By
Rolando
Larraz
Las
Vegas
Tribune
An
elected
official
running
for
reelection
on the
Republican
ticket
was
betrayed
by his
own
party,
making
this the
second
time
that the
party
used
personal
vendettas
to
please
those
who hold
the
leash on
someone
within
the
party,
making
this
look
suspiciously
like a
pattern.
Assemblyman
Bob
Beers is
accused
of
accepting
donations
on his
website
during
the
special
session
of the
legislature,
which is
a
violation
of NRS
294A.160
and
294A.300,
after
being
entrapped
by a
reporter
and a
member
of the
Republican
Party.
Beers
received
a $5.00
donation
from
Review
Journal
Capital
Bureau
reporter
Ed
Vogel,
and a
$10.00
donation
from
George
Harris,
a former
Republican
Party
leader
with a
mixed
reputation.
Both
Harris
and
Vogel
sent the
donations
as a
bait
during
last
June's
special
session
called
by
Governor
Jim
Gibbons,
knowing
that
those
donations
were not
permitted.
Beers
admitted
his
error,
and
immediately
sent the
contributions
back
with two
Wells
Fargo
Bank
checks,
#1052
and
#1053,
and a
certified
letter.
In fact,
the
letter
addressed
to
George
Harris,
a former
County
Party
Chairman
and
State
Party
Treasurer,
containing
check
#1052,
was
received
and
accepted
by Ed
Vogel of
the
Review
Journal
Capital
Bureau.
The
admission
of an
error
and the
returned
checks
were not
enough
for
Harris,
who
filed an
ethics
complaint
against
the
fellow
Republican,
and
prompted
Democratic
Secretary
of State
Ross
Miller
to send
a letter
to Beers
asking
for an
explanation.
Friends
of
Assemblyman
Bob
Beers
emphatically
believe
that the
accusation,
entrapment,
and
filing
of the
ethics
complaint
by
George
Harris
could
very
well be
in
retaliation
for the
Assemblyman
openly
challenging
casino
mogul
and
hotel
owner
Steve
Wynn.
At the
end of
the
summer
of 2006,
Steve
Wynn
arbitrarily
started
taking
money
from the
Wynn
Resort's
dealers
to
increase
the
salary
of
casino
management
personnel,
causing
two
dealers
to file
a
lawsuit
in State
District
Court.
Assemblyman
Bob
Beers
introduced
Assembly
Bill 357
in an
effort
to
protect
the
dealers
and the
culinary
workers'
right to
keep
their
gratuities.
In a
letter
sent to
his
fellow
assemblymen
in
February
2007,
Bob
Beers
pointed
out to
the
Assembly
the
existence
of
Nevada
Revised
Status
608.160,
which
specifically
states
that
employees
may
divide
tips or
gratuities
among
themselves.
Senator
Maggie
Carlton,
a food
server
in Las
Vegas,
refused
to even
talk to
Beers
about an
issue
that
sooner
or later
would
affect
her
personally,
along
with
several
thousand
fellow
workers
in Local
226 of
the
Culinary
Union.
Later
the
Culinary
Union
management
sided
with
Wynn
against
its rank
and file
fellow
members’
welfare.
When
questioned
by the
Las
Vegas
Tribune,
Assemblyman
Bob
Beers
stated
that it
was his
error
and
accepted
responsibility
for his
lack of
judgment.
“I tell
you the
same as
I have
told
other
members
of the
media.
[With]
the
confusion
of the
special
session
being
mixed
into
[the]
campaign,
I
overlooked
the
website
and
should
have
turned
off that
feature,”
the
legislator
explained.
The
Republican
Party
just a
few
weeks
earlier
had
turned
against
another
seasoned
legislator,
Lou
Toomin,
by
literally
urging
two
newcomers
to run
against
him in
the
primary
race.
The
female
candidate
lives in
Las
Vegas
and
works
for a
law
office
in Las
Vegas,
but
continues
driving
with
out-of-state
plates,
breaking
the law
that
clearly
states
that one
should
change
license
plates
and
drivers'
license
thirty
days
after
establishing
residence
in the
State of
Nevada.
The
Hispanic
candidate
appears
to be
using
the same
social
security
number
as a son
twenty
years
younger
and with
the same
name,
and
operating
an LLC
with no
business
license
that
could be
found.
As it
was
expected,
Assemblyman
Bob
Beers'
courageous
support
of the
casino
dealers'
war
against
Steve
Wynn
gained
him the
support
of the
rank and
file, as
well as
the
leadership
of the
International
Union
Gaming
Employees. [up]
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