does not reference tickets as a form of in-kind contribution.
After the Review-Journal published a story on Jan. 23 that commissioners had accepted the tickets, Gibson on Jan. 29 filed an amended disclosure that listed the ticket under meetings, events and trips.
Commissioner Justin Jones
Likewise, Jones initially did not disclose the ticket on his financial disclosure statement but listed it on the campaign financial report as an in-kind contribution. On Jan. 17, the day after filing his original disclosure statement, he filed an amended version that listed the ticket under meetings, events and trips.
Commissioner Marilyn Kirkpatrick
Kirkpatrick declined the F1 ticket.
On a financial disclosure form filed in January 2022, she reported accepting two pairs of Raiders tickets each valued at $600 – one pair from Raiders President Dan Ventrelle and another from a donor listed as Craig Caliver – and four National Finals Rodeo tickets from the latter valued at $1,200.
In January of 2018, she reported a $3,700 trip to Taiwan connected with the Taipei economic cultural office in San Francisco for what was described as a trade mission. That year, she also reported accepting $200 in rodeo tickets from Republic Services. In 2019, she reported another $200 in rodeo tickets from Republic Services.
Commissioner William McCurdy II
McCurdy accepted an F1 ticket, but he declined to tell the Review-Journal in June whether he had received a notice of investigation by the ethics commission. He originally listed the ticket as a gift on his disclosure statement but filed an amended statement listing the tickets under meetings, events and trips.
In the disclosure statement filed in January, he also listed a $10,400 trip to Australia associated with the American Council of Young Political Leaders. Its purpose is listed as “political exchange.”
Commissioner Ross Miller
Miller disclosed the F1 ticket on his Jan. 16 financial disclosure statement under meetings, events and trips.
Commissioner Michael Naft
Naft’s financial disclosure statements do not report any gifts, events or trips. He did not accept the F1 ticket and said that on the night of the F1 race he was at the command center for event first responders.
Commissioner Tick Segerblom
Segerblom, a recipient of an F1 ticket, did not list it in his original financial disclosure statement. He filed an amended financial disclosure statement on Jan. 24 that reported the ticket under meetings, events and trips.
The commissioner said he had been advised that the ticket did not need to be disclosed.
With the exception of Kirkpatrick — and McCurdy until he determined the F1 ticket wasn’t a gift — no other commissioners reported receiving any gifts over the past five years.
Contact Mary Hynes at mhynes@reviewjournal.com or at 702-383-0336. Follow @MaryHynes1 on X.