REMODELING CONTROVERSY: Building official shifted

and Arnold Knightly

LAS VEGAS, Nevada -- In response to negative public perception, Clark County Manager Virginia Valentine has removed building inspector Rick Maddox from the investigation of the Rio hotel's remodeling without permits or safety inspections.

That is how Public Information Officer Stacey Welling characterized the reason for Maddox's Wednesday transfer. Valentine was unavailable for comment Thursday.

Maddox had been working on the current investigation though he was the inspector who did a superficial investigation in February that cleared the Rio.

Maddox gave a different explanation for his reassignment: "It was too personal. At that point, I can't be objective, so it was assigned to another supervisor."

Maddox, who declined to give his age, has been with the county's building division since 1995, when he began as a building inspector. In 2003, he was promoted to supervisor of building inspections, which means he manages a group of eight inspectors. He continues in this position, for which his annual salary is $87,207.

"The county is doing everything it can to make sure the rooms are properly inspected, remediated and repaired, then brought back online," said Jan Jones, a Harrah's Entertainment executive. Valentine is "making decisions that she thinks (are) in the best, long-term interest of the process."

Jones on Thursday defended Harrah's decision to keep Tom Adams and Mike Nasby, who had ties to the remodeling, working on the present investigation of it. Whistleblowers identified the two as key Harrah's personnel who had planned or supervised the project.

"They've done the work, they know where to look, and have not been reassigned," Jones said. They "can take the county inspectors and our other inspectors and show them where work was completed." The "other inspectors" are employees of Penta Building, hired by Harrah's to expose and test the past workmanship.

At the Rio hotel, teams of inspectors representing both Harrah's Entertainment and the county are investigating work performed on 17 floors of the hotel's original Ipanema guest tower. The work took place from about late 2004 to early 2006, several floors at a time.

Two floors at the Rio, holding approximately 140 rooms, have been taken out of service until the teams can assess past work. Then plans can be approved and permits obtained for new corrective work, followed by inspections of that work.

In light of the Rio room closures, which were ordered Oct. 5 by the county, Harrah's Entertainment started re-examining renovations at its other local properties, which led the company to voluntarily close 537 rooms or suites at Harrah's Las Vegas on Monday. Those rooms will remain out of service until they undergo joint scrutiny by county and corporate teams.

Six men who worked on the Rio remodeling project and were interviewed by the Review-Journal identified Adams as a remodeling supervisor. During the project, Adams was director of facilities for several local Harrah's properties. He is now area director of design and construction for Roman Empire Development, a subsidiary of Harrah's Entertainment. Roman Empire was formed in December 2006.

Nasby is vice president of facilities and construction services for Harrah's Entertainment.

Fred Frazzetta, an electrician who worked on the Rio remodeling and then worked as a full-time maintenance and repair man at Harrah's Las Vegas until he was let go in June, has provided much of the information for the Review-Journal's two-month research and the present county crackdown. In August 2006, he filed a complaint about the Rio with the county building division, which sat on it for six months before Maddox went out to inspect in February.

Frazzetta met Wednesday for a second time with Valentine and said he felt encouraged by the discussion. Also present were Assistant County Manager Phil Rosenquist, county legal counsel Clifford Jeffers -- from the civil division of the Clark County district attorney's office -- and Greg Franklin from county Development Services, which houses the building division.

Frazzetta had met solo with Valentine in late August to air his concerns but felt she brushed him off.

Valentine since has said Frazzetta's information raised a red flag, leading her to consult Harrah's executives in September on the matter, shortly before the county issued eight violation notices for the Rio.

The electrician said he mentioned several more remodeling projects inside Harrah's Las Vegas for county building officials to investigate, beyond the rooms that are currently closed. Valentine was not available to comment on the meeting.