A city council member in Henderson and one in North Las Vegas each accepted free tickets to sporting events last year, according to annual financial disclosure statements — a move increasingly under scrutiny by state ethics officials.
Henderson City Councilman Jim Seebock reported receiving a gift of two football tickets valued at $2,500. On his annual disclosure form filed in January, he listed “J. Desimone” as the donor.
Joe DeSimone — who owns First Federal Realty, a development and gaming company doing business in Henderson — gave the Las Vegas Raiders tickets to Seebock.
“We have season tickets, and he’s a friend,” DeSimone said.
Across the valley, North Las Vegas Councilman Isaac Barron disclosed receiving $296 in Las Vegas Raiders tickets, listing the donor as Leo Benavides. Last year, Benavides worked in government affairs first for the city of North Las Vegas and then for UNLV.
Elected officials are required under state law to report gifts from an individual donor that total $200 or more. They also are required to disclose expenses paid by a third party for travel, events or meetings.
Accepting free tickets isn’t necessarily an ethics violation, but ethics officials have cautioned against it. Nevada’s ethics law states that a public officer or employee shall not seek or accept any gift or service that would improperly influence a reasonable person from impartially discharging their public duties. It also states that a public officer or employee also should not use their position to secure privileges that are without justification.
In October, the Nevada Commission on Ethics required ethics training for Kelvin Watson, executive director of the Las Vegas-Clark County Library District, in connection with accepting free tickets to the Super Bowl in Las Vegas valued at $8,600. Training also was required for district staff. The commission considered the violation non-willful because Watson received approval from the library district’s attorney before taking the tickets.
At the same ethics commission meeting, one commissioner urged government officials not to accept tickets to the many sporting events in Las Vegas, saying that Watson had been given bad advice.
Seebock said that the tickets he accepted were for the Raiders first game of the season in September, which was before the commissioner’s guidance. “There’s been nothing since then,” he said.
Legal defense fund
In a separate statement filed with the Nevada secretary of state’s office, Seebock disclosed that he had formed a legal defense fund related to “legal matters to include ethic related claims.”
Seebock, elected to the Henderson City Council in 2023, said he formed the fund in connection with an ethics complaint that claimed he violated state ethics rules by using in his council campaign photos that show him wearing his Metropolitan Police Department uniform and badge. Seebock has since retired from the police force.
A commission panel has forwarded the complaint to the full commission for consideration.
In his financial disclosure report filed last month, Seebock also reported $1,800 in expenses sponsored by the Vegas Chamber for a chamber conference in Washington, D.C. He reported $800 in expenses for the annual meeting of the Nevada League of Cities in Lake Tahoe.
Other Henderson council members who served in office last year — Mayor Michelle Romero, Dan Shaw, Carrie Cox and Dan H. Stewart — disclosed no gifts or sponsored travel, events or meetings. Shaw lost a bid for re-election last year to Monica Larson.
Last year, Seebock and Romero reported accepting free hockey tickets in 2023.
This year, among North Las Vegas City Council members, only Barron disclosed accepting a gift. Mayor Pamela Goynes-Brown and council members Ruth Garcia-Anderson, Scott Black and Richard Cherchio disclosed no gifts or sponsored travel.
Also this year, members of the Las Vegas City Council disclosed accepting free tickets in 2024.
Contact Mary Hynes at mhynes@reviewjournal.com or at 702-383-0336. Follow @MaryHynes1 on X. Hynes is a member of the Review-Journal’s investigative team, focusing on reporting that holds leaders and agencies accountable and exposes wrongdoing.
