City wants voters to decide new wards

Wednesday, May 28, 1997 | 10:48 a.m.

City of Las Vegas voters will determine whether they want six wards instead of four, if the Las Vegas City Council gets its way.

The unanimous decision by the council at its Tuesday meeting is in contrast to Senate Bill 38, which automatically would increase by two the number of Las Vegas City Council members without the people's input.

"I move that the City Council direct the city manager, city clerk and city attorney (to) prepare a petition to the registered voters ... regarding the number of council wards in the city of Las Vegas, and that the City Council opposes SB 38 as amended by the State Assembly," Councilman Arnie Adamsen said in his motion.

The action was necessary to begin the two-step process to change the city's charter to increase the number of representatives from five to seven (the mayor is an at-large council member).

The second step could be taken as early as the September 1998 primary when voters go to the polls to determine whether they want the board and number of wards to grow.

To get the matter on the ballot, 15 percent of the city's residents who cast votes in the 1995 general election have to sign the petition. That number was not immediately available, a city official said.

The council's action Tuesday sends a clear "home rule" message to Nevada lawmakers that the current crop of city fathers wants the matter put in the hands of the people, not the state.

SB 38, if passed, would change the city's charter to increase -- or, if necessary, decrease -- the number of wards in the city. The bill, originally supported by the city when it was passed by the Senate, became the subject of opposition by the council when the Assembly recently amended it to require the city to have six wards.

Regardless of the outcome of the city-state battle, the city will have to redistrict the wards -- a move that, no matter how fairly it is conducted, inevitably raises cries of gerrymandering from those who are not happy with the changes.

For example, when the wards were redistricted in 1989, Ward 1 went from generally a southeastern ward to being in the heart of the city, arguably allowing for greater minority representation from West Las Vegas.

The white Ward 1 city councilman at that time, Steve Miller, opted not to run for a second term and instead unsuccessfully sought the mayor's office, losing to current Mayor Jan Laverty Jones in 1991.

Meanwhile, the second black man ever to serve as a city councilman, Frank Hawkins, won the Ward 1 seat that year.

Accusations at that time were that the city gerrymandered Ward 1 to assure that Miller, a wealthy businessman who was regarded as a troublemaking rebel on the council, could not possibly win re-election in his ward.

The most recent redistricting, which occurred last year, resulted in four wards of relatively equal population -- about 100,000 people in each -- and further drew distinct lines between urban Las Vegans (central Ward 1 and eastern Ward 3) and rural dwellers (northwest Ward 2 and southwest Ward 4).

With most of the city's growth now to the west and northwest sectors, however, there is certain to be some concern over whether the addition of two more wards would serve only to establish four rural councilmen against two urban representatives.

Constituents in the older wards already complain that residents of the west and northwest get the newer roads, nicer schools, and bigger parks.

The fear that the urbanites will be on the short end of many 4-3 votes dealing with improvements to the newer areas at the expense of older sections of town may result in few Ward 1 and 3 residents willing to sign the petition to put the matter to vote.

Because the wards by law must be contiguous, the city cannot split them to create a more balanced cross-section of voter types in each.

Gerrymandering aside, some city residents and businessmen might simply feel it is easier to get their message across to fewer councilmen to vote in favor of issues they support. The old joke among regulars at City Council meetings is that one only needs to know how to count to 3 to get something passed.

On the plus side, the addition of new wards would give each councilman smaller land masses and fewer people, which would enable them to better determine and respond to the main concerns of the more compact group.

Should voters approve the addition of the new wards, a primary municipal election for the additional seats would be held on the Tuesday following the first Monday in May of 1999, according to the petition proposal.