Business Leaders in Nevada Ask: Can State Afford Prostitution?

RENO —  Legalized prostitution in Nevada is once again under attack, but this time it’s not just the religious leaders and conservative activists who are talking about closing the bordellos.

Now some of the biggest names in the gambling industry and the state’s economic development commission are questioning whether Nevada can afford to keep houses of prostitution around when the state is trying to diversify its economy by attracting new industry.

These questions--first raised by two well-connected lobbyists and then the Golden Nugget’s board chairman, Stephen A. Wynn--are the first shots in what observers say is a reinvigorated campaign here against the local option of most counties to legalize brothels.

For nearly a century there have been periodic efforts to stamp out this controversial vestige of the state’s wild and woolly past, but the difference this time is that the motive appears to be less moralistic than economic.

‘Not Good’ for Image

Wynn, a powerful voice among casino owners, sent a letter this spring to every state legislator that read in part: “We have outgrown legalized prostitution. . . . It is not good for Nevada’s image to have . . . legalized ‘cat houses.’ The sooner we put that image behind us the better we will be.”

Wynn refused to discuss the issue with The Times. The letter was read to The Times by a legislator, but only on condition that he not be identified. Like most elected officials, he shied away from open comment on legalized prostitution.

While Wynn wouldn’t talk, lobbyist Jim Joyce, who represents the gambling industry, said the Golden Nugget’s chairman “certainly isn’t a lone voice in industry. There are those who would like to see an all-out move against prostitution.”

Joyce and Sig Rogich, a lobbyist for both the state commission on tourism and the Las Vegas Convention and Visitor Authority, raised the image issue in January. In a recent interview, Joyce said, “Prostitution isn’t good for Nevada’s image.” Rogich agreed, adding, “Maybe it’s time to get rid of it.”

Such talk by two high-profile lobbyists, followed by Wynn’s letter in April, attracted wide attention because Nevada’s casinos are such a big part of the state’s economy and casino owners are important political campaign contributors.

“With the big casino people behind this, there’s a real possibility that we can get rid of prostitution,” said Janine Hansen, state president of the Eagle Forum, a conservative activist group that has long opposed legalized prostitution. Hansen said prostitution “is no longer just a moral issue, now it’s a money issue . . . an image issue.”

A bill outlawing prostitution is expected to be introduced during the 1989 legislative session, but proponents of legalized brothels are confident that the measure will be defeated. Nevada Brothel Assn. lobbyist George Flint predicted that the proposal would die quickly because powerful rural legislators want to maintain the status quo.

“They’re a sentimental part of the past. . . . They don’t hurt the state’s image,” said Assembly Speaker Joe Dini, a Lyon County Democrat. Dini, who owns the Lucky Club casino in Yerington, has been in the Legislature for 22 years, representing three counties where prostitution is legal.

Nevada--the only state where prostitution is still legal--allows cities and counties with populations of less than 250,000 to license bordellos. That means prostitutes can’t work legally in Clark County, which includes Las Vegas. In addition, most cities and counties in Nevada, including Reno and Carson City, have chosen not to legalize prostitution.

In the seven rural counties and six small cities where prostitution is legal, there are 36 licensed houses. From Winnemucca to Pahrump, places such as the Pussycat and Mabel’s are part of the community. While few proponents of legalized prostitution admit patronizing the houses, their existence is staunchly defended.

However, for those Nevadans working to attract new business to the state, there are nagging doubts about legalized prostitution and its effect on the state’s reputation, according to Nevada Economic Development Commission Director Andrew Grose.

While no definitive studies have been done, a telephone survey of 100 companies recently located in Nevada showed that 9% favored legal prostitution, 14% saw it as a drawback and the remainder had no opinion, Grose reported.

“Of course we . . . simply never hear from . . . businesses looking for new locations that have been put off by our image,” Grose said. Even so, he said, the state last year attracted companies that offered 30,900 new jobs, a 6.6% growth factor.

Like most of the people interviewed for this story, Grose shied away from the issue. Finding people who want to talk about legalized prostitution can be difficult, especially among state officials.

Ducks Question

Gov. Richard Bryan “doesn’t have a position on this issue,” said Dennis Baughman, the governor’s executive assistant.

Senate Majority Leader William J. Raggio, (R-Reno), the former district attorney of Washoe County who built a reputation fighting prostitution, ducks the question. His secretary said: “He gets besieged by reporters all time on this issue. . . . He really has no comment.”

Flint--the brothel association lobbyist and operator of a Reno wedding chapel--wasn’t the least bit shy, however. He denied that the brothels were causing the state any business losses and claimed that it is the “grubby minded” media that are out to “denigrate our state because of legalized prostitution.”

Flint argued that regulated sex is safe sex, saying that the law requires the 300 licensed prostitutes to be tested for venereal disease and AIDS and to have their customers use condoms. And, in his own letter to legislators, Flint wrote, “In all due respect to Mr. Wynn, I can’t help wondering if his remarks are a classic example of the pot calling the kettle black?”

According to Flint, Las Vegas has more prostitutes working illegally in the casinos and hotels than all of the rest of Nevada put together. “Just look in the Yellow Pages,” he said. “There are 35 pages of escort and entertainment services that are nothing but fronts for prostitution. They come right to your hotel room.”

The largest legal brothel operation in Nevada is the Mustang Ranch, run by controversial ex-convict Joe Conforte, 62. The ranch--a sprawling complex set behind steel fencing and employing 100 women--is located in Storey County, 15 miles east of Reno.

“What good would it do to make it illegal? It would just drive the girls to the streets,” Conforte said. “The public wants prostitution; they’ll never get rid of it.”

Conforte contended that legalized prostitution is good for everyone concerned, including local government because it raises tax money and keeps the crime rate down.

(State records show brothels pay more than $300,000 a year in local taxes. Storey County received $131,000, about 4% of its annual budget, from brothel license fees. Lyon County’s four brothels pay $102,000 in taxes, about 1% of the county’s budget. Other counties get less than 1% of their tax revenues from brothels, according to state estimates.)

Working Conditions

The prostitutes work on commission, splitting 50-50 with the house, Conforte said. The minimum fee is $30 for 20 minutes, but the women negotiate the price of their services, depending on the customer’s desires. They work 12-hour shifts for seven days, then are given two or three weeks off, he said.

“The Legislature won’t want any part of (outlawing prostitution), take my word,” the brothel owner said.

That was true in 1985 when former Assemblywoman Barbara Zimmer introduced a bill to outlaw prostitution. Speaker Dini mustered the votes to kill the Zimmer bill before it could be scheduled for a hearing.

“Prostitution is hurting the state’s image,” said Zimmer, a Las Vegas real estate broker and conservative Republican who quit the Legislature after one term and is now running again. If reelected, she plans to try again to outlaw bordellos, but acknowledges: “This isn’t a subject people like to talk about. . . . If a bill is introduced next year, I hope they at least study the issue.”

Campaign Issue

The Legislature meets every other year. Before it convenes in 1989, however, Nevada’s voters will go to the polls twice, voting in a September primary election and the general election in November. Half of the Senate and all of the Assembly seats are up for grabs and legalized prostitution will be a campaign issue, according to Zimmer and others.

Nevada’s newspapers have jumped vigorously into the debate.

“We’ve argued that prostitution has been with us forever and it really serves no purpose to close the brothels,” Las Vegas Review Journal editorial pages editor Rafael Tammariello said. According to Tammariello, “Nevada is probably the last stronghold of libertarian thoughts. . . . (Nevadans) feel there are too many government restrictions on too many kinds of activities now.”

On the other side, the Reno Gazette-Journal editorially contends: “Nevada’s brothels do the state much harm. . . . Statistics show Nevada ranking first in the West in gonorrhea and second in syphilis. . . . The incidence of rape in Nevada is five times the national average. . . . All this hurts Nevada at home and it hurts it nationwide as well.”

‘Legal Is Better’

Dini argued: “People have been trying for centuries to wipe (prostitution) out and failed. . . . I’ve seen it both ways, legal and illegal, and legal is better. . . . Everyone has learned to live with it.

“We’ve got the votes to keep legalized brothels.” However, if a bill is introduced as expected, he said he will give it a full hearing.