New Vegas Councilwoman Sells Out
3 Days After
Election
INSIDE VEGAS by Steve Miller
AmericanMafia.com
June 23, 2003
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Moncrief and Goodman
Cusumano and Goodman
Billy Walters and attorney Rick Wright
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Fred
"Rick" Rizzolo
Goodman and Letizia
Goodman visiting my home, Feb. 23, 2003
It took less than 72 hours for persons indirectly involved in a federal
investigation
of organized crime to woo the loyalty of Vegas' newest public official,
Janet Moncrief. A registered nurse who last December moved into the city
to run for office. Moncrief had never voted in any local or national election
prior to becoming the newest member of the Sin City Council.
I was intent on seeing her opponent, a mobbed up former cop, lose the
election. I accepted Moncrief's offer to be her campaign advisor in February
even though I knew little about the woman. Moncrief entered office last
Wednesday under a cloud of damning
headlines.
I had agreed to secretly work on her campaign at no charge, lending
my expertise as a former councilman, writing and editing her mailers and
coaching the camera shy candidate. I wanted to do the right thing for my
town by removing a councilman who was under federal investigation for political
corruption. I succeeded, but the person I helped replace him with has
now brought me shame.
After a whirlwind four months of hard campaigning, Moncrief stabbed
her main supporters in the back by accepting the largess of Tom Letizia,
a man who has often been described in AmericanMafia.com as the "Information
Minister" for embattled Vegas topless bar owner
Fred "Rick" Rizzolo; Freddie Glusman, owner of the mob watering hole Piero's;
and Vegas' former mob mouthpiece-turned-mayor Oscar Goodman. Rizzolo is
currently suing
the United States Government and his next door neighbor Buffalo
Jim Barrier.
Rizzolo is under investigation by
the FBI for alleged
ties to organized crime. He is suing the FBI for taking items he considered
protected by attorney/client privilege during a February 21, 2003 raid
of his topless bar. He is also the subject of an IRS investigation, however
he has not yet sued that agency.
Rizzolo is entangled in a bitter landlord/tenant
dispute with Barrier over a leasehold that is stopping expansion of
his adult business. Letizia is related to an executive with the Nevada
Department of Transportation. Though his relative denies knowing anything,
his agency is threatening to remove Barrier's auto repair business through
the use of eminent domain possibly with the mayor and Moncrief's future
help, to make way for Rizzolo's topless bar to expand.
During the campaign, Moncrief told me she adamantly opposed the use
of eminent domain to displace one private business to benefit another.
She has not yet been asked her latest opinion on the eminent domain
issue, but city hall observers speculate that her new position as councilperson
for the district in which Rizzolo's bar is located has much to do with
why she is now being wooed by Rizzolo and Goodman's Information Minister.
Coincidentally, Rizzolo and Goodman share a close friendship
with
Joey Cusumano,
a member of Nevada's Black Book of persons banned from casinos. Cusumano
was also associated with Moncrief's predecessor on the council, former
cop Mike
McDonald who did Rizzolo numerous favors.
Using this information, Moncrief secretly paid for the "Hit Piece" mailer
below that was sent to voters during the campaign.
Not long after she secretly paid for and published the above mailer
and others which polarized Vegas voters against her opponent, she fell
into bed figuratively with the friends of the persons who she secretly
blasted in four mailers. If her plan had succeeded, the subjects of her
mailers would never have known that their new-found friend once attacked
them. Never, until my affidavit, did she imagine the truth would be revealed,
but I admit I could not contain myself on this matter especially after
she became the darling of most of the subjects I write about each week
in AmericanMafia.com.
On Father's Day, June 15, I was shocked to learn that Moncrief on Letizia's
orders, was claiming she did not know me. In answer
to Las Vegas Review Journal city hall reporter Michael Squires'
question, "During the campaign Councilman McDonald tried to tie your
campaign to a group of conspirators. What role, if any, will ...Steve Miller..
have in your administration," Moncrief answered, "Steve Miller,
I met him in my walks. He cornered me and quizzed me to death. Talk about
a concerned citizen. He has been on my side rooting me on and was tickled
about my winning. But I have no contact with (him). I guess there were
rumors I was going to hire Steve Miller for one of my positions. I'm not
going to hire Steve Miller, I don't even know him."
Sadly, after donating four months of hard work to her campaign and advising
her on a daily basis, and even though I would be accused of sour grapes,
I realized it would be a public service to expose this disingenuous person
and her new friends before she became a bigger menace to society
than her predecessor - who catered to the same people. For this reason,
I sent the following self explanatory affidavit to the Nevada Attorney
General:
AFFIDAVIT OF STEVE MILLER
State of Nevada, County of Clark, Before
the undersigned, an officer duly commissioned by the laws of Nevada, on
this 18th day of June, 2003, Steve Miller personally appeared who having
been first duly sworn depose and say:
On or about April 7, 2003, I was asked
to edit the wording of a political mailer being produced by then-Las Vegas
City Council candidate Janet Moncrief. I also on the request of Janet Moncrief
scanned into my computer a four-color political mailer from the (Councilman)
Michael McDonald (reelection) campaign showing his image and campaign logo.
I was instructed to send the scanned photos
to Ms. Moncrief’s campaign assistant. I reluctantly complied. Upon reading
verbiage I was asked to check for typographical and spelling errors, I
realized the material I was being asked to edit was for an anti-union mailer
that falsely listed Michael McDonald as the sender. I edited the material
under protest. I told Ms. Moncrief to send a mailer under a false sender’s
name was a horrible and potentially illegal tactic.
She discounted my advice and told me no
one would know where it came from because it would go first class postage
with no bulk mail stamp that can be traced. I was later informed that the
flier was sent to union members and Democrats only - that Ms. Moncrief
wanted the flier to look like it was mistakenly sent by McDonald to the
wrong list instead of its originally intended audience; Republicans who
are less supportive of organized labor. I told her it could backfire. She
insisted it be mailed.
I also helped lay out, author, and edit
most of Moncrief’s legitimate campaign material including most of the Peter
“Chris” Christoff mailers that Moncrief paid to have printed, addressed,
and mailed. The majority of campaign material I created was obtained from
local newspaper articles and I carefully checked the veracity of all other
material we used with the exception of the anti-union mailer. I also coached
Ms. Moncrief for all public appearances and interviews on the Jon Ralston
television program.
I donated my writing, editing, and consulting
services free of charge to her campaign but was not listed on her disclosures.
I did not pay for any of Ms. Moncrief’s expenses including expenses for
mailers sent on behalf of Peter Christoff, or the expense to create and
mail the anti-union piece. I only donated my time. During the campaign
Moncrief repeatedly called me at all hours of the day and night for advice
and coaching. I was asked to fill out the answers on union, PAC, and other
questionnaires.
On Friday, May 30, Ms. Moncrief came to
Jerry Wolkon’s print shop and spent several hours helping a dozen volunteers
including myself, my wife, and my daughter, affix postage stamps to Peter
Christoff's final mailer so it could arrive on the day before the general
election. This is the mailer that exposed McDonald's connections to topless
bar owner Rick Rizzolo, Nevada Black Book member Joey Cusumano, and golf
course developer Billy Walters (attached).
Following Ms. Moncrief’s June 3 victory
party, I sent her a confidential e-mail on June 5 (attached),
advising her to avoid Tom Letizia, a public relations man who represents
a topless bar owner presently under federal investigation. I followed up
with a phone call to confirm her receipt of my e-mail. I did not hear again
from Ms. Moncrief until Saturday, June 14 when she called to initially
ask me to go over the June 18, 2003 city council agenda and advise her.
Prior to that call, on June 9, I read in
the Las Vegas Review Journal that Councilwoman-elect Moncrief had hired
Mr. Letizia against my advice. Based on her new affiliation, I informed
her that she would have to make a complete public disclosure if I am to
be her consultant regarding the upcoming council agenda, and that I would
also need to file a complete personal disclosure with the city attorney
before I could assist her any further in her council duties. She refused
saying she had been advised by Mr. Letizia to not have her name publicly
associated with mine.
Moncrief said Letizia had promised to raise
$700,000.00 or more for her if she agreed to let him do so before the thirty-day
cut off time for campaign debt reduction, and on the condition Steve Miller
be dismissed. She said Letizia bragged of raising $1.5 million for
Oscar Goodman and that he would produce for her an equally successful event
at a restaurant owned by golf course developer Billy Walters. Because of
new information that came to light following Ms. Moncrief’s June 3 election,
I felt compelled to make this sworn statement.
(Signed and notarized)
After I turned state's evidence, Letizia began speaking for the novice
politician. He was quoted in the June 19 Las
Vegas Sun saying, "I told her (Moncrief) early on that if Steve
Miller is involved with this in any way, then I'm out."
Evidently, he was not aware that I had been intimately involved
in her campaign from the outset. Obviously, Ms. Moncrief is an excellent
liar if she could fool the savvy PR man.
How early on that Letizia joined the race is anyone's guess, but Moncrief
beat her opponent by 16 points so it would have been easy for Letizia to
guess the results of the election and make contact early. When I heard
about Letizia's statement to Moncrief about me, I immediately wondered
what he or Goodman had to hide? Did Goodman think I would have a free reign
on the 10th floor of his city hall? Probably.
Remember, it was Letizia's buddy Goodman who paid me a surprise visit
the day after the feds raided Letizia's other buddy's topless joint to
say he would not bring the trouble plagued bar up on a Show
Cause Hearing, a hearing to defend its license after 737 police responses
were filed in just 3 years. I had hammered the mayor on these pages for
not doing so after a Kansas tourist reportedly had his neck broken by Rizzolo's
bouncers on September 21, 2001. Letizia reportedly handled the bar's PR
problem by coaching club employees into saying the tourist "slipped and
fell."
Ed Koch of the Las Vegas Sun reported
on June 19 that Goodman, after receiving a copy of my affidavit said, "When
you serve the public 'you are naked' and subject to such attacks. Goodman
said a politician has 'to have a sense of humor' to get by in the job."
Reporter Koch called me to ask what I thought of the mayor's remark.
The Sun reported, "Miller said Goodman is making light of a serious
matter. 'I find his comment comical in light of the initial evidence that
has so far surfaced,' Miller said. 'If his former criminal clients came
to him with the problems already exhibited by Moncrief, he would probably
have told them to plea bargain.'"
This week, Moncrief's new Information
Minister made an announcement. Letizia told the media that he would be
producing a debt retirement party for his new councilwoman on July
1 at the Cili restaurant at the Bali Hai, a country club owned by Billy
Walters. Walters, a man who was three times indicted
on charges arising from the transportation of what prosecutors say were
proceeds from illegal sports bets, is the type of person I had previously
warned Moncrief to avoid along with Letizia. Moncrief told me on Sunday,
June 14, that she was "promised" $700,000.00 would be raised by Letizia
and his cronies at the Bali Hai event. I again told her to avoid associating
with men like Walters and Letizia at any cost, but by then she had sold
her soul - and her friends, in my opinion, for the promise of gold.
I am now informed by reliable sources
that because of the attention I caused, the invitation-only Bali Hai event
will be heavily monitored, and that the Nevada Secretary of State will
next week begin a full investigation of our newly elected councilwoman's
questionable campaign tactics. If the Secretary of State finds sufficient
cause, the state Attorney General will prosecute those who broke state
campaign laws. When and if this occurs, I have pledged to fully cooperate
and at that time much more information is guaranteed to surface. If the
same authorities shirk their responsibilities, I will put the matter to
rest with a clear conscience and hope the feds look into the matter for
possible malfeasance.
Only in Vegas could a mobbed up former
police officer-turned-politician be replaced in an election by a soon to
be mobbed up nurse-turned-politician. Wonder why? Just look at our town's
mayor for the perfect poster boy.
Copyright © Steve Miller
email Steve Miller at: Stevemiller4lv@aol.com
