Six battle to unseat Reese in Ward 3

Jace Radke

Friday, April 30, 1999 | 11:44 a.m.

In Las Vegas' Ward 3, which includes downtown, six little-known challengers are trying to unseat incumbent councilman Gary Reese.

Beating an incumbent is not an easy thing to do, but it's not impossible either, challenger Bradley Loring Smith said.

"I think of myself as an underdog who is trying to make a difference," the 34-year-old Smith said. "It is hard to get an incumbent out, but you're seeing it more and more."

Smith, who owns a public relations firm that publishes magazines for the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority and local labor unions, wants to see government more accountable to its constituents.

If elected, Smith, a communications major at UNLV, said he will publish a magazine for his ward outlining how much and where money is being spent in the city.

Here is a look at the other candidates:

A longtime Las Vegas history teacher, Harvey Munford, 58, says that he will give up teaching to be a full-time councilman if elected.

Munford, who teaches at Bonanza High School and the Community College of Southern Nevada, has been a resident of Las Vegas for 33 years and has lived in Ward 3 for 26 years.

"I have always reached out to my students and I'll carry that over to my constituents in Ward 3 by being able to reach out to all people regardless of their backgrounds," Munford said. "I feel that the absolute goal of an elected official is that they must try to improve and make a better life for the people they represent."

Munford plans to focus on improving education, managing growth and the traffic problems of Las Vegas.

Charles "Doc" Broadus, a former boxing trainer, is a strong supporter of education and points to his youth sports program.

Broadus says that the program has been teaching, "health, courage, discipline and honest competition to youth for over 30 years."

Broadus, 79, says he wants to bring a voice to the council for the youth and the elderly, and to work closely with police on eliminating gang problems.

"Whenever you go to a council meeting the kids are never mentioned, and we have to take care of our youth," Broadus said.

Carlo Poliak, 58, has been an employee of Silver State Disposal Service for 16 years. In past runs for public office, he has said that he would like to see people from the general public get elected because they understand the average citizen.

Poliak has run for governor twice. He campaigned for mayor of Las Vegas in 1995 and ran for the County Commission in 1996. He lost in all those elections but continues to run under his slogan, "For the people and of the people."

Lionel Fleming says his goal is to listen to the people's needs first.

Fleming, a 41-year-old community activist, says that the council needs someone who is willing to say no.

"The locals need to get more out of the council but we have people in there who are saying yes, yes, yes to everything too quickly," Fleming said. "I'll be the one who says no and works to find solutions that will benefit the local residents."

Fleming criticizes the council for what he considers high fees at the municipal golf course and for what he says is the city's unconstitutional use of eminent domain.

"We need to have more balance and a wide variety of people there," the native Las Vegan said. "Then we need to make sure that funds are dispersed fairly across the board."

Nevada Stupak, 23, will try to win a council seat where his father and sister failed. Nevada's sister, Nicole Stupak, lost a bid for mayor in 1991, while Stratosphere founder Bob Stupak lost in the 1987 mayoral election.

Nevada Stupak could not be reached for comment on his campaign.